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Travel guide
Salt Lake City
6 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June and September to October
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Welcome
Salt Lake City, in a few days
Founded in 1847 by Mormon pioneers on the shore of a lake saltier than the sea, Utah's capital lays out avenues 40 metres wide at the foot of a wall of 3,000-metre peaks. In less than an hour's drive, you go from the granite temple to the snowiest ski resorts in the country, to the bison of an island in the Great Salt Lake or to the mining-era villas of Park City.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 3 things
- D2 Day 2 1 thing
- D3 Day 3 1 thing
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- D5 Day 5 1 thing
- D6 Day 6 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Temple Square free · 2 to 3 hThe heart of the Latter-day Saints church and of the city grid, with gardens open to all, the 1867 Tabernacle and its organ of over 11,000 pipes, and free Thursday choir rehearsals.
- Afternoon · Capitol Hill and Ensign Peak free · about 2 hUtah's granite Capitol of 1916, set on seismic isolators, overlooks the city, while a short trail climbs Ensign Peak, where Brigham Young surveyed the valley in July 1847.
- Late afternoon · Natural History Museum of Utah · about 3 hA terraced copper building in the foothills above the university, with a dinosaur gallery of skeletons found in Utah, including a unique wall of horned dinosaur skulls.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€190 a night
D2
Day 2
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Little Cottonwood Canyon free · half a day to a full dayA U-shaped granite canyon leading to Alta and Snowbird, among the snowiest resorts in North America, where a tram climbs to Hidden Peak at 3,353 metres in summer and winter.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City ↗€190 a night
D3
Day 3
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Big Cottonwood Canyon free · half a dayA wider, wooded canyon with a 24 km scenic road up to Solitude and Brighton, short trails to Donut Falls and Lake Blanche, and the boardwalk around Silver Lake.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City ↗€190 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Park City free · a full dayA former 1870s silver town turned Utah's ski capital, with a steep Main Street of saloon facades, two vast ski areas and the Utah Olympic Park built for the 2002 Winter Games.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City ↗€190 a night
D5
Day 5
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Antelope Island · half a dayThe largest island in the Great Salt Lake, reached by an 11 km causeway, home to some 800 bison, pronghorn and bighorn sheep, with a beach where you float effortlessly.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City ↗€190 a night
D6
Day 6
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Bonneville Salt Flats free · a full day including the driveA perfectly flat white salt crust of 12,000 hectares near the Nevada border, a relic of the Ice Age Lake Bonneville, where land speed records have been set since the early 20th century.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €160 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June and September to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/salt-lake-city
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.