Salt Lake City is a very friendly place, with echoes of the quaint small town it was originally settled as. Yet it’s position, low-rise buildings, winter sports (it hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics) and rapidly improving restaurant scene have made it an increasingly popular holiday destination for visitors from the US and beyond. Those with a passion for getting outdoors will adore the fresh air and the peaks that beckon in the near distance.
Mid-town Mormons
Visiting the major Mormon sights of the City of the Saints is incredible. The elders of the church will happily guide you around Temple Square and answer your questions. The temple itself, built over 40 years and completed in 1893, isn’t open to tourists, but there’s an informative visitor’s centre. One Mormon landmark for music-lovers is the Tabernacle, a vast 19th century dome with world-renowned acoustics, suitable for the equally famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir, who you can see in free public rehearsals every Thursday evening.
Utah’s distant past
The Natural History Museum here is truly world class, with an utterly stunning exterior that houses some spectacular exhibits, most notably of dinosaur fossils. The Rio Tinto Center is in harmony with its surroundings in the Wasatch Mountain Range, trimmed with locally-mined copper. The bands of it mimic the local rock formations, and this canyon feel extends inside. You can arrange to have an expert give you a tour, with unique insights making this a must. In addition to the dinosaurs, you’ll also find wonderfully curated exhibitions of insects, minerals, plants and Native American artifacts in the anthropology section.
Salt and seasoning
The hikers and skiers who come to Salt Lake City for the mountain thrills nearby, nicknamed ‘The Greatest Snow on Earth,’ have also been won over the city’s new appetite for great grub. The foodie revolution here has been through a mixture of markets, food trucks, artisan coffee roasters, craft breweries and superb new restaurant openings.
On Saturday mornings from June to October, head to Downtown Farmers Market at Pioneer Park. Fresh local fruit, cheese and honey vie for space with takeaway food trucks, with almost 200 stalls. The pioneering Copper Onion was one of the first new breed of SLC restaurants and serves up pork belly with apricot-ancho chili glaze and a perfect Wagyu beef stroganoff. For seafood, Current Fish and Oyster has caramelised salmon, an Asian-influenced fish stew and, best of all, a ‘seafood tower’. With 18 oysters, mussels, lobster and shrimp, it’s a feast for pescatarians.
Confident, clean and packed with history, Salt Lake City is a place full of surprises for visitors. Car hire in Salt Lake City will make it easy for you to see everything in this fine city and then venture out into the wild beauty of rugged Utah.