48 Hours in Salt Lake City: hotels, restaurants and places to visit in Utah's state capital

There's more to the city than Mormons - the state capital is home to craft brew pubs and hiking trails, with impressive national parks and ski resorts on the doorstep

Salt Lake City sits in the Rocky Mountains (Doug Pulsipher)

Travel essentials

Why go now?

High in the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains on the south-east periphery of the Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake City is about more than Mormons. A new direct Delta Airlines route from London has made it easier to explore Utah’s state capital, which is enjoying something of a renaissance as hipsters from nearby Colorado and Oregon flock to the city to escape rising rent rates, arriving with attendant craft breweries and artisan coffee shops.

Quality of life is excellent, with hiking trails winding out of the city and into the mountains and many of the state’s 14 ski resorts a short drive away, not least the newly created Park City, America's largest ski resort.

Utah is also home to five national parks, many of which are hosting special events to celebrate the National Park Service’s centennial this year and are easily accessible from Salt Lake City: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands (setting for Danny Boyle’s grisly biographical drama, 127 Hours), Capitol Reef and Zion.

America As You Like It (020 8742 8299; americaasyoulikeit.com) offers six-night fly-drives to Utah from £1,239pp, including non-stop return flights on Delta, six days' fully inclusive economy car hire, two nights' room only at the Hotel Monaco in Salt Lake City and four nights' B&B at the Gonzo Inn in Moab.

For more information, see visitutah.com/uk.

Touch down

Delta (0871 221 1222; delta.com) launched the first direct flights between the UK and Salt Lake City earlier this month. The airline departs daily from Heathrow for Salt Lake City International Airport (1). Alternatively, British Airways (0344 493 0787; ba.com) offers connecting flights from Heathrow – via Dallas and Chicago, for example – to Salt Lake with its partner American Airlines. KLM (0871 231 0000; klm.com) flies from a range of UK airports via Amsterdam, with connections on partner airline Delta.

The airport is a 10-minute drive from downtown and a number of international agencies offer car rental at the airport. A cab into town costs $25, or you can catch the three-line light rail, Trax (001 801 743 3882; rideuta.com), whose green line runs from Terminal 1 to downtown every 15 minutes between 5.30am and 11.30pm on weekdays, with a more limited service at weekends. A single is $2.50.

Get your bearings

Like many American cities, Salt Lake is arranged on a grid and its prosaic road naming system makes it easy to navigate. Every street has a coordinate based on its location in relation to the Mormon HQ at Temple Square (2); so the street 200 South (or 2 South) is two roads south of Temple Square and so on.

The easiest way to get around is to hire a car, but the downtown area around Temple Square is easily walkable. Trax runs through Salt Lake on three lines: as well as the green airport line, red runs from the University of Utah through downtown and blue begins downtown and runs south. Travel on public transport is free for nine downtown stops.

The city is very cycle friendly, with demarcated paths and wide roads – supposedly so because Brigham Young, who led Mormon settlers to Utah in the 19th century, wanted streets wide enough to turn his wagon around. The cycle hire scheme GREENbike (greenbikeslc.org) offers a 24-hour pass for $7.

Check in

A major commercial hub in the Mountain West, Salt Lake City has its fair share of chain hotels aimed at business travellers. Here are some of the more unique options.

Hotel Monaco (3) sits in the heart of downtown, in a building that was once a bank, at 15 200 South (001 801 595 0000; monaco-saltlakecity.com). The boutique hotel offers fun perks such as a free, hosted wine tasting every evening, take-away pressed green juices at breakfast and a yoga mat in every room. Doubles start from $157 a night, room only.

A little further out, The Anniversary Inn (4), a converted Victorian mansion at 678 East South Temple (001 801 363 4950; anniversaryinn.com) has 13 themed suites, including Mysteries of Egypt and Jungle Safari, starting at $149 for a weeknight, room only.

The Mountain Hideaway suite at The Anniversary Inn

The Avenues Hostel (5) at 107 F Street offers basic, cheap accommodation, but is well located for downtown and hikes into the mountains (001 801 539 8888; saltlakehostel.com; dorm beds from $23, room only).

Day one

Take a hike

The Church of the Latter Day Saints, whose members are Mormons, began in New York in the 1830s. Its early followers, whose polygamous relationships made them taboo among other settlers, were driven west until they arrived in Salt Lake in 1847, where they settled by a creek now marked by the Eagle Gate (6) on the corner of State Street and South Temple. Start here and walk west along South Temple, past Beehive House (7) and Lion House (8), mansions where Brigham Young housed his many wives and children, to Temple Square (2).

The Mormon equivalent of Vatican City encompasses the Church’s museum (9) and library (10), administrative buildings, Tabernacle or concert hall (11) and fabulous floral displays as well as the iconic, castle-like Temple (12) itself. The Square is open to explore daily from 9am-9pm and most Church buildings charge no admission and are open to visitors, except the Temple, which is open to Church members only.

The Temple (Matt Morgan)

Lunch on the run

Head through the sumptuous interior of the Joseph Smith Memorial building (13) on 15 East South Temple to The Garden Restaurant (14) on the 10th floor (001 801 539 3170; templesquare.com; 11am-9pm Mon-Thurs, until 10pm Fri-Saturday, closed Sunday). The glass room, which has a retractable roof, commands impressive views of the city, and the fried dill pickles, at $8, are incredibly moreish. As this is a Church-run restaurant, there is no alcohol or coffee for sale.

Window shopping

With an artificial, carp-filled creek winding between shops and fountains choreographed by the team behind Las Vegas’ Bellagio displays, the City Creek Shopping Center (15) on 50 South Main Street is no ordinary mall (001 801 521 2012; shopcitycreekcenter.com; 10am-9pm, closed on Sundays). As well as a Macy’s and a Nordstrom, the center has a luxury zone that includes branches of Tiffany’s and Swarovski.

An aperitif

Dive into the craft cocktail trend at the The Copper Common (16) on 111 East Broadway (001 801 355 0543; coppercommon.com; 5pm-1am), which offers some extraordinarily potent whisky-based drinks, including the $12 Scotch Your Nose, a blend of scotch, cherry liqueur, cynar, fernet branca and with an islay rinse. Bring your passport: all bars in Salt Lake City ask for ID; a driver’s licence is not sufficient.

Keys on Main (17) (001 801 363 3638; keysonmain.com; 7pm-1am), at 242 Main Street, is a duelling piano bar that also does karaoke and cocktails. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Dine with the locals

Dinner at Current Fish and Oyster (18) (001 801 326 3474; currentfishandoyster.com) is only a short stagger away, at 279 300 South. All exposed brickwork and metal, it specialises in generous portions of East and West Coast oysters for around $10. There’s wagyu sirloin for the meat eaters and plenty of salads for veggies. Dinner is 5pm-10pm except Sundays, when it’s only open for brunch.

Current Fish and Oyster

Day Two

Sunday morning: go to church

The Latter Day Saints’ services last about three hours; so if you’re pushed for time head to the Catholic Cathedral of the Madeleine (19). The Romanesque building on 331 East South Temple (001 801 328 8941; utcotm.org; 7am-9pm), was completed in 1909 and features some spectacular stained glass windows. Sunday Masses take place between 8.30am and 11am, and again at 3pm and 6pm.

Out to brunch

As well as winding up locals by naming one if its beers “Polygamy Stout”, Squatters’ brewpub (20) on 147 West Broadway (001 801 363 2739; squatters.com) serves up huge portions of classic American fare, including buffalo wings ($10.99) and a “Roadhouse skillet”, or grill. Brunch – which also includes pancakes with sausages or bacon, breakfast burritos, huevos rancheros and plenty more – is served until 3pm.

Cultural afternoon

Utah’s sweeping plains and red rock deserts were once home to hundreds of species of dinosaurs. Live out your Jurassic Park fantasies at the Natural History Museum (21) (001 801 581 4303; nhmu.utah.edu; 10am-5pm daily except Wednesdays, when it’s open until 9pm; $13), set in the foothills at 301 Wakara Way. Its 30,000 paleontology specimens include Allosaurus and Utahraptors as well as a new species of Tyrannosaur. The museum’s building is beautiful; built with guidance from local Native Americans, its curving terraces blend seamlessly into the surrounding rock.

Red Butte Garden

Icing on the cake

The Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which stretches 100 miles along the western edge of the Wasatch Mountains, skirts behind the Natural History Museum (bonnevilleshorelinetrail.org). Join it at the Living Room trailhead (22) on Colorow Drive and hike up about two miles into the foothills to enjoy sunset atop the giant flat stone slabs that mark the “Living Room” (23) – pack a torch for the journey back. The walk is moderately difficult, so if hiking isn’t your thing take a stroll around the nearby Red Butte Garden (24) at 300 Wakara Way (001 801 585 0556; redbuttegarden.org; 9am-9pm May-August and for shorter hours off-season; $12).