Salt Lake City’s Longest-Running Sightseeing Tour
Salt Lake City Tours That Make Sightseeing Easy
Not sure what to do in Salt Lake City? See Temple Square, the Utah State Capitol, historic downtown, and Salt Lake’s must-see landmarks with the city’s longest-running sightseeing tour company. No parking, no planning, no guessing what’s worth seeing.
Prefer help choosing? Call 801-364-3333 and talk with the Salt Lake City team that operates the tours.
Salt Lake City Guided Bus Tour
The most complete way to see Salt Lake City’s top landmarks without planning, parking, or guessing what matters.
- Get off the bus at major sights with your local guide
- See Temple Square, Utah State Capitol, historic downtown, and more
- 10am tour includes live Tabernacle organ recital
- Climate-controlled bus with panoramic view windows
Tabernacle Choir & Salt Lake City Bus Tour
Upgrade the Salt Lake City Guided Bus Tour with tickets to hear the world-famous Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
- Includes the Salt Lake City Guided Bus Tour plus the Choir experience
- Hear the world-famous Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square
- Sunday includes the live broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word
- Limited weekly availability: Sundays and Thursdays only
Salt Lake City Trolley Tour
A 90-minute sightseeing show on wheels with costumed performers, stories, songs, comedy, and photo stops.
- Ride a vintage-style trolley with costumed local performers
- Live theatrical storytelling with songs, comedy, and SLC history
- Photo stops at iconic Salt Lake City landmarks
- Best choice for families, groups, and guests who want more than a traditional tour
Great Salt Lake Guided Tour
The easiest way to visit the Great Salt Lake, Saltair, and the lake’s shoreline without renting a car or planning the route yourself.
- Visit Great Salt Lake State Park and the marina
- Explore the historic Saltair Resort area
- Walk the shoreline and see the lake’s famous salty landscape
- Look for migratory birds, wildlife, and wide-open lake views
Compare City Tour Options
Which Salt Lake City Tour Is Right for You?
Choose the complete city overview, the theatrical trolley adventure, or the premium Choir upgrade with city sightseeing included.
Salt Lake City Guided Bus Tour
The complete city sightseeing tour with guided stops at major landmarks.
The fullest Salt Lake City overview in one easy trip.
- Get off the bus at major sights with your local guide
- Temple Square, Utah State Capitol, historic downtown, and more
- 10am tour includes the live Tabernacle organ recital
- Climate-controlled bus with panoramic view windows
Salt Lake Trolley Adventure
A 90-minute sightseeing show on wheels with costumed performers.
The most fun and memorable way to see Salt Lake City.
- Vintage-style trolley with costumed local performers
- Live storytelling with songs, comedy, and Salt Lake history
- Photo stops at iconic Salt Lake City landmarks
- Best choice for guests who want more fun than a traditional tour
Tabernacle Choir + City Tour
The guided city tour plus tickets to hear the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
The city tour plus a world-famous live Choir experience.
- Includes the Salt Lake City Guided Bus Tour
- Tickets to the Choir experience are included
- Hear the world-famous Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square
- Limited availability: Sundays and Thursdays only
Know Before You Go
Salt Lake City Sightseeing FAQ
Fast answers for choosing the right Salt Lake City tour, booking direct, visiting Temple Square, and planning an easy day of sightseeing.
What is the best Salt Lake City tour for first-time visitors?
The Salt Lake City Guided Bus Tour is the best choice for most first-time visitors who want the complete city overview. It covers Temple Square, the Utah State Capitol, historic downtown, and major landmarks in one easy guided trip.
Which tour is the most comprehensive?
The Salt Lake City Guided Bus Tour is our most comprehensive city sightseeing tour. It is built for travelers who want the fullest overview of Salt Lake City without planning the route, parking, or guessing what is worth seeing.
Which tour is best for families or groups?
The Salt Lake Trolley Adventure is usually the best choice for families, groups, and guests who want a more entertaining experience. It is a 90-minute sightseeing show on wheels with costumed performers, stories, songs, comedy, and photo stops.
Is Temple Square open during renovations?
Yes, portions of Temple Square are open during renovation. Access can change as construction continues, and the Salt Lake Temple itself remains closed for renovation ahead of the announced 2027 open house. A guided city tour helps visitors understand what they are seeing and where the best current views are.
Can I hear the Tabernacle Choir on a Salt Lake City tour?
Yes. The Tabernacle Choir + Salt Lake City Bus Tour combines our guided city sightseeing tour with the Choir experience. It is available only on Sundays for the live broadcast and Thursdays for public rehearsal.
Are Choir tickets included?
Yes. Tickets to the Choir experience are included with the Tabernacle Choir + Salt Lake City Bus Tour. This is the premium upgrade for travelers who want the city tour plus one of Salt Lake City’s most famous cultural experiences.
Do you get off the bus during the tour?
Yes. On each of our tours you'll have the opportunity to explore off the bus at multiple attractions, led by your local expert guide. Walking is light, suitable for all ages and ability levels.
Are the buses and trolleys air-conditioned?
Yes. City Sights tours use climate-controlled vehicles for year-round comfort. That matters in Salt Lake City because summers can be hot and winters can be cold or snowy.
Where do Salt Lake City tours start?
Tours depart from the Radisson Downtown Hotel, 215 W South Temple, Salt Lake City. Parking is available, directions provided in your confirmation email.
Should I book direct or through Viator, Tripadvisor, or Expedia?
Book direct on this official City Sights website for our lowest price, free 24-hour cancellation, and help from the Salt Lake City team that operates your tour. Third-party travel sites can be useful for browsing, but booking direct gives you the cleanest support path if you have questions or plans change.
What is the cancellation policy?
City Sights offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before your tour departure. This helps travelers reserve seats early while keeping flexibility if plans change.
Can I book last minute?
Yes, when seats are available. Many guests book the same day or the day before. Because seating is limited by departure, reserving early is the safer choice, especially during weekends, holidays, conventions, and peak travel dates.
Local Expert Sightseeing Guide
Best Things to See in Salt Lake City
For first-time visitors, the smartest way to begin Salt Lake City is with a guided city tour. You see the landmark places visitors search for — Temple Square, the Utah State Capitol, pioneer monuments, historic mansions, downtown architecture, City Creek, Olympic sites, and more — while a local guide connects the stories you would miss on your own.
Salt Lake City is more interesting when the landmarks become one connected story.
On a map, Salt Lake City can look like a scattered list of buildings, monuments, mansions, churches, and viewpoints. On a guided tour, those places connect into one clear introduction to pioneer settlement, faith, statehood, mining wealth, railroads, architecture, Olympic ambition, local culture, and the mountain setting that makes the city unlike anywhere else in America.
Temple Square, the Tabernacle & Historic Church Landmarks
Salt Lake City’s most famous landmark district, with sacred architecture, gardens, performance spaces, pioneer history, and the city’s most important origin story.
- Most iconic SLC landmark area
- Covered on the guided city tour
- Best understood with local context
See why it matters
Temple Square is not just one stop. It is the historic center around which Salt Lake City was planned. Visitors often recognize the Salt Lake Temple, but the district also includes the Tabernacle, Assembly Hall area, historic church buildings, gardens, museums, family history resources, and surrounding landmarks tied to the city’s earliest development.
A guide helps visitors understand the difference between the Temple, the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, and the surrounding historic buildings — and why those distinctions matter. This is especially valuable during renovation periods, when access and views can change.
Best seen on tour because: Temple Square is dense with symbolism, architecture, and layered history. A local guide turns it from a photo stop into the central story of Salt Lake City.
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square
One of Salt Lake City’s signature cultural experiences and the premium upgrade for visitors who want sightseeing plus a live Choir experience.
- Sunday live broadcast experience
- Thursday public rehearsal experience
- Tickets included with Choir tour
See why it matters
The Tabernacle Choir is one of the city’s most recognizable cultural traditions. For many visitors, hearing the Choir turns a sightseeing day into a once-in-a-lifetime Salt Lake City memory.
The Choir tour is available only on select weekly departures, which makes it different from the standard daily sightseeing experience. It is the best fit for travelers who want the guided city overview plus one of Salt Lake City’s most famous live traditions.
Best seen on tour because: the timing, tickets, transportation, and city sightseeing are combined into one easy itinerary instead of requiring visitors to coordinate each piece separately.
Utah State Capitol: Inside, Outside & Overlook Views
One of the best places to understand Salt Lake City at a glance, with grand architecture, state history, and sweeping views of downtown and the mountains.
- Hilltop city and mountain views
- Architecture and Utah government history
- Major guided stop on the bus tour
See why it matters
The Utah State Capitol is one of Salt Lake City’s strongest sightseeing stops because it combines architecture, photography, civic history, and geography. From Capitol Hill, visitors can see downtown, the Salt Lake Valley, and the Wasatch Mountains in a single panorama.
A guide helps connect the Capitol to Utah’s territorial period, statehood, government history, and the city’s physical layout. Without that context, many visitors see only a beautiful building and miss why it sits where it does.
Best seen on tour because: the Capitol is more than a viewpoint. With local narration, it becomes one of the easiest places to understand Salt Lake City’s setting, power, and identity.
This Is The Place, Mormon Trail & Pony Express History
A powerful pioneer landmark that connects Salt Lake City to overland migration, the Mormon Trail, the Pony Express, and the first view into the valley.
- Pioneer and westward migration story
- Mountain and city views
- More meaningful with narration
See why it matters
This Is The Place is where Salt Lake City’s landscape and origin story come together. The eastern foothills help visitors understand what the valley looked like to pioneer travelers and why the approach into the valley mattered.
The area connects multiple American West themes: the Mormon Pioneer Trail, overland migration, early Utah settlement, the Pony Express, and the practical challenge of building a city in a desert basin surrounded by mountains.
Best seen on tour because: the monument becomes far more powerful when a guide explains the trail, the geography, the people, and the decision-making behind the settlement of Salt Lake City.
Brigham Young, the Beehive House & the Lion House
Downtown landmarks tied to Brigham Young, early Utah leadership, territorial government, family life, and the founding power structure of Salt Lake City.
- Historic homes and leadership sites
- Territorial Utah context
- Dense downtown history zone
See why it matters
The Beehive House and Lion House area helps explain why early Salt Lake City was so unusual: religious leadership, territorial politics, family life, settlement planning, and civic authority overlapped in the same downtown blocks.
These sites also help visitors understand Brigham Young not only as a church leader, but as a central figure in Utah settlement, government, and the physical development of Salt Lake City.
Best seen on tour because: the buildings are easy to pass without understanding how much early Salt Lake City history is concentrated around them.
South Temple Historic Mansions District
Salt Lake City’s great historic showpiece street, with mansions, churches, civic landmarks, mining wealth, railroad money, and old-city prestige.
- Historic mansions and architecture
- Mining, railroad, and civic stories
- Easy to miss without a guide
See why it matters
South Temple is one of Salt Lake City’s richest sightseeing corridors. It reflects the era when mining wealth, railroad expansion, religious influence, civic ambition, and elite residential architecture reshaped the city.
The street is often called Mansion Row because of the historic homes and institutions tied to prominent Utah families, business leaders, religious figures, and civic life. It is visually impressive, but the real value is in the stories behind the buildings.
Best seen on tour because: without narration, South Temple can feel like a pretty street. With a guide, it becomes a rolling timeline of power, money, architecture, and Salt Lake City society.
Washington Square, City & County Building and Main Library
A compact downtown area where historic civic architecture, modern library design, public space, and city government history sit side by side.
- Historic City and County Building
- Modern Main Library architecture
- Great for architecture lovers
See why it matters
Washington Square shows a different side of Salt Lake City from Temple Square. The historic City and County Building brings civic grandeur, sandstone architecture, and local government history into the sightseeing story.
Nearby, the Salt Lake City Main Library adds a modern architectural counterpoint, with dramatic design, public spaces, and city views. Together, the area helps visitors understand Salt Lake City as a living civic center, not only a religious or pioneer destination.
Best seen on tour because: a guide can connect the old civic landmarks, modern architecture, and downtown layout in a way that is hard to piece together on foot.
City Creek Center, Main Street & Downtown Salt Lake City
The modern downtown core where Temple Square, shopping, dining, hotels, convention activity, public art, and walkable city life meet.
- Helps orient first-time visitors
- Useful place to revisit after the tour
- Modern SLC beside historic landmarks
See why it matters
City Creek Center and Main Street help visitors understand the modern visitor experience in downtown Salt Lake City. This is where historic religious landmarks, hotels, restaurants, shopping, convention activity, public spaces, and city life come together.
For many first-time visitors, the tour is the easiest way to get oriented before deciding where to return later for lunch, shopping, photos, or a relaxed downtown walk.
Best seen on tour because: the tour gives visitors a fast mental map of downtown Salt Lake City so they can use the rest of their time more confidently.
Union Pacific Depot & Utah Railroad History
Downtown railroad landmarks that connect Salt Lake City to transportation, mining wealth, western migration, commerce, and Utah’s rise as a regional hub.
- Historic railroad and depot area
- American West transportation story
- Often overlooked without narration
See why it matters
Salt Lake City’s railroad history is central to its growth. Rail connections changed the city’s economy, accelerated mining and commerce, and helped transform Salt Lake City from an isolated settlement into a crossroads of the American West.
The Union Pacific Depot area gives visitors a tangible connection to that transportation story, but it is easy to miss the significance without knowing what the railroad meant for Utah.
Best seen on tour because: a local guide connects the railroad landmarks with mining money, downtown growth, western migration, and the larger transcontinental railroad story.
University of Utah, Fort Douglas, Rice-Eccles Stadium & Olympic Cauldron
The east bench area connects Salt Lake City to university life, military history, mountain geography, and the Olympic legacy many American visitors remember.
- University of Utah area
- Historic Fort Douglas setting
- 2002 Olympic legacy sites
See why it matters
The University of Utah area adds a different layer to Salt Lake City sightseeing. It connects the city to higher education, military history, mountain foothills, the east bench, and the Olympic story that put Salt Lake City on the world stage for a generation of travelers.
Rice-Eccles Stadium and the Olympic cauldron area are especially meaningful for visitors who remember the 2002 Winter Games, while Fort Douglas adds a much older military-history layer to the same part of the city.
Best seen on tour because: the area is spread out and not as intuitive for first-time visitors. A guided route helps connect the campus, Fort Douglas, Olympic sites, and mountain setting.
Salt Lake City Local Lore, Culture & Pop-Culture Footnotes
Salt Lake City has more personality than many visitors expect: pioneer legends, unusual architecture, mining-era drama, choir traditions, Olympic memories, quirky local culture, and surprising pop-culture footnotes.
- Fun stories behind the landmarks
- Makes the city more memorable
See why it matters
The best Salt Lake City sightseeing is not only about buildings. It is about the stories that make the buildings stick in your memory: pioneer hardship, unusual architecture, local legends, mining money, religious traditions, Olympic moments, and the odd little pop-culture details that surprise visitors.
One example: the Beach Boys recorded a song called Salt Lake City, a 1960s pop-culture footnote that often surprises visitors who do not expect the city to show up in that corner of American music history.
Best seen on tour because: maps and signs rarely give you the funny, human, strange, and memorable stories that make Salt Lake City feel alive.
See Temple Square, the Utah State Capitol, pioneer landmarks, historic districts, downtown architecture, Olympic sites, mountain views, and local stories in one easy overview with expert narration.