The Ultimate Salt Lake City Tour

There are a few things you should keep in mind when considering whether to attempt to just try to see the city on your own:

1. Our SLC Tour is widely considered by our guests to have been the best first thing they did when they got into town; it provides a perfect overview of the great attractions SLC has to offer. In a highly efficient 2.5 hours you can first sample the best highlights of the city and then decide where to return to spend more time based on your personal interests.

2. Driving and navigating the city on your own, you’ll be focused on traffic, stop lights and following turn-by-turn GPS directions instead of observing all the historic attractions you’re missing as you drive by. Over half of our time on the tour includes a wonderful narration by a professional guide as we travel through several historic districts and see hundreds of points of interest.

3. Self-guided visitors miss out on the fascinating insights and entertaining stories that an expert local tour guide has to offer. A great teacher makes the history come to life in a way you’ll never get by reading a Wikipedia building summary on your phone.

4. Our City Tour covers a 20-mile loop around SLC, there is definitely much more to see that isn’t in downtown. If all you did was walk a few blocks around the city center, you’d have missed out on some of the most amazing and beautiful sights SLC has to offer

The tour begins at the Radisson Downtown Hotel (215 W South Temple, SLC) and returns to the same spot where the tour bus parks curbside directly in front of the main lobby entrance.

• PARKING: All-day parking is available for a small fee at a lot directly across the street from Radisson (parking entrance address is 50 John Stockton Drive, SLC)

This ideal location is 1 block away from both Temple Square and City Creek Shopping Center, which offer popular sightseeing and dining options that many choose to enjoy after the tour.

Across the street from Radisson Downtown SLC Hotel is a large public parking lot that charges a small fee (Typically $10 for all-day parking, can vary with events of the day). Please allow yourself 10 minutes to pay, find a spot, and walk to Radisson Downtown Hotel.

Park Place is the name of the lot, with the main entrance located at 50 N 300 West Street. 300 West Street is also known as John Stockton Drive, so “50 John Stockton Drive, SLC” should also work in your GPS. See map links below:

GOOGLE MAPS LINK

APPLE MAPS LINK

Walking is minimal. This tour is designed to be comfortable for all ages and abilities. Many of our guests are seniors so we’ve kept them in mind. And it's truly up to you how much walking you'd like to do; some guests choose to remain on the bus at the various stops to suit their energy and ability levels.

About half of the total tour time is spent at four stops and the other half is enjoying an entertaining live narration by the tour guide while aboard the bus as it travels a 20-mile loop around Salt Lake City. Our four main stops are Temple Square, Utah Capitol Hill, Mormon Pioneer Trail Monument and Cathedral of the Madeleine; during these stops your tour guide will stay with the group to continue sharing stories and insights where appropriate.

Approximately half of the total tour time is spent on the bus as you travel a 20-mile loop around Salt Lake City through various historic districts. At evenly spaced intervals you'll be able to explore off the bus with your tour guide at several stops.

On our 10:00 AM Salt Lake City Tour, yes, we do visit the Mormon Tabernacle on Temple Square for a portion of the organ recital. It is held most days at noon and thus it is not available on our 2:00 PM City Tour that we offer in the summer months. If hearing the Tabernacle pipe organ is of great interest to you, please be sure to book our 10:00 AM City Tour, which we offer year-round.

Space is very limited on the bus, we don’t have room for wheelchairs or strollers. We may be able to accommodate folding wheelchairs or walkers but you must first call us directly at 801-364-3333 to confirm there will be space on your desired tour.

Temple Square is the most visited attraction in Utah attraction, with over 5 million visitors a year

• Mormon Tabernacle: built in 1867, home of the world renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir and one of the largest pipe organs in the world, 11,632 pipes!

• LIVE PERFORMANCE: a daily organ recital with the most famous pipe organ in the world

• Salt Lake Temple: the most iconic building in Utah and the largest Mormon temple in the world; inspired by medieval Gothic cathedrals of Europe, but built in the American Old West

• Gardens: 500,000 plants of 700 different varieties brought from 100 countries around the world

• Family History Library: largest genealogy library in the world

• Conference Center: largest theater-style auditorium ever built, 21,000 seats

• Historic Hotel Utah: century-old luxury hotel that hosted U.S. presidents, dignitaries and celebrities

BRIGHAM YOUNG’S ESTATE:

• Beehive House: stately home of Brigham Young, known as the “American Moses”

• Lion House: a polygamous mansion for 20 wives and 50 children in the Old West

• Eagle Gate arch: Prominent 76-foot span arch with a 2-ton American eagle statue atop, marks the entrance to Brigham Young’s estate

Utah Capitol Hill is filled with unique history, regal architecture and breathtaking scenery

• Capitol: second most beautiful in America, used for Hollywood movies to depict the U.S. Capitol; spectacular marble rotunda with 6,000 lb. chandelier!

• Scenic overlook: spectacular views of Rocky Mountains and 500-square-mile Salt Lake Valley

• Council Hall: City Hall of the Old West

• Mormon Battalion Monument: first and only religious unit in the U.S. military

• White Memorial Chapel: pioneer-era Mormon chapel overlooking the valley; first in the city to have a steeple

• Memory Grove: picturesque park featuring City Creek and memorials to Utah veterans

Mormon Pioneer Heritage Park

• Mormon Pioneer Trail: 70,000 pioneers walked 1,300 miles

• This is the Place monument: Mormon pioneers and explorers of the American West

• Deseret Village: a living history pioneer village

• Scenic overlook: mountain views, overlook of the entire valley and Great Salt Lake

• Pony Express Monument: awe-inspiring statues and Pony Express station with a beautiful mountain backdrop

BRIGHAM STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT: Named one of the "10 Great Streets of America" by American Planning Association

• Governor’s Mansion, and other mansions of wealthy mining magnates

• Cathedral of the Madeleine: Roman Catholic headquarters in Utah; only cathedral in America under patronage of Saint Mary Magdalene

• First Presbyterian Church: exquisite red sandstone and stained glass windows

• Masonic Temple: Egyptian Revival architecture and mysterious sphinx statues, used for Hollywood movies and television shows

• Mining Mansions: several other magnificent mansions built by silver and copper mining magnates 100 years ago

OTHER ATTRACTIONS:

• Historic Union Pacific Depot: one of the finest train stations in the Old West

• Gateway Center & Olympic Legacy Plaza: “The Gateway to the City”

• Pioneer Square and historic Rio Grande train station

• Fort Douglas: Civil War-era fort built to keep an eye on the Mormons

• Olympic Village and Stadium: relive the most successful Winter Olympics ever

• University of Utah: Founded 1850, the oldest state university west of Missouri River

• Trolley Square: Union Pacific magnate E.H. Harriman built Salt Lake City a state-of-the-art trolley car system in 1908, refashioned with inspiration from Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco

• Library Square: designed by a world-famous architect in a stunning modern style

• City Hall: striking Richardsonian Romanesque architecture and the symbol of non-Mormon citizens’ open defiance of the Mormon Church