salt lake city utah favorite things to do TEMPLE

Salt Lake City is probably our most regular vacation spot. It is gorgeous nestled in the valley at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. There are beautiful places to hike, delicious places to eat, fun museums to visit and our favorite: Temple Square in downtown. Read on for why we love it so much and what amazing things you need to do!

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1. Temple Square

This is a must visit for us every time we are in town. We love being on the gorgeous grounds (if you go between Thanksgiving and New Years, they have the most incredible Christmas light display up and fabulous concerts). This is where the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is located. You can see the gorgeous temple as well as many other free tourist sites on the grounds.

salt lake city utah favorite things to do CHRISTUS STATUE TEMPLE SQUARE

There are endless amounts of fun things to do on Temple Square, but some of our favorites are seeing the new free movies in the Joseph Smith Building- in the Legacy Theater, going on the elevator to the roof of the Church Office Building for an amazing view of the Salt Lake Valley, playing in the children's are on the top floor of the Church History Museum, taking a tour of the Conference Center (the artwork there is absolutely beautiful, and the kids love all the fountains), and visiting the awe inspiring Christus Statue in the North Visitor Center.

Every time I drive up to Temple Square I get a warm feeling in my heart. I'm at peace, I'm at home. I love it.

salt lake city utah favorite things to do TEMPLE SQUARE

2. City Creek Mall

This is directly across the street from Temple Square. This is a very cool mall because there is a creek that runs through the shopping area that is teeming with fish. My husband may or may not have tried to catch some with the kids last time we were there.

There's tons of great shopping, restaurants and my kids love playing in the fountains. The bathrooms are clean (spotless on Temple Square as well) . I think we had to visit most of them (eye roll). The girls thought the mall maps were the funnest thing ever, as well as the visit to Chick Fil-A for lunch and the Disney Store.

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salt lake city utah favorite things to do CITY CREEK MALL

3. Thanksgiving Point

This was the first time I'd been to the Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point. They were beautiful! We rented a golf cart and drove all through the different gardens. It’s acres and acres of colorful flowers, trees, ponds and shrubbery. The area is huge, so I was very grateful we didn’t do it all on foot.

I especially loved the "I am the Light of the World" sculpture garden. They had the most gorgeous bronze statues of the life of Jesus Christ. They have an evening event that is very popular when all the sculptures are lit up.

See the pictures below for a quick snap shot of what the gardens look like.