I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer! As part of our summer plans this year, my husband and I decided to do a Utah Travel Series: “50 Reasons to Visit Utah in the Summertime.” This is intended for both those who are visiting Utah from out-of-state, as well as Utah residents who are looking for some fun “staycations” right here at home! Our first part of the Utah travel series was Park City and we had SO MUCH FUN!
I'm convinced now that you don't have to travel far to have a fun vacation. We thought we might get bored by allotting 3-4 full days for Park City, but we ended up wishing we had stayed all week! If you are planning a trip to Utah, I hope you spend some time in Park City!
ACTIVITIES
We spent our first day at Park City Mountain Resort. We showed up in the afternoon and had a few hours before they closed, which I thought would be plenty of time, but if you are getting the full day pass, I would show up earlier in the day. I knew there was an alpine slide, but I had no idea that there were so many other attractions! My husband's favorite ride was the ZipRider, and mine was the Coaster. The Alpine slide was also really fun because our toddler could ride it with us and she had so much fun. There are also some little kid rides (carousel, etc.), and a bounce house.
Our second day was spent at Deer Valley Resort. My sister and I took a scenic chair lift ride and then went shopping, while our husbands went mountain biking! They went with a guide and LOVED it! Deer Valley had an awesome kid's camp that we enrolled the kids in for a half day. I was nervous to leave my 12-month old because she's super attached, but I came back to 2 smiling girls….SCORE!
Our last morning was spent at Canyons Resort. We rode the gondola up the mountain and enjoyed a short guided hike. Our guide was fun to talk to and he had lots of good advice for activities for our next trip! We had planned on a longer hike than the one we did, but we forgot the pack for the baby! Don't do that…
One thing we wished we had done at Canyons Resort was one of their Zip Tour Adventures. One of their zip tours spans 2,111 feet through the canyon and it looked amazing! They also have fishing, golf and other activities.
SHOPPING
Park City has some really great shopping options. You can shop/explore art galleries on Main Street, or you can spend some good time at the Outlet mall (Tanger Outlets), or there is a farmer's market on Wednesdays at the base of Canyons Resort. It's free to ride the gondola down to the Farmer's Market, so that might be a fun activity for the kids if they have never been on one before!
DINING
I'm kind of a foodie, I love trying new restaurants! But I also hate paying for food that doesn't end up being that good, so I do a lot of research on Trip Advisor ahead of time. There were 5 restaurants we tried while we were in Park City: Ghidottis, Sammy's Bistro, El Chubasco, Loco Lizard, and the Bridge Cafe and Grill. Sammys was good food, but it wasn't out-of-this-world like the reviews made me think it might be. We tried the fried chicken, the pork nachos, and a really good sandwhich (can't remember the name of it). The sandwhich was definitely my fave. Ghidotti's was pretty good and was a great family option! We ordered their family dinner for 4 and had it delivered to our room after our first long day. We ordered the parmesan chicken–it was yummy and filling! El Chubasco was okay, but if you are wanting good Mexican Food, the Loco Lizard is where it's at! The food was fabulous! We also enjoyed the Bridge Cafe and Grill. We ate there when we were exploring old Main Street, and we really enjoyed it! We wanted something unique, and it was yummy! My brother-in-law spent a few years in Uruguay and was thrilled to get the Brazuca burger (it has a fried egg on it)! My husband and sister also really enjoyed their burgers. You might notice I have a thing for fish tacos by the photos below…
Out of the places we ate, Loco Lizard and Bridge Cafe & Grill were by far our favorite. We will definitely be back! We also ate at Kneaders since it was walking distance from our hotel, but that one wasn't new to us. Kneaders will always be a favorite!
LODGING
Okay. now for lodging. This is another thing that I spent hours reading reviews for because I really hate it when we end up in a bummer hotel. We spend one night at the Montage and several nights at Newpark Resort. Both were AMAZING, but would appeal to different people and different situations. Newpark is the biggest bang for your buck. I was amazed at how nice the rooms are for the price range. We felt so spoiled. We had a room with a kitchenette, so it was nice to be able to make our breakfasts in our room, as well as pack lunches and snacks. The rooms also have private Freshy-filled hot tubs on the balcony, which was super cool. Tho pool was an indoor/outdoor combo and also had a steam room and dry sauna! My husband and I were talking about planning a family reunion at Newpark sometime in the future, because the rooms can accommodate families really well and the kitchenette would be super helpful. The location of Newpark was also my favorite. It's right in the middle of of the Newpark Town Center, where there are multiple shops, restaurants, a bowling alley and even a movie theatre. We didn't notice until we were leaving, but there is a really fun splash pad over by the field house. This hotel is located central to everything! The outlets are a block away and all of the resorts are really close!
If you have an Anniversary or something special coming up, Montage is your place! It's a little on the pricier side, but it's worth it! We felt so so pampered! This place is incredible! When we pulled up, the valet parked our car and then we were greeted at the front desk with a sleigh of stuffed animals (deer, moose, etc.) for our girls to choose from. They were thrilled. We were escorted to our room where we were greeted by fresh fruit, milk, and warm cookies! We walked around the room just admiring everything for several minutes: the chocolate truffles by our pillow, the hand painted signs welcoming our kids to the resort, the fun robes and slippers, and the amazing shower and tub (they were HUGE). We made it just in time for their complimentary gourmet s'mores out around one of the big fire pits and sat there just soaking in the mountain air. There were hot tubs and saunas and everything you could imagine for ultimate relaxation and pampering! I told my husband we need to start saving up because I really want to go back during the winter season. I can only imagine how nice it would be to come back to a place like this after a long day of snowboarding. Agghh. So wonderful. When we were at the pool, we met a family from New York that comes to Park City every year and stays at the Montage. I was totally jealous. That is nowhere near being in our budget 🙂 But it was definitely an incredible experience!
Goodbye Park City! Until next time…
What are you favorite things to do in Utah and/or Park City??
If you are taking a vacation anytime soon, be sure to check out our travel section for packing tips, entertainment for the kids, and lot of other good stuff!
We are touring Salt Lake City and Northern Utah next week! Tune in soon for more vacation ideas!
*The majority of our travel guides accept free services in order to facilitate a review.