Our itinerary
Day 1
Wednesday afternoon we landed at SLC around 3:30pm, hopped off the plane & grabbed our bag. SLC is such a massive airport with tons of great food + shops so by the time we made it to baggage claim our suitcase was already there so made for a quick pickup! Once we had all of our stuff, we jumped in the NU Rental shuttle bus to go to the off site car rental lot. After the lady walked us through all the info, we grabbed the keys to our Jeep Compass, & headed for the mountains! From Salt Lake City to Park City is about 45 minutes & is mainly highway so a super simple drive + very scenic.
Since we had some time to kill before we could check in to our hotel + hadn’t had lunch yet, we decided to stop at Boneyard Saloon to grab a bite to eat. Inside was all decorated for Christmas & had the best local vibe. Alec got the zolupez golden ale + wagyu sliders and I got the chicken & dumpling pot pie. It was seriously the best pot pie I’ve ever had, it literally tasted like a home cooked meal that your grandma would make in the fall. After we wrapped up at lunch we headed for Park City Mountain to grab our ski rentals from Legacy Sports & check out the area. If you can, we highly rec getting your rentals the day before you actually ski (especially if you or anyone in your party are planning to go to ski school) because it takes about an hour for your fitting & that’s when no one is there. Once we grabbed our ski boots, helmets, poles, & skis, we valleted the poles & skis at the base of the mountain & headed for our hotel. The valet was super convenient + free so might as well take advantage of it & not carry more than you have to! Overall driving in Park City is very easy, there is basically one main road that everything is on & nothing is more than 10-15 minutes away. So after we left Park City Mountain Village, we checked into Park City Peaks Hotel. All of the staff was amazing + the hotel gave off a very modern warm vibe. Once we got to our room we unpacked, relaxed, & rested after our long day of travel.
After we had rested & recovered, we decided to drive down to Main Street to grab hot chocolates from Java Cow. Before we could finally pick a spot though we drove up & down the street so many times because it was seriously the cutest hallmark town ever, especially at Christmas time! Once we grabbed our hot cocoa we drove back to our hotel & chilled in the lobby by the fireplace. Alec & I have really been into playing card games lately & luckily the hotel had tons of complementary card & board games to play in the lobby. While we were chilling in the lobby Alec grabbed dinner to go for us fromVersante Hearth + Bar which was located in the lobby of our hotel. We split the spiro pizza & white cheddar mac + cheese which was to die for. After dinner we headed back to our room to get ready for bed & prep for my first day of skiing ever!!
Day 2
Thursday morning we had to get up pretty early because my ski school lesson started at 9:15am. Luckily our hotel had continental breakfast so we were able to quickly grab a bite, get geared up, & hit the slopes.
As many of you know I did competitive gymnastics growing up & wasn’t able to do any other risky sport or activity due to risk of injury, so this was my first time ever skiing. I was super nervous but literally can’t thank my ski school instructor enough for teaching me so well, making sure I felt comfortable, & making my learning experience so fun! I was in an adult group lesson with only 2 other women. If you are like me & learning for the first time as an adult, we highly rec ski school + going skiing earlier in the season. Obviously you then run the risk of not having enough snow (which happened to us) but it wasn’t crowded at all which made it a lot easier for me to learn. Luckily there were 2 open runs in Park City Mountain so Alec was able to ski on those while I did the bunny slope! My morning lesson was from 9am-12pm and by that time we were both exhausted. So we met up for lunch in the village and decided to try Baja Cantina. Alec ordered the Canyons quesadilla & I got the Santa Fe quesadilla. Both were super tasty & def helped fuel our afternoon skiing. After we wrapped up at lunch I headed back to my afternoon ski school lesson & Alec hit the slopes! Again since it wasn’t too crowded I ended up getting my own private lesson because no one else showed up. Technically my lesson was supposed to be from 1-4pm but by 3pm I was ready to call it a day. Luckily Alec felt the same way so we dropped our poles & skis off at the valet again & headed to the Pig Pen Saloon for a quick drink. We were both excited to try something new + festive so Alec got the Smokey S’more & I got the Hot Apple Pie. After finishing our tasty, warm drinks we went back to our hotel to freshen up before dinner.
Once we got ready we were so excited to head back down to Main Street again to see all the lights + decor! We decided to get dinner at The Spur Bar & Grill which was such a great choice. They had the cutest rooftop bar + live music all night long. To drink I got the botanical love & Alec got the spurs amber ale. If you know us well you know we love a good tapas style so we decided to split the bbq wings & the margarita flatbread. Everything was so tasty & the atmosphere was super romantic. Of course the Cowboys were playing so after dinner we headed over to one of the local’s favorite bars, No Name Saloon. The inside was covered with Christmas lights & great music, the perfect atmosphere for a Cowboys win & kicking Alec’s butt in shuffle board!
Day 3
Friday morning & afternoon were pretty similar to Thursday. We grabbed complimentary breakfast from our hotel lobby & then headed to Park City Mountain Village for my 2nd day of ski school. Kassidy, my ski school instructor from the day before, was not available in the morning so I had to join a different adult group. Friday was def more crowded than Thursday so the groups were bigger & slopes had a lot more people. I did my lesson from 9-12pm again while Alec did his thing, then we grabbed lunch at Legends Sports Bar & Grill. Even though it wasn’t that cold when we visited, Alec & I were both feeling the winter, soup season vibes so I got the tomato bisque & he got the beef chili. Both were so good but if we had to vote we would have both picked his, it was so tasty! After lunch we both went back to skiing from about 1-3:30pm. Luckily Kassidy, my favorite ski school instructor, was back so I got to finish off my ski school lesson with her! We had such a blast just chatting, practicing skiing, & enjoying each other’s company. By the end of the second day I felt like I had already made such an improvement skiing & actually felt comfortable going down the bunny slope. Probably one of my favorite memories from the entire trip was getting to ski down the mountain with Alec, just the 2 of us. It was such an adventurous, romantic moment that I will cherish forever! Once we had finished skiing together, we returned all of our gear at Legacy Sports inside the village & headed back to our hotel.
After 2 full days of skiing we were exhausted + so sore! So once we got back to our hotel we just chilled for a bit before getting ready for dinner. We of course had to go back to Main Street & eat at another local’s favorite, Banchan. This was by far the best meal of the trip, Alec & I split the Japanese gyoza, carnitas bao buns, & Korean fried chicken. It was all to die for but legit the Korean fried chicken was insanely good!! After dinner we decided to walk around the Main Street area some more to see all the lights & Christmas decor. Of course we just had to stop into Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some sweet treats before heading back to our hotel to crash.
Day 4
Saturday morning we decided to take it nice & slow so we slept in & took our time getting ready for the day. We started off by having brunch at The Eating Establishment. Since we didn’t have reservations we had to put our names down & wait about 30 minutes but it was so worth it. While we waited we walked around all of the shops on Main Street, popped into the local bookstore, & picked up some souvenirs. Once we got our table, we both started off with mimosas then Alec ordered the biscuits & gravy & I got the huevos rancheros. Everything was so tasty & the service was phenomenal.
After brunch, we decided to drive over to Deer Valley to check out the skiing + resort area. It was only about a 10 minute drive & was very scenic. While we were there we road the funicular from the base of the St. Regis Deer Valley hotel to the top to check out the hotel + view. After walking around for a bit, we drove over to Woodward Park City which was about 15-20 minutes away. Originally we wanted to go tubing here, however it didn’t work out for us this trip. It is $50 a person for 2 hours down 2 different hills which was super cool but we were hoping for it to be a little less expensive/not so long. But if you have the time + money, it seems super fun for all ages! However, they do rec you buy tickets & pick times ahead of time because it fills up quickly especially on the weekends or during busy seasons. Since we weren’t able to tube, we decided to drive up to the Utah Olympic Park. It was basically on our way back to our hotel just a little further up the hill. It was such a cool area to explore + offered guided tours as well as tons of interactive activities throughout the museum. Alec & I went through the free museum portion & got to learn even more about the Winter Olympics & about the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic games in 2002. After we finished exploring the grounds, we hopped back in the car & headed to happy hour at our hotel restaurant, Versante Hearth + Bar. Alec got the Breckinridge amber ale while I enjoyed my bubbly & then we split the most incredible spinach artichoke dip we have ever had! Once we finished our happy hour apps & drinks, we quickly went back to our hotel room to change & head to dinner at Butcher’s Chophouse. It was a super romantic restaurant with tons of beautiful Christmas decor all around. To eat, I ordered the corn chowder & Alec got the prime rib with asparagus & jalapeño Mac + cheese. We had the best time reminiscing on our amazing year of travel & last vacation of the year!
When we were at dinner the night before at Banchan, our waiter informed us about the annual Santa Pub Crawl happening on Saturday night. So of course Alec & I were all gung ho about it! We went to Wally World, got kid’s toys for the toy drive, festive Santa hats, & were ready to join the locals. The pub crawl actually started at Butcher’s Chophouse so after we wrapped up dinner, we dropped off our gift, & headed for the second bar on the list. Everywhere was pretty crowded but it was for a great cause + the lines all moved very fast. We ended up going to the Downstairs, Cabin, & finished off at No Name Saloon. Overall it was such a fun night rocking out to Christmas music & chilling with a bunch of local Santas!
Day 5
Sunday morning we slept in as much as we could before packing up & checking out. We grabbed a quick breakfast from our hotel again then headed to return our rental & go to the airport.
We are so grateful for our last trip of 2021 & couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the year!!
What to wear
Ski essentials-
A: ski goggles + ski gloves + ski pants + ski jacket + ski socks + boots & beanie
B: ski goggles + ski gloves + ski overalls + ski jacket + ski socks + boots & beanie
Where to stay
We absolutely loved our hotel, Park City Peaks Hotel! The staff was super friendly, they had complimentary games in the lobby, free parking garage, as well as continental breakfast. The vibe was the perfect mix of modern + chic cabin with the perfect amount of cozy Christmas decor for the holiday season. The hotel was only 5 minutes from Park City Mountain Village, 3 minutes from Canyon Village, & 10 minutes from Main Street with all the food + shops. You seriously could not go wrong with this hotel!!
We stayed in their regular king room & it was the perfect amount of space. We had considered getting the king suite just to not feel so crammed or crowded since skiing requires so much gear & equipment, but the regular king was perf!
Other places
Where to eat
Places to eat at the base of the Park City Mountain Resort
Legacy Lodge-
Adventure Park-
Coffee + Breakfast
Brunch/Lunch
High West Saloon (dinner too)
Twisted Fern (dinner too)
Dinner
Breweries + Wineries
Dessert
What to do
Woodward Park City (tubing)
Winter activities:
What to save
If you are planning to travel to Park City during the winter, you should expect to spend anywhere from $2,000-3,000 (travel & stay included). This price does include a rental car which we highly recommend getting! It was super helpful for us when going back & forth from the hotel to skiing + exploring Main Street & other areas in the city. Of course this price will totally vary depending on the type or people/group you go with but since this was my first time skiing we had to pay for 2 full days of ski school for me which isn't cheap but was SO worth it!
xo,
the stegalls
Kommentare