Spiritual home to the world’s Mormons, Salt Lake City is the administrative and religious headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And while there's more to Utah's state capital than spired temples and clean-cut missionaries – surprisingly, less than half of the population is Mormon – there's no denying the church's strong presence here.
The Salt Lake Temple towers above downtown's Temple Square, and the domed Tabernacle, built in 1867, is home of the famous choir. Explore your family tree at the Family History Library, or check out the 450-acre park where Brigham Young declared, "This is the place" — now called This Is the Place Heritage Park.
On a purely secular note, outdoorsy types flock here for the nearby Wasatch Mountains, where you can go hiking and mountain climbing in the summer, and skiing and snowboarding in the winter. And, of course, the Great Salt Lake is just 20 miles east of town. In town, the impressive Natural History Museum of Utah is worth a visit.