Christmas in Utah | Top 10 Activities

Utah is a magical place to be in the Winter and especially during Christmas time. There is so much to do during the holidays, but I picked my very favorite to add to this list of top 10 Christmas activities in Utah!

1- Temple Square

Temple Square is a must for locals and visitors alike at Christmas time. Visiting around the holidays is one of my favorite traditions each year. All of Temple Square is lit up in magical lights and there are several cultural nativities placed all around the 35 acre grounds. Often times, there are free concerts and performances. Local groups- schools, choirs, bands- you name it- perform throughout the season. (I even performed here with my high school choir back in the day).

While seeing the lights at Temple Square, I always like to stop by the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to get warm and to see the beautiful Christmas Tree they have on display- definitely one of the best ones in all of Utah! I also like to stop in at the Nauvoo Café when I am there for a delicious hot Cocoa and if you are hungry, they serve up yummy warm soups and chicken pot pies!

If you are looking for a sit down meal- you can check out the Lion House Pantry, the Garden or the Roof.(Reservations may be required for the Garden and the Roof at this time of year.) The Roof is one of the nicest restaurants in all of Utah with a spectacular view overlooking Temple Square!

You can find more information about visiting Temple Square here.

2- Christmas in Color

It’s freezing outside, but you still want to do a Christmas activity? Don’t fret, Christmas in Color has you covered. You get to stay bundled up and warm in your car while you drive through acres of more than 1.5 million lights synchronized to holiday music that you can hear right through your car radio! You’ll see giant snowmen, Santa, arched pathways and tons more! The music synchronization is seriously super cool and it is fun for the whole family. You just pay $30 per vehicle and this year it is located in South Jordan, Utah.

Check out this website to buy your tickets.

3- Thanksgiving Point

Thanksgiving Point is family favorite all year long and Christmas is no exception! During Christmas time, Thanksgiving Point sets up Luminaria- a mile long walk into an enchanted holiday world. It is such an unique experience because there are over 25 scenes and they each have their own theme and even scents! (Crazy, right?)

There is even one spot where there is a really long hill and there are over 5000 luminaries set up on it! The luminaries actually light up to form a moving picture. There is also a nativity scene and also fire pits along the way to enjoy some hot cocoa or s\’mores! And to top it all off, there are even interactive Christmas games for kids to play. Luminaria is $20 a ticket so it isn’t the cheapest activity, but it will definitely be a memorable one.

Buy your tickets here!

I also love going to the front entrance area of Thanksgiving Point during Christmas time because there are also reindeer’s and cool ice sculptures around! I also really like the café there, they have really delicious home made sandwiches. Another favorite thing to do is visit the farm area and hang out with goats, llamas and more!

4- Gardner Village

Located just 12 miles south of downtown Salt Lake, lies Gardner Village, the cutest historic shopping plaza. Gardner Village has something to do in every season and Christmas is no exception. Gardner Village is so fun because it is an adorable and quaint village with cobblestone roads with plenty of cute shops, including a chocolate shop, a bakery and even a full restaurant called Archibald’s which serves up some really yummy comfort food.

Gardner Village goes all out for Christmas and decorates the entire place with cute little elf figurines. They even have little scavenger hunt forms so that you can take your little ones and try to find all of them. The elves are so cute and funny and they have done the best job setting up different displays and themes with them, each one telling a different story. Trust me, it’s adorable! There is also just really cute Christmas decorations everywhere so it’s a really great place for taking pictures as well! Other fun Christmas events include breakfast with Santa (a ticketed event) and their Escape room becomes a Grinch theme!

5- The Grand America Windows

My family has visited the Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City for their special Christmas windows several times now. The kids get really excited to see all of the different themes! The Grand America puts on a Grand Christmas Holiday Window Stroll and they showcase 14 different enchanting displays capturing the joy of the holidays. The Grand America is also decked out for the season and their are several beautiful Christmas trees inside as well as a beautifully displayed tree in the outside courtyard. The café at the Little America across the street is delicious and is perfect for dinner or dessert.

6- Christmas Carol Sing Along

The Christmas Carol Sing-a-long is definitely one of the best Christmas activities in Utah and the best part? It’s free! Thousands of people gather together at the Delta Center to sing carols and enjoy wholesome Christmas entertainment including a visit from Santa Claus himself! A lot of families get really into the event and get all dressed up in Christmas costumes or matching Ugly Christmas Sweaters in hopes that they will make it on the Jumbo-tron this year. The Jazz Bear is also there to celebrate running through out the crowds and throwing free SWAG to the crowd. Each year there is a different guest performance and it is always really good! My family had an absolute blast at this event and it was so nice to come together with so many other Utah families and just celebrate the holidays and sing Christmas carols. Another bonus? They always give out free donuts!

7- City Creek Center

City Creek Center is another must for the holidays. It can be added on with your visit to Temple Square as it is only a ten minute walk. In fact, I recommend parking here in the parking garages for your visit to Temple Square. If you don\’t have a car, the public transportation system TRAX is great for visiting downtown. Another way to get around downtown for the holidays is on the Jingle Bus. The Jingle Bus is a holiday-themed trolley circulating between the Gateway, Temple Square, City Creek Center, Eccles Theater and the Capitol Theater. One of my favorite things to do at City Creek Center is to see the Macy’s candy window displays. They are so intricate and incredibly made out of candy! They are different every year and seeing them is a real treat- no pun intended. 🙂

8- Visit Sundance Mountain Resort

I just visited Sundance Mountain Resort for the very first time around the holidays and it was absolutely magical! There were lights hanging everywhere, festive wreaths and other decorations that really just set the scene for this rustic Christmas. There are tons of walking paths near the ski slopes that are fun to explore and it feels like you walked into a Winter Wonderland. A big bonus is the fire pits everywhere, helping you to stay warm. The river through the resort was so beautiful and there were trees with huge lighted-lanterns. It started snowing while we were there and I was seriously running around like a little kid- I was so happy! They also have a really cute general store and a little café where you can get some hot cocoa! There is also an art studio there where you can sign up for different art classes including pottery. The studio looked so cute and quaint with a Christmas tree inside, I would love to do this next time!

9- Zoo Lights

Another one of my favorite events is Zoo Lights at Hogle Zoo. I’ve been to this event a few times now and I love it every time. The Zoo gets all decked out for this family friendly event. There are over 200 lighted animals and different holiday-themed displays through out the Zoo grounds. You can enjoy dinner at their restaurant Beastro and warm up with some hot chocolate or s’mores around a fire. It’s always really cold at Zoo Lights so make sure to bundle up! Luckily, they have a lot of heated lamps everywhere so you can keep warm! One of the coolest parts is the 10 life-sized animal shaped lanterns! I like these because they are so unique and you won’t find them at any other Christmas event in Utah. Of course, one of my favorite parts is seeing the animals. Some of the animals are much more active at night and it’s super fun to watch them!

10- Christmas Lights all over Utah

This is possibly one of the coolest activities ever and you can do it year after year and go to all different locations! This activity is perfect for a date night, family activity or friend outing. There are hundreds of houses/locations all over Utah that go all out for the Christmas season, whether it be incredible yard displays or thousands of lights all over a house that are synchronized to music. I check out KSL everywhere on my phone for their Utah Christmas Light Displays and when I click on their map, it automatically syncs to my Google Maps on my phone. It is the coolest thing ever! Then hundreds of Christmas trees appear all over the map of Utah. When you click on the Christmas tree, it tells you a little explanation about the house and then directs you to the house! I’ve done this for so many years in many different parts of Utah. So say you live in South Jordan and just want to stay in that location, you can just click on all of the Christmas trees in the South Jordan area and it will guide you to the houses!