Most Utah-bound travelers will fly into the Salt Lake City airport: It’s well served and convenient as a jumping-off point to most of the state, and if you’re after the Utah experience, Salt Lake City is undeniably a big part of it. But travelers bound for the southern tier of the state might consider using the Las Vegas airport—it’s an easy drive from Zion National Park.

Most visitors to Utah come with a specific destination or activity in mind, such as touring the national parks and monuments in the southern part of the state or skiing the Wasatch Range, and, indeed, it’s impossible to see the entire state on a typical one-week vacation. But it is often possible to explore your chosen destination and then dip into another place or two that’s not too far off your route. For instance, if you’re visiting Bryce Canyon National Park, it would be a shame to miss the nearby Red Canyon and Kodachrome Basin State Park.

Some really cool destinations, such as the granaries and rock art in remote Nine Mile Canyon, require quite an effort to reach. And sometimes, a place that may seem merely unavoidable, such as Salt Lake City, can become a place you’re eager to return to.

Southern Utah’s parks and monuments are all within an easy day’s drive of one another, and a week is long enough to begin to get acquainted with this area. Of course, after a week, you’ll leave with a long list of hikes and river trips you’ll want to take next time around. Two weeks will give you enough time to take some of those trips into the backcountry or to check out other areas, such as the dinosaur fossils and rock art in northeastern Utah.

Even if you only have a long winter weekend, it’s easy to fly into Salt Lake in the afternoon and be skiing the next morning. Whether you base yourself in Salt Lake City (cheaper) or at a resort in Park City or Big or Little Cottonwood Canyon, there will be plenty of time to spend on the slopes. This is also about the only kind of trip to Utah where you can easily get away with not having a car. City buses and private shuttles run frequently to mountain resorts, but the rest of the state is barely served by bus or rail.