Palm Springs is a desert retreat of mid-century modern architecture, boutique hotels and palm-lined streets, with Joshua Tree and Coachella Valley hikes close by. It is the place for slow poolside days between October and April.
Good to know
- From June through September it regularly tops 105F; many restaurants and hotels slash prices and the town goes quiet.
- Book a modernism tour in February during Modernism Week, or earlier; hotels sell out.
- Take the Aerial Tramway early; temperatures at the top are 30 degrees cooler than the valley floor.
Eat this
Places the planner can use
Mark places as a must or something to skip. The itinerary is built only from this list; ★ marks the destination’s highlights.
Bus or bike tour past homes by Albert Frey, Richard Neutra and Donald Wexler, including the Kaufmann House.
Walkable strip of vintage shops, bars and restaurants that wakes up after sunset.
Strong on Western art, glass and contemporary work, with a sculpture garden.
Old-school Palm Springs dining rooms for steak, martinis and live piano.
Terrace bars catch the light on the San Jacinto Mountains as the sun drops.
Palm Springs' signature: a good book, a cold drink and a mid-century pool deck.
Desert spas offer mineral soaks, clay wraps and mesquite-smoked treatments.
Rotating gondola climbs 8,500 feet in ten minutes to Mt. San Jacinto State Park with hiking trails and snow in winter.
Granite boulders and Dr. Seuss-like trees an hour away; walk Hidden Valley and catch sunset at Keys View.
Palm oases and streams on Agua Caliente tribal land with guided hikes through Andreas and Palm Canyons.
Drive past rows of wind turbines, then to the eerie shoreline of the Salton Sea.
Desert zoo with giraffes, cheetahs and a native-plant botanical garden.