Frank Sinatra's long, low Twin Palms house with a circular drive and tall palms in Palm Springs
USA

Palm Springs travel guide

Wild palm canyons, cacti stacked to the roof of a 1930s glasshouse and the low-slung houses Hollywood built for its weekends in the sun. Plan your Palm Springs trip, from the best months and getting around to where to stay and which of my guides to read first.

Julianna Barnaby
Travel and culture writer

Palm Springs sits at the foot of Mount San Jacinto in the Coachella Valley, two hours east of Los Angeles. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians have lived around its hot spring for thousands of years, film stars began driving out for the winter sun in the 1930s, and the architects who followed them left the city with one of the richest hauls of mid-century modern architecture anywhere. Today it’s a compact, walkable town of pools, galleries and cocktail bars, with palm-filled canyons on its doorstep and Joshua Tree an hour up the road.

My own visit came in November, midway through a Californian road trip from Death Valley to San Diego, with The Cole on the north side of town as my base. I wandered among the giant agaves at the Moorten Botanical Garden, cruised the boulder-strewn hillsides of Little Tuscany and Vista Las Palmas spotting rooflines, roared out of a dinosaur’s mouth at Cabazon and took a day out at Agua Serena Spa in Indian Wells, which turned out to be a real reset after weeks on the road. The one thing I missed was the Aerial Tramway, sold out on both days I tried.

Below you’ll find the essentials for planning a trip, plus links to every one of my Palm Springs guides.

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Start here

27 things to do in Palm Springs, Old Hollywood’s favourite desert hideaway
Palm trees silhouetted at dusk beside the Tramway Gas Station visitor centre in Palm SpringsHow to spend 2 days in Palm Springs (and still catch sunrise in Joshua Tree)Granite boulder piles lit by low sun behind desert scrub in Joshua Tree National Park20 brilliant day trips from Palm SpringsThe low stone Edris House set among desert boulders with two palm trees above it in Palm SpringsA self-guided tour of Palm Springs’ mid-century modern architecture, from Elvis’s honeymoon house to Sinatra’s piano-shaped pool

When to go

Come between October and May, when the days are warm and dry and the nights cool off. January to April is the busiest and priciest stretch, with Modernism Week in February (11 to 21 February 2027) and, in April, the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals down the valley in Indio. From June to September, highs average well over 100°F (38°C), and many sights shorten their hours or shut for the summer.

My pick is late autumn. My November visit had glorious weather, warm enough for the pool and cool enough for the canyon trails, with average highs around 78°F (26°C), dropping to the mid-50s°F (about 12°C) at night. October brings the shorter Modernism Week preview, and the city’s Pride celebrations fill early November.

Getting there and around

Palm Springs International Airport sits on the edge of downtown, and Los Angeles is roughly two hours’ drive west on the I-10. You can walk around downtown and Uptown, and Uber, Lyft and SunLine buses cover short hops, but the canyons, Cabazon, the wind farm, Indian Wells and Joshua Tree all need a hire car.

Where to stay

The Uptown Design District, the northern stretch of Palm Canyon Drive, makes the easiest base: it’s full of restaurants and design shops and sits on the way out to Joshua Tree and the I-10. My hotel was The Cole, a small, grown-ups-only place with a pool, a few minutes’ walk from Boozehounds. Downtown and the Historic Tennis Club streets just west of it suit anyone who wants to walk everywhere, while the motels along East Palm Canyon Drive, south of downtown, tend to have the liveliest pool scenes.

The Cole The Cole Uptown Design District, Palm Springs Check availability
Ace Hotel & Swim Club Ace Hotel & Swim Club East Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs Check availability
Korakia Pensione Korakia Pensione Historic Tennis Club, Palm Springs Check availability

Know before you go

Top things to do

Wander the Moorten Botanical Garden

Over 3,000 varieties of desert plants are crammed into one acre on South Palm Canyon Drive, in the garden Cactus Slim Moorten and his wife Patricia started in 1938. I went at lunchtime and found more shade than I’d bargained for, then lingered in the cactarium, the family’s glasshouse of rare cacti. My Moorten Botanical Garden guide has hours and tickets.

Go house-spotting on a mid-century drive

Albert Frey, E. Stewart Williams and their peers gave the city its butterfly roofs and walls of glass. Most of the famous homes are private, so this is a drive and a look from the street; I did mine one morning, with the Kaufmann House glimpsed through its gate. Follow my self-guided mid-century modern tour.

Meet Forever Marilyn and visit the Art Museum

Seward Johnson’s 26-foot Marilyn now stands in Downtown Park, beside the Palm Springs Art Museum’s dark stone building by E. Stewart Williams. It’s free on Thursday evenings and opens Thursday to Sunday only.

Walk among the palms of the Indian Canyons

At the southern end of town, the Agua Caliente people still own and care for the canyons where Palm Canyon shelters the biggest wild stand of California fan palms on Earth. For a gentle start, follow the mile-long stream loop in Andreas Canyon.

Ride the Aerial Tramway, if you can get a seat

The rotating cars climb two and a half miles up Chino Canyon to 8,516 feet, where pine forest replaces the desert. I tried on two separate days and couldn’t get on either time, so book your seat early.

Roar from the jaws of Mr Rex at Cabazon

Twenty-five minutes west on the I-10, Claude Bell’s concrete giants, Dinny and Mr Rex, have lured drivers off the freeway for decades. I climbed the stairs inside Mr Rex and peered out through his teeth. My Cabazon Dinosaurs guide covers the park today.

Spend a day at Agua Serena Spa

Half an hour down Highway 111, Agua Serena is the adults-only spa of the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells, with a eucalyptus steam room, sauna and fountain-lined patio. My cactus and date scrub left my skin glowing: read my Agua Serena Spa review.

Drive up to Joshua Tree for the day

The park’s West Entrance is about an hour’s drive away, which makes it an easy day out. I went that way myself, leaving The Cole in the dark to reach Keys View for sunrise. Start with my Joshua Tree National Park travel guide, and see my day trips from Palm Springs for other days out.

Suggested itineraries

Two days in Palm Springs

Two days

Canyons, cacti and downtown, then a desert sunrise and the mid-century houses

My 2-day itinerary puts the sights in order and works best from Thursday to Sunday.

Palm Springs and Joshua Tree

Four or five days

Two days in town, then the national park on day trips from your hotel in town

Add my 3-day Joshua Tree itinerary to the city days and you won’t need to move hotels.

A California desert road trip

Around ten days

From LA out to Death Valley, south to the Coachella Valley, then on to the coast at San Diego

My own November route; plan the first leg with my Death Valley guide and the rest with my California road trip.

Hidden Palm Springs

The San Gorgonio Pass wind farm

Thousands of turbines line the pass west of town, where the wind squeezes between two mountain ranges. My first afternoon’s drive into town took me straight through the middle of them, and they’re strangely mesmerising; Palm Springs Windmill Tours explains how they work.

The McCallum Trail at the Coachella Valley Preserve

An easy, sandy walk from the Thousand Palms Oasis to a pond ringed by fan palms, watered by springs along the San Andreas Fault. It’s free, about 25 minutes from town, and keeps limited hours, so check before you go.

The Historic Tennis Club neighbourhood

Just west of downtown, 1920s inns and 1950s motels crowd the streets around Pearl McManus’s 1937 tennis club, from The Willows to the Orbit In. Visit Palm Springs publishes a free walking route.

Dishes and drinks to try

Drinks to try

Date shake

The Coachella Valley grows most of America’s dates, and the local treat is a thick shake of blended dates and vanilla ice cream. Shields Date Garden in Indio has been serving them since 1924.

Must-try bars and restaurants

Boozehounds

I didn’t rate Palm Springs as a food city, but this plant-filled restaurant on North Palm Canyon Drive was the exception, and I loved my first-night dinner here. Dogs have their own door and menu.

Truss & Twine

A dimly lit Uptown cocktail bar that takes its name from the bare roof trusses overhead. I stopped in for a drink before dinner; book ahead if there’s a group of you.

Costs and budgeting

Hotels are the big cost, and rates climb from January to April. Ticket prices for the main sights:

  • Moorten Botanical Garden: $7
  • Palm Springs Art Museum: $25 (free on Thursday evenings and for under-18s)
  • Aerial Tramway: $36.95, plus $15 parking
  • Indian Canyons: $12; Tahquitz Canyon: $15
  • Cabazon Dinosaurs: $15
  • Agua Serena spa pass: from about $45
  • Joshua Tree National Park: $30 a car for seven days
Safety, health and tipping

Safety

Palm Springs is a relaxed, safe city, and the main risks are the sun and the trails. Rain can send flash floods through the canyons, so stay out of them when storms threaten. Cactus to Clouds, the climb from town to San Jacinto Peak, is for very fit, well-prepared hikers only.

Health

The dry heat is the thing to respect: drink plenty, wear a hat and do canyon hikes early in the day. Tahquitz Canyon won’t let you on the trail without water.

Tipping

Leave 18% to 22% at sit-down restaurants and a dollar or two a drink at the bar. For guides and drivers, 15% to 20% is usual, and hotel housekeeping expects a few dollars a night.

Practical tips and info

Tips for travelling

  • Book the Aerial Tramway the moment your dates are set: cars sell out, especially at weekends and in peak season.
  • Plan around the closing days: the Art Museum opens Thursday to Sunday only, and Moorten closes on Wednesdays.
  • Check summer hours before you go: the Indian Canyons, Tahquitz Canyon and Moorten all cut back from June.
  • Visiting on the Visa Waiver Programme, as UK travellers do? Get your ESTA (US$40.62) approved well ahead of your flight.

How to see the best for free

The kerb-side architecture drive costs nothing but fuel, and the visitor centre in the Tramway Gas Station hands out free maps. On Thursdays, the Art Museum is free from 5pm to 8pm (under-18s always go free), and VillageFest fills Palm Canyon Drive with stalls and music from 6pm. Forever Marilyn, the Walk of Stars and the Coachella Valley Preserve are free too.

Packing

Packing for Palm Springs? Don’t forget…

  • A sun hat and sunscreen: the desert sun is fierce, even in winter.
  • A swimsuit: almost every hotel has a pool, and you’ll use it.
  • Trail shoes: for the canyon walks. I wear my Tropicfeel Canyons.
  • A warm layer: for evenings by the pool and the top of the tramway, which can be 40°F cooler than town.

Travel insurance

Medical bills in the US can be eye-watering, so check that your policy covers treatment and emergency rescue in full, especially if you plan to hike the canyons or the mountain. You can find a policy with AXA Travel Insurance.

Suggested guidebooks

Interesting facts

  • The city takes its name from the hot spring downtown, used for centuries by the Agua Caliente people, whose name means “hot water” in Spanish. Their reservation runs through Palm Springs in a checkerboard of square-mile plots.
  • The House of Tomorrow, a round glass house in Vista Las Palmas, is where Elvis and Priscilla went on honeymoon in 1967.

Time zone

The city runs on Pacific Time, the same as Los Angeles: UTC-8 in winter and UTC-7 from March to early November, which usually puts it eight hours behind the UK.

Electricity and adapters

Sockets in the US take Type A and Type B plugs, at 120V and 60Hz.

Map
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All Palm Springs guides

Granite boulder piles lit by low sun behind desert scrub in Joshua Tree National Park20 brilliant day trips from Palm Springs Visiting the Cabazon Dinosaurs, the desert giants you can climb inside A shaded dirt trail winding past columnar cacti and desert trees at the Moorten Botanical Garden in Palm SpringsVisiting the Moorten Botanical Garden, the Palm Springs cactus garden that coined the word cactarium The low stone Edris House set among desert boulders with two palm trees above it in Palm SpringsA self-guided tour of Palm Springs’ mid-century modern architecture, from Elvis’s honeymoon house to Sinatra’s piano-shaped pool Water jets arcing into a turquoise fountain channel lined with sandstone columns at Agua Serena Spa, Indian WellsAgua Serena Spa review: the Indian Wells day spa worth leaving Palm Springs for 27 things to do in Palm Springs, Old Hollywood’s favourite desert hideaway Palm trees silhouetted at dusk beside the Tramway Gas Station visitor centre in Palm SpringsHow to spend 2 days in Palm Springs (and still catch sunrise in Joshua Tree)