Best time to travel in Palm Springs?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with 2015-2024 averages
Best time: October to April
Best avoided if possible: June to August (less pleasant weather or big crowds).
Temperatures and rainfall: 1991-2020 normals from the Palm Springs station, NOAA data (public domain).
Hot desert: sunny winters around 21°C by day and 8°C at night, sweltering summers above 40°C from June to September, barely 130 mm of rain a year, and a summit often snow-capped in winter at 3,300 m just above the town. The best time to visit Palm Springs is January, February, March, April, October, November and December, with temperatures reaching 41-43°C (July). By contrast, May, June, July, August and September are generally less favourable (less pleasant weather or big crowds, depending on the destination), though a trip is still possible with a bit of planning. In high season, book early: prices and visitor numbers climb fast.
Go against the flow. To avoid the crowds without sacrificing too much on the weather, aim for May and September: the crowds thin out, prices drop too, and the climate stays pleasant.
Do these months appeal to you? See what's best elsewhere too: where to go in January · where to go in February · where to go in March · where to go in April · where to go in October · where to go in November · where to go in December.
At a glance
Why go to Palm Springs?
Palm Springs grew up around a hot spring at the foot of Mount San Jacinto, on the land of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which still owns a large part of the town's land, laid out in a checkerboard with that of private owners. Two hours from Los Angeles, from the 1930s to the 1960s it became the winter hideaway of Hollywood stars, from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley, who had glass and steel villas built here by the finest architects of the day.
This modernist heritage is what sets it apart today: low flat-roofed houses, 1950s motels renovated into boutique hotels, turquoise pools beneath the palms, retro signs along Palm Canyon Drive. Modernism Week, every February, draws tens of thousands of architecture lovers. The town is also one of the oldest gay destinations in the United States, with its hotels and bars, a Pride in November and, since 2017, the country's first entirely LGBT city council.
Finally, the desert here is spectacular and easy to reach. The tramway climbs in ten minutes into a pine forest at 2,600 metres, the Cahuilla canyons hide palm groves at the bottom of ochre gorges, Joshua Tree spreads out its boulders and twisted trees an hour away, and the neighbouring valleys line up golf courses, festivals such as Coachella in April and the hot springs of Desert Hot Springs. From October to April, sunshine is almost guaranteed, with over 20°C every afternoon.
Tourist map of Palm Springs: what's where?
The map below pinpoints the 6 places covered in this guide: a handy way to picture the distances between each stop and plan your route in Palm Springs.
- Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
- Indian Canyons
- Downtown Palm Springs
- Sunnylands
- The Living Desert
- Keys View
How much does a trip to Palm Springs cost in 2026? Budget calculator
Estimate your budget for Palm Springs based on your travel style: accommodation, meals, activities and local transport included (flights excluded). Adjust the length and the number of travellers, and the totals update.
Totals for all travellers over the chosen length; the daily amount is per person. Flights extra, indicative amounts to adjust depending on the season.
Cards are accepted everywhere. Prices are shown before tax: allow about 8.75% sales tax, and a hotel tax of about 11.5% on rooms, to which many hotels add daily fees. A tip of 18 to 20% is expected in restaurants and by the pool.
Safety in Palm Springs: should you be worried?
Palm Springs is a safe town, with little crime in the tourist areas. The real danger is the heat: from June to September, temperatures exceed 40°C, and hikers get lost or dehydrated every year in the canyons and in Joshua Tree. Set off at dawn, carry at least 4 litres of water per person for a day, and give up on the trails after 10am in summer. Rattlesnakes and scorpions live in the canyons, so watch where you put your hands and feet. At the top of the tramway, the temperature drops by 15°C and snow can fall, so bring warm clothes. Strong winds sometimes whip up sandstorms on Interstate 10. Healthcare is excellent but expensive, so insurance covering the United States is essential.
Things to see and do in Palm Springs
Our first-hand favourites, and the great classics:
- Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
- Indian Canyons
- Agua Caliente Cultural Museum
- Palm Springs Art Museum
- Modernist architecture
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Sunnylands
- The Living Desert
What to book before you go to Palm Springs →
🧭 Discover the Palm Springs itinerary, day by dayMap, timings, budget and where to stay: free to access, to fit your dates. Create my tailor-made itinerary →Downtown and Uptown Design District
Downtown Palm Springs stretches along Palm Canyon Drive, an avenue lined with palms, shops, restaurants and cocktail bars, with the stars of the Walk of Stars set in the pavement. Every Thursday evening, the VillageFest market closes the street to cars. To the north, the Uptown Design District gathers vintage furniture shops, galleries and cafés in 1950s buildings. The Palm Springs Art Museum, the Agua Caliente tribe's cultural museum and the Forever Marilyn statue are a few steps from one another.
Mount San Jacinto
The 1963 tramway climbs in ten minutes from 806 to 2,596 metres, from a desert at 40°C to a forest of pines and cedars where you hike in summer and snowshoe in winter. Mount San Jacinto State Park offers more than 80 km of trails, from the Desert View loop, 2.4 km with overlooks over the valley, to the summit of San Jacinto, 3,302 metres, a 17.7 km round trip. A panoramic restaurant and a bar occupy the top station. The temperature contrast makes it the favourite outing in the scorching summers.
Indian Canyons and Tahquitz Canyon
South of town, the canyons of the Agua Caliente tribe hide palm groves and waterfalls at the bottom of arid gorges. Palm Canyon, Andreas Canyon and Murray Canyon are explored on trails of a few kilometres, with a craft shop at the entrance to Palm Canyon. Tahquitz Canyon, closer to downtown, is visited on a 3 km loop to an 18-metre waterfall at the foot of the mountain wall. Both sites charge admission, are managed and guarded by tribal rangers, and partly close in summer.
Joshua Tree
An hour to the north-east, Joshua Tree National Park is explored along a road that crosses the park from north-west to south-east, punctuated with stops: Hidden Valley, a valley enclosed by granite boulders, Skull Rock, Keys View and its view of the San Andreas Fault, and the Cholla Cactus Garden, where the cacti glow when backlit. The villages of Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms, at the north entrance, have motels, cafés and galleries. Pioneertown, a former western film set from 1946, hosts concerts in a cowboy bar.
Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert
The neighbouring towns of the Coachella Valley, 20 or 30 minutes to the south-east, line up golf courses, resorts and residential neighbourhoods. Rancho Mirage is home to Sunnylands, the Annenberg estate, whose gardens are open free of charge. Palm Desert has the shopping street of El Paseo, with its galleries and luxury boutiques, and The Living Desert zoo, devoted to the animals of the world's deserts. Further on, Indian Wells hosts a major tennis tournament every March, and Indio the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals in April.
Desert Hot Springs
20 minutes to the north, on the other side of Interstate 10, this small town sits on an aquifer of hot mineral water that feeds some twenty spa hotels with natural pools, from 1950s motels to wellness retreats. People come here to soak in water at 30-40°C facing the mountains, with no sulphur and no smell, often for a day or a night. Cabot's Pueblo Museum, a four-storey house built by hand by a pioneer in the 1940s, tells the story of the town's beginnings.
How many days, and which itinerary in Palm Springs?
Three days cover the tramway, the canyons, downtown and a day in Joshua Tree. Five days let you slow down by the pool, visit Sunnylands, The Living Desert and the modernist neighbourhoods, and spend a night in the desert near Joshua Tree.
🗺️ Day-by-day Palm Springs itinerary · 📓 Printable Palm Springs travel guide (PDF) · 🌍 Discover all of the American West
The essentials (3 days)
Day 1: the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in the morning, the pool during the hottest hours, the tramway in the late afternoon for sunset, dinner on Palm Canyon Drive. Day 2: the Indian Canyons at opening time, 8am, for Andreas Canyon and Palm Canyon, then a tour of the modernist neighbourhoods by bike late in the day. Day 3: Joshua Tree by car, Hidden Valley, Skull Rock, Keys View at sunset, and back via the Cholla Cactus Garden or dinner in Pioneertown.
Desert and design (5 days)
The three days of the essentials, plus a day in the valley: Sunnylands and its gardens in the morning, The Living Desert in Palm Desert, then El Paseo late in the day. On the fifth day, the Palm Springs Art Museum and its Architecture and Design Center, the Uptown Design District, and an evening at a hot spring in Desert Hot Springs. For real immersion, spend a night in a motel or cabin near the north entrance of Joshua Tree to see the stars.
From the Pacific to the desert (1 week)
Three nights in Los Angeles, then the drive east on Interstate 10 past the wind turbines of San Gorgonio Pass, three nights in Palm Springs for the tramway, the canyons and the modernist neighbourhoods, a night in Twentynine Palms for Joshua Tree at dawn, and back to the coast via San Diego, two and a half hours away. This format works from October to April, when temperatures stay bearable for walking.
How to get to Palm Springs and get around?
From Europe, there are no direct flights: Palm Springs airport, 5 minutes from downtown, is reached with a connection in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver or Dallas, especially in the winter season. The other option is a non-stop flight to Los Angeles, then 200 km (125 miles) and about 2 hrs 30 by road from the airport via Interstate 10, longer at rush hour.
A car is almost essential: the Coachella Valley stretches over 70 km, and Joshua Tree, Sunnylands and the canyons are not served by practical public transport. Hire one at the airport or in Los Angeles, at €40-70 a day.
In downtown Palm Springs, everything can be done on foot or by bike: the town is flat, rental outfits offer bikes and e-bikes by the day, and cycle lanes link the modernist neighbourhoods. SunLine buses serve the valley, but infrequently.
In summer, never leave a child or an animal in a car, even for five minutes, and always keep several litres of water on board. Fill up before entering Joshua Tree, as the park has no petrol station.
Where to stay in Palm Springs?
Palm Springs is famous for its small boutique hotels set in former modernist motels, often around twenty rooms around a pool, in the Warm Sands neighbourhood or south of Palm Canyon Drive, from €150 to €350 a night in winter. Several are adults only, and some cater to a gay clientele.
The large downtown hotels and the resorts of the valley, in Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells or La Quinta, offer rooms at €200-500 a night with golf, spa and several pools. Chain motels and simple hotels remain affordable, at €80-150.
Prices follow the season: they are at their highest from January to April, triple during Modernism Week and on Coachella weekends, and collapse in summer, when it is 43°C but the pools stay open. Many hotels add resort fees to the nightly rate.
For Joshua Tree, the villages of Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms, at the park's north entrance, have motels, small hotels and lodges at €100-250 a night, more practical for dawn and the stars than a round trip from Palm Springs.
Our picks stop by stop, in three price ranges →
What to eat in Palm Springs?
Palm Springs food blends Mexican and Californian influences: tacos, grilled fish, salads of valley produce, with terraces heated in winter and cooled by misters in summer. Expect $20-40 for a main course in a sit-down restaurant downtown.
Weekend brunch is an institution, often by a hotel pool, and so is the late-afternoon cocktail, in bars with 1950s decor where you drink martinis and margaritas.
The Coachella Valley produces most of the dates grown in the United States: try the date shake, a local speciality, at the date farms of Indio and Thermal, 30 minutes away. The valley's farmers' markets also sell citrus fruit and winter vegetables.
Restaurants close or cut their hours in summer, from June to September, when some residents leave. In winter, book at weekends, especially during the festivals and Modernism Week.
Which kind of traveller is it for?
Palm Springs lends itself to a relaxing, cultural and nature-focused trip. Whether you travel as a couple, with friends or even with family, everyone finds their own pace. For accommodation, you will mostly find classic hotels, boutique hotels and resorts.
Entry requirements & practical info
UK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
Rules change: before you leave, check your country's official travel advice.
Once there, to stay online without paying roaming charges, an Palm Springs eSIM activates in a few minutes and works as soon as you land (plans from €3.99). Remember suitable travel insurance too.
Frequently asked questions about Palm Springs
When is the best time to visit Palm Springs?
From October to April, with 20 to 30°C in the afternoon and cool nights. February and March are the most sought-after months, with Modernism Week, the desert wildflowers and the Indian Wells tennis, and therefore the most expensive. From June to September, it is over 40°C: prices drop, but hiking becomes dangerous.
How many days do you need in Palm Springs?
Three days for the tramway, the Indian Canyons, downtown and Joshua Tree. Five days to add Sunnylands, The Living Desert, the modernist neighbourhoods and some time by the pool. Palm Springs combines well with Los Angeles, two hours away, and San Diego, two and a half hours away.
How much is the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway?
$34.95 per adult, about €30, return, plus $15 for parking, about €13. Cars leave roughly every half hour. It closes for a few weeks every September for maintenance: check the dates on the official website before you come.
Can you visit Joshua Tree as a day trip from Palm Springs?
Yes, the west entrance is about an hour's drive away. Allow a day for Hidden Valley, Skull Rock, Keys View and the Cholla Cactus Garden. Entry costs $30 per vehicle for 7 days, about €26, without the $100 surcharge charged to non-residents at the busiest parks.
Is it worth visiting Palm Springs in summer?
Only if you are coming for the pool and the low prices: hotels cost two to three times less, but it is 41 to 43°C in the afternoon. The Indian Canyons open only from Friday to Sunday, Sunnylands closes, and any hike must be done at dawn. The tramway then becomes the ideal outing, 15°C cooler at the top.
Where can you see modernist architecture in Palm Springs?
From the street, in the Vista Las Palmas, Twin Palms and Movie Colony neighbourhoods, with the tour map sold at the visitor centre, itself housed in a petrol station by Albert Frey. The art museum's Architecture and Design Center puts on exhibitions, and Modernism Week, in February, opens many private houses to visitors.
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