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Travel guide
Palm Springs
5 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: October to April
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Welcome
Palm Springs, in a few days
An oasis in the Colorado Desert, at the foot of a 3,000-metre rock wall, where Hollywood stars came to hide away in the 1950s and where you can still sleep in modernist glass and steel villas set around a pool. The palm groves of the Cahuilla canyons, the tramway that climbs into the pines and the boulders of Joshua Tree, an hour away, are reminders that the desert begins at the end of the street.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 1 thing
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- D5 Day 5 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Palm Springs Aerial Tramway · half a dayRotating cars climb Chino Canyon in about ten minutes to 2,596 metres, where it is some 15°C cooler and pine forest trails lead towards the summit of San Jacinto.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Ace Hotel & Swim Club ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€200 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Modernist architecture free · half a dayThe largest collection of mid-century modernist houses in the United States, from Neutra's Kaufmann House to Sinatra's Twin Palms, best explored by bike from the street.
- Late afternoon · Palm Springs Art Museum · about 2 hA museum in a 1976 modernist building showing American modern and contemporary art, glass and Native American art, with the eight-metre Forever Marilyn statue outside its entrance.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Ace Hotel & Swim Club ↗€200 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Agua Caliente Cultural Museum · about 2 hOpened in late 2023 downtown, it tells the story of the Cahuilla, their basketry and their fight for their land, next to a spa fed by the town's original hot spring.
- Afternoon · Indian Canyons · half a dayThree canyons on the ancestral land of the Agua Caliente Cahuilla, with one of California's largest natural fan palm oases in Palm Canyon, bedrock mortars and small waterfalls.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Ace Hotel & Swim Club ↗€200 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Sunnylands free · about 2 hThe Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage, where eight US presidents stayed, with free desert gardens planted like an Impressionist canvas and guided tours of the modernist house.
- Afternoon · The Living Desert · half a dayA zoo and botanical garden in Palm Desert devoted to the world's deserts, with giraffes, cheetahs, Mexican wolves and rhinos, plus hiking trails into the hills.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Ace Hotel & Swim Club ↗€200 a night
D5
Day 5
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Joshua Tree National Park · a full dayA park where the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet, with twisted Joshua trees, piles of round granite boulders, and Keys View overlooking the San Andreas Fault.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €180 a day, mid-range
Best seasonOctober to April
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, 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.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/palm-springs
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.