Palm Springs

Rotating 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.

💡 Go up in the late afternoon for sunset over the valley, take a jacket even in summer, and register for free at the ranger station at the top if you are heading for the summit. The tramway closes for a few weeks every September for maintenance. Price: $34.95 per adult, about €30, plus $15 for parking, about €13.

A 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.

💡 Come on a Thursday evening: entry is free from 5pm to 8pm, and the VillageFest market then livens up Palm Canyon Drive. Under-18s get in free. The museum is closed from Monday to Wednesday. Price: $25 per adult, about €22, free on Thursdays from 5pm to 8pm.

Opened 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.

💡 Start your stay with this museum: it sheds light on the whole town, much of which is built on a reservation laid out in a checkerboard. Combine it with a soak in the spa's hot spring, by reservation. Price: timed-entry ticket, to be booked on the museum's website; the spa is charged separately.

Three 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.

💡 Open every day from October to early July, from 8am to 5pm, and only from Friday to Sunday in summer. From October to June, from Friday to Sunday, tribal rangers lead two guided walks of about 1 hr 30, included in the ticket: at 10am in Palm Canyon and at 1pm in Andreas Canyon. Take plenty of water, as shade is scarce outside the palm groves. Price: $12 per adult, about €10.

A 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.

💡 Come at opening time, when the animals are active and before the heat, especially in spring. Buying tickets online in advance is compulsory. Price: from $44.95 per adult depending on the date, about €39.

A 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.

💡 Enter from the west, at the village of Joshua Tree, do the Hidden Valley loop, 1.6 km, then Keys View late in the day and the Cholla Cactus Garden on your way out through the south. There is no fuel or drinking water in most of the park. Price: $30 per vehicle for 7 days, about €26, with no surcharge for non-residents.