If I have a few days off but can’t travel far, Palm Springs is always my first choice. There is something that draws me to this place and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Palm Springs is a feeling. Here I can relax, check out some art, and still feed my inner foodie. Here is my Palm Springs Guide.
Table of Contents
Palm Springs
Palm Springs has been a playground for Hollywood celebrities since the 1950s. If you love that time period, this is the place for you. Rent one of the many restored Mid-Century Modern homes on Airbnb or VRBO. Come back in February for Modernism Week and tour some of the homes built by that period’s best architects, like Lautner and Neutra.
The Palm Springs area is also a place for artists. In March and October*, the desert becomes miles and miles of gallery space with Desert X and High Desert Test Sites. Book a ticket to see Andrea Zittel’s A-Z West in Yucca Valley if you aren’t there during that time. If these festivals don’t inspire you to create something, watch the sunset over the desert with its mauves, lavenders, and fiery oranges that dance across the sky.
Palm Springs is a great home base for nature lovers who want to explore Joshua Tree without having to camp. If you have the time to venture farther, the Salton Sea isn’t that far away.
What Palm Springs is like
Palm Springs isn’t sleepy but isn’t go-go-go, either. It is a perfect place to relax. Palm Springs is the land of resorts, massages, and healing mineral springs. You can find your little corner to float and stare up at the mountains just as easily as you can find non-stop pool parties.
Palm Springs has been drawing festival-goers, girls’ weekenders, and those hoping to commune with the otherworldly for decades.
Palm Springs and not Palm Springs
When looking for a place to stay, I would like to help you decipher the areas you might see when looking for a Palm Springs rental. Many of the places on these sites aren’t in Palm Springs at all. This is probably the most important part of my Palm Springs Guide because it can save you a lot of time and money.
Palm Springs
If you are looking for shopping, eating, finding Mid-century modern, and art, this is where you want to stay. You can both relax and hop around to rat pack and tiki bars, national parks, and desert festivals.
La Quinta
This city is a resort city, filled with golf courses and resort amenities. A great place to stay if you want to get away entirely. Drives to Palm Springs are around 40 minutes.
Palm Desert and Cathedral City
If you are looking for relaxation and not the bustle of Palm Springs, these two neighboring towns would be good options for you. You are close to Palm Springs, but you aren’t going to pay Palm Springs rental prices. It is great for those who want to relax, float in pools, and prefer to cook more meals at “home.” Drives to Palm Springs can be twenty to thirty minutes.
29 Palms or Yucca Valley
These towns are farther into the high desert, and many of the houses are pretty secluded, which might be exactly what you are looking for. There is a main drag with bars and restaurants–so you aren’t completely cut off. A perfect place to stay if you want to explore Joshua Tree National Park. This is closer to the art festivals, and there is a weekend swap meet. Drives to Palm Springs are around thirty minutes.
Desert Hot Springs
Out of the places to stay in the area, this is my least favorite–the town has seen better days. You will, however, have cheaper rents if your goal is just hanging out. Many of the hotels have access to mineral springs, and you can, too by booking a massage or facial service instead of spending the night. Like Palm Desert and Cathedral City, you will have a twenty to thirty-minute drive into Palm Springs.
The best time to go to Palm Springs
There are two things to consider when planning your Palm Springs dates, crowds and weather. This is a new addition to the Palm Springs Guide after a note from a reader.
Sometimes the best time to be in Palm Springs is when everyone else wants to be there. This is a popular destination for those escaping cold winters. Seeing the temps below, you can see why.
Weather
Cloudy days and rain won’t be a problem here, but the heat is no joke. Here are the average temperatures by month.
| Month | High | Low |
| January | 71F/21C | 45F/7C |
| February | 74F/24C | 48F/9C |
| March | 80F/27C | 52F/11C |
| April | 88F/31C | 57F/14C |
| May | 96F/35C | 64F/17C |
| June | 104F/40C | 71F/21C |
| July | 108F/42C | 78F/25C |
| August | 107F/42C | 78F/25C |
| September | 102F/39C | 72F/22C |
| October | 91F/33C | 62F/16C |
| November | 78F/26C | 50F/11C |
| December | 69F/21C | 44F/6C |
The sun sets over a beautiful mountain range that you can see from all points in Palm Springs. This does mean that those mountains block the sun as it slips off into the west, so get ready for darkness and cooler temperatures an hour or so earlier than you would think.
Crowds
Another reason people come to this desert city is the festivals. Thousands of people make their way to this area for Coachella. The two-weekend music festival in April is booked months in advance, so keep those dates in mind. As you may have read in my best time to be in Los Angeles post, alternately, those weekends are the best time to be in Los Angeles. Coachella might be your best time to be in Palm Springs, or it might be the worst.
In February, people flock to the desert for other reasons. This is the annual Palm Springs Modernism Week. This week is full of Midcentury modern house tours, talks, book releases, and a contest to win a home. Again, there are draws to you coming to this area during Modernism Week, but if you hate crowds, this week isn’t for you.
There are mini-festivals and themed events throughout the year. Check out the Visit Palm Springs website.
Where to stay
Palm Springs has so many options. There are hotels that fit every style of traveler. The hipster and festival crowd tend to stay at The Saguaro and Ace Hotel & Swim Club—the latter I happen to like. Restored Old Hollywood hotels like the Movie Colony and The Parker cater to that crowd. Bohemian villas at the Korakia Pensione are a perfect escape. Of course, there are Marriots here, but boutique hotels reign supreme. Be wary of resort fees as they add additional costs to what is advertised.
I really recommend renting a house as you can have your own pool, kitchen, and space to invite friends. Palm Springs, as I mentioned before, is the land of Mid-Century Modern, and you can rent many examples of this style throughout the surrounding area. You can rent Sinatra’s and Liberace’s houses–the latter has a piano-shaped pool. Luckily Time Out has some money behind them to evaluate some stays in the area; their recommendations are here.
What to do
I have been giving hints to what you can do throughout this Palm Springs Guide, from architecture tours to art festivals. For those of you who aren’t traveling February-April, these are my picks for the remaining nine months.
Integratron
In a small desert town called Landers, a dome is shining in the middle of the desert. One night a mathematician was visited by an emissary from Venus who was so saddened by the way humans were destroying themselves that they gave this mathematician a mathematical formula for healing.
My Day At The Integratron
The story above so intrigued me that I enlisted a group of friends to experience The Integratron.
Palm Springs Art Museum(s)
There are three campuses of the Palm Springs Art Museum; one is completely dedicated to architecture. The architecture campus on the east side of Palm Springs celebrates the mid-century modern aesthetic and the architects that created the movement.
The permanent collection at the main museum swings more contemporary but crosses many genres and time periods.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://www.psmuseum.org/
- Other: Check back for the museum’s reopening date
Pappy + Harriets
In neighboring Pioneertown is a roadside BBQ joint that is one of the best concert venues in Southern California. Surprisingly, many musicians call this area home and come out to Pappy + Harriets to play. P+ H also draws musicians from all over the world–like Paul McCartney and Os Mutantes.
This is a more intimate venue, and seeing some of these bands on a smaller stage in Los Angeles is no longer happening.
Secret hint: If you don’t want to pay all of that Coachella money, check out Pappy + Harriet’s website around the festival dates. You might see some familiar names or bands playing under secret names.
The food isn’t bad either.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://www.pappyandharriets.com/
- Cost: Concert tickets range based on the band.
- Other: Canceled concerts from the past year are being rescheduled. Check back often.
Where to eat
Although close to major cities, Palm Springs is still a small town. I was surprised to learn that there are a lot of restaurants that are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I encourage you to check out the websites before heading out to see if they are open and if they are offering dine-in or take-out options. New restaurants are opening all the time, and since my visits aren’t as frequent as I want them to be, I thought I would share this guide from Time Out.
These are the restaurants I really like in Palm Springs.
Rooster and the Pig
This is a great Vietnamese place on the eastern edge of town. Ingredients completely rule the menu. If the chef doesn’t get it or they don’t think it is good that day, it won’t be on the menu. I can’t really recommend a dish because of that reason. I love the care they put into their dishes, so I recommend them.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://www.roosterandthepig.com/
- Location: 356 S. Indian Canyon Dr
- What to order: Since the menu changes often, I don’t want to recommend something that isn’t there.
- Other: This restaurant is cashless.
Workshop Kitchen + Bar
This farm-to-table restaurant is both delicious and has a great outdoor patio for those perfect nights of dining out with friends. The dishes are family-style and feature great California produce. I haven’t had a bad dish there, and there is something for everyone.
- Website: https://www.workshopkitchenbar.com/palm-springs.html
- Location: 800 N. Palm Canyon Drive
- Cost: To give a range–fried oyster mushrooms $19, Wood fired pizza $26, market fish $45.
- What to order: Flannery beef cheeseburger & fries $26, shaved brussel sprouts $19, and anything from their extensive wine list.
Birba Palm Springs
This Italian-focused restaurant has a great outdoor space, perfect for summer evenings. They serve classic Italian dishes like Neapolitan pizzas–chewy with a slightly charred crust, charcuterie, and pasta with fresh and local ingredients.
There are gluten-free and cauliflower options for those who have those dietary needs.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://birbaps.com/
- Location: 622 N Palm Canyon Drive
- Cost: To give you a range, the Burrata is $15, the agnolotti is $22, and the pizzas are $18.
- What to order: I have enjoyed so much of the menu. I would like to steer you towards their charity pizza of the month.
El Mirasol at Los Arboles
This is one of the older restaurants in Palm Springs, which is a testament to how good the food is. Since 1985 they have been serving Mexican classics completely made from scratch. Yes, even the tortillas. No frozen taquitos languishing in a freezer for months.
The original location, my favorite one, is part of the Los Arboles Hotel. Originally built in the 1940s, and is in the historic Movie Colony district of Palm Springs. This was a playground for the Hollywood stars of the day.
The location at Los Arboles has a tucked-away patio surrounded by palm trees and bougainvillea.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://www.elmirasolrest.com/
- Location: This location is at 266 E Vía Altamira, Palm Springs, CA 92262.
- Cost: To give a range, guacamole & chips are $9.75, combination plates are around $15, and shrimp dishes are $20.
- What to get: I love their spinach enchiladas. The margaritas also come in a grande size which is no joke.
- Other: Their other location is at 140 E. Palm Canyon Drive is closer to the Ace and the Parker hotels on the other side of the strip.
Where to drink
I am a fan of the speakeasy. I love bars that are tucked away from hiding at one of the most popular hotels in Palm Springs to a dark and quiet bar that people might miss if they aren’t looking hard enough.
Bootlegger Tiki
I feel like you can’t love Mid-Century without also loving tiki bars. Hit this bar hiding in the back of a cafe for your corpse revivers, mai tais, or one of their original concoctions. It is a great place to stick around for a while–dark and moody.
Hours, costs, and other information
- Website: https://www.bootleggertiki.com/
- Location: 1101 N. Palm Canyon Drive
- Cost: Drinks are around $11.
Seymour’s
I love going to Seymour’s at night. This is when it is dark and more intimate. This is a classic cocktail bar that feels like a cigar lounge. Don’t skip the bar food, as it shares the same kitchen as Mr. Lyon’s–a very classy steakhouse.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://seymoursps.com/
- Location: 233 E. Palm Canyon Drive
- Cost: Drinks are around $14
I hope this Palm Springs Guide helped you to plan your next trip to this desert town. Maybe I will see you out there soon.
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