Palm Springs

Sheltered at the western head of the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert at the base of the sheer 3,302-metre (10,834-foot) eastern escarpment of the San Jacinto Mountains, on the ancestral homeland of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, who have stewarded the valley's natural hot mineral springs (Séc-he) and stream-fed canyon oases for thousands of years, Palm Springs enjoys more than 350 days of sunshine a year. Discovered in the 1920s and 1930s by Hollywood stars obeying studio contracts' famous 'Two-Hour Rule' (which required actors on call to remain within two hours of Los Angeles soundstages), the desert town became the global laboratory for Desert Modernism (Mid-Century Modern architecture) between 1945 and 1965.

Along walkable Palm Canyon Drive in Downtown Palm Springs, retro breeze-block boutiques, the 26-foot Forever Marilyn statue and the Palm Springs Art Museum sit minutes from the architectural neighbourhoods of Vista Las Palmas and Twin Palms and the ancient geothermal waters of the Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza and Spa at Séc-he. Ten minutes north, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway rotates 360 degrees up Chino Canyon to 2,596-metre alpine pine forests, while ten minutes south lie the wild fan-palm groves and waterfalls of Indian Canyons and Tahquitz Canyon. Within 45 minutes east stretch the resort towns of Palm Desert and La Quinta, The Living Desert Zoo, the slot canyons of the San Andreas Fault, and the surreal boulder landscapes of Joshua Tree National Park. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Palm Springs.

Palm Springs International Airport (PSP), famous for its open-air outdoor garden concourses, sits right inside the city just 3 kilometres (5 to 8 minutes by Uber, taxi or hotel shuttle) east of Downtown Palm Canyon Drive. Alternatively, Ontario International Airport (ONT) is a congestion-free 65-minute drive west on Interstate 10, while Los Angeles (LAX), Orange County (SNA) and San Diego (SAN) sit 2 to 2.5 hours away. Downtown Palm Springs offers free public parking structures and flat cycle lanes; hire a car to visit the Aerial Tramway, Indian Canyons, Palm Desert and Joshua Tree National Park. See getting to Palm Springs and getting around Palm Springs.

Accommodation in the desert splits into two distinct styles: stay inside the City of Palm Springs (around Downtown, the Historic Tennis Club, Warm Sands, the Movie Colony or the Uptown Design District) if you want an intimate, design-forward Mid-Century Modern boutique hotel with a heated saltwater courtyard pool within walking or cycling distance of Palm Canyon Drive; or stay 20 to 35 minutes east in the greater Coachella Valley (Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells or La Quinta) for sprawling 400-acre family golf resorts with lazy rivers, multi-pool complexes and wave pools. Compare all areas in where to stay in Palm Springs.

Ride the world's largest rotating tramcar on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to 2,596-metre Mount San Jacinto, hike beneath thousands of native California fan palms at Indian Canyons (Andreas & Palm Canyons) and 60-foot Tahquitz Canyon Waterfall, cycle or drive a self-guided Mid-Century Modern Architecture Loop through Vista Las Palmas and Twin Palms, take a 45-minute day trip to Joshua Tree National Park, stroll Palm Canyon Drive, Forever Marilyn and Thursday night VillageFest, soak in sacred geothermal waters at The Spa at Séc-he and the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, feed giraffes at The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens, explore the San Andreas Fault & Ladder Canyon, visit the Palm Springs Art Museum & Air Museum, and photograph the Windmills & Cabazon Dinosaurs. Full list in things to do in Palm Springs.

Palm Springs dining celebrates sunny outdoor courtyard patios, retro tiki lounges and the agricultural bounty of the Coachella Valley (which grows 90% of all dates in the United States): frosty Medjool Date Shakes at 1924 Shields Date Garden and Hadley Fruit Orchards, famous bacon flights and huevos rancheros at Cheeky's, towering pastrami sandwiches and kosher bakery cakes at Sherman's Deli, hand-crafted rum cocktails inside Bootlegger Tiki and Tonga Hut, poolside French-California brunch at Farm and Norma's, and classic Sinatra-era martinis and steaks at Melvyn's and Mr. Lyons. Read more in our Palm Springs food and Date Shake guide.

Blending the living heritage of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians with modernist masters Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, Donald Wexler and William Krisel (celebrated every February and October during Modernism Week), Palm Springs is an open-air museum of 20th-century optimism and desert preservation.