The River, Rancho Mirage

The River gathers restaurants, a cinema and shops around a man-made waterway, giving Rancho Mirage a place to walk in the evening. Around it sit the city's large resorts, the Eisenhower medical campus and Sunnylands.

Rancho Mirage is the valley's quiet middle: central for driving anywhere, short on street life outside this complex. It suits couples, spa trips and travelers splitting time between Palm Springs and the eastern golf cities.

Palm Springs is 15 minutes northwest; Palm Desert's El Paseo is 10 minutes east.