
Fri, Aug 28 · 8pm
Live Music in the Arenas District
Arenas Road, Palm Springs
Mid-century downtown, hotel pools and the Tramway

Palm Springs is the most walkable city in the valley and the easiest one to visit without a car. Downtown runs along Palm Canyon Drive; most of the small hotels sit within a mile of it.
Palm Springs is small: about 45,000 residents, and the core neighborhoods (Uptown Design District, Downtown, Movie Colony, Twin Palms, Deepwell) are all a short drive apart. The mountains rise immediately west of town, which is why Museum Trail and the Indian Canyons are minutes from a hotel room.
Events

Fri, Aug 28 · 8pm
Arenas Road, Palm Springs

Sat, Aug 29 · 8am
Camelot Theatres lot, Palm Springs

Sun, Aug 30 · 12pm
Ace Hotel & Swim Club, Palm Springs

Sun, Aug 30 · 10:30am
Moorten Botanical Garden, Palm Springs

Thu, Sep 3 · 6pm
Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

Thu, Sep 3 · 5pm
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs
Where to stay

Downtown Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$$
Best for: City breaks, business travel, first-timers

Downtown Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$$
Best for: Couples, design weekends

South Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$$$
Best for: Design lovers, long weekends, honeymoons

South Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$
Best for: Groups, festival weekends, first-timers

South Palm Springs · Palm Springs · $$
Best for: Budget groups, bachelorette weekends

Warm Sands · Palm Springs · $$$
Best for: Couples, food-first trips
Food & drink
Brunch · Uptown Design District · $$
The bacon-flight brunch institution on Palm Canyon, with a menu that changes weekly.

Mexican · Downtown · $$
Mexico City–style plates and 100-plus tequilas on Palm Canyon.

New American · Uptown Design District · $$$
A James Beard–winning room of concrete booths in a 1920s building.

Diner · South Palm Springs · $$
The diner at the Ace, in a converted Denny's, open to non-guests.

Coffee · Uptown Design District · $
The valley's local roaster, with a shaded patio in the Design District.

Bar food · Arenas District · $
A neighborhood bar with an unexpectedly good kitchen and a long happy hour.

Things to do

Palm Springs · Free

Palm Springs · Around $12 adults

Palm Springs · Around $5

Palm Springs · Around $30 adults

Palm Springs · Free Thursday evenings

Palm Springs · Around $15 adults
Neighborhoods
Guides

Twelve stays, sorted by the way people actually choose

For when a shared pool is not the point

Where to eat before the pool

Twelve places worth planning a night around

Pools, canyons, architecture and one day trip

Yes, if you rearrange the day

Eleven days of midcentury Palm Springs

Good ones, not filler
Newsletter
One email a week: what’s on, what opened, what’s worth the drive across the valley.