Skip to content
PalmSpots
Greater Palm SpringsMid-century modern architecture, hotel pool culture, downtown walkability, the Aerial Tramway, hiking straight out of town.

Palm Springs, California

Mid-century downtown, hotel pools and the Tramway

Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs is the front door to the Coachella Valley: a small desert city of roughly 45,000 people that sits directly beneath the 10,800-foot wall of Mount San Jacinto. It is the valley’s most practical car-free base, with an exceptional concentration of mid-century architecture, and the only city here where you can leave the car parked for three days and still eat well, drink well and swim daily. Most first-time visitors stay here, and most of them are right to.

Visiting Palm Springs?

Enter your dates and we'll help plan the trip — hotels, events during your stay and what to do nearby.

The shape of the city

Palm Springs runs north to south along Palm Canyon Drive, and almost everything a visitor wants sits on or within a few blocks of that spine. Uptown, above Alejo Road, is the design district: vintage furniture dealers, coffee, and a cluster of small hotels. Downtown, between Alejo and Ramon, holds the restaurants, the Palm Springs Art Museum, the Saturday farmers market and Thursday VillageFest. South Palm Springs, past Ramon, is quieter and greener, with the larger resorts, the Indian Canyons trailheads and the aerial tramway road.

Where to stay

The city has more small hotels per capita than anywhere else in California. Adults-only boutiques dominate the Warm Sands and Tennis Club pockets, larger resorts sit south of downtown, and the design-forward properties cluster uptown. Rates swing hard by season: a room that is $199 in October can be $600 during Modernism Week or Coachella weekends, and can fall under $120 in July. Check the resort fee and the parking fee before booking; both are common here and neither is always shown in the first price you see.

Eating and drinking

Palm Springs eats early and outdoors. Patio dining is the default from October through May, and the best tables downtown book out on winter weekends. The food scene is stronger than its reputation: serious wine bars, a real coffee culture, several very good Mexican kitchens, and a handful of dining rooms worth planning a night around. Happy hour is a genuine institution here, usually 3 to 5 or 4 to 6.

Getting outside

Three canyon systems sit within fifteen minutes of downtown. The Indian Canyons hold the largest California fan palm oases in the world. Tahquitz Canyon runs a two-mile loop to a seasonal waterfall. The Museum Trail and South Lykken Trail start almost in town and climb fast. All of them close or become dangerous in summer heat: hike before 8am from May through September, or not at all.

When to come

November through April is high season, with perfect 70s and 80s days and cool nights. Modernism Week in February and the two April festival weekends are the busiest and most expensive stretches of the year. May and October are the best value. June through September is genuinely hot - 105 to 115 degrees - but hotel rates collapse, pools stay open, and the city is quiet.

Events

What's on in Palm Springs

All city events

Where to stay

Palm Springs hotels

Food & drink

Where to eat in Palm Springs

Workshop Kitchen + Bar

New American · Uptown Design District · $$$

Workshop Kitchen + Bar occupies a 1920s building on North Palm Canyon that was converted into one of the most striking dining rooms in California: a soaring concrete nave lined with private booths, which won a James Beard design award. The food is modern American with a wood-fired backbone — chops, whole fish, vegetable dishes that get as much attention as the proteins — and the cocktail program is the most serious in Palm Springs. It is the valley's go-to special-occasion restaurant, and it stays busy: dinner reservations on winter weekends should be made a week or two out. Sunday brunch is quieter and just as good a way to see the room.

Workshop Kitchen + Bar
PatioHappy hour

Cheeky's

Brunch · Uptown Design District · $$

Cheeky's is the Palm Springs breakfast institution — a small, bright storefront on North Palm Canyon with a menu that changes weekly and a bacon flight that has become a local rite of passage. Expect five rotating strips (maple, jalapeño, chipotle and whatever the kitchen is testing), farm-egg dishes, and a sharp seasonal approach that is unusual for a breakfast place. There are maybe a dozen tables inside plus a patio, no reservations, and a line that starts before opening on winter weekends. Prices are moderate for the quality; portions are generous without being diner-sized.

Cheeky's
PatioBrunchDog friendly

Tac/Quila

Mexican · Downtown · $$

Tac/Quila is downtown Palm Springs' modern Mexican flagship - a high-ceilinged, plant-filled dining room on Palm Canyon Drive where the kitchen works from Mexico City and Oaxacan playbooks rather than combo-plate tradition. The short list of signatures: a duck carnitas that arrives crisped and pull-apart tender, blue-corn tortillas pressed in house, esquites finished with cotija and chile, and a mezcal and tequila program deep enough that the staff will happily steer you by region rather than brand. Cocktails are the other reason people come - the margaritas are made with fresh lime and a legible pour, and the smoky mezcal variations are the ones regulars order twice. The patio, wrapped in greenery and misted in summer, is the best seat in the house at sunset. It is a full-price restaurant, not a taqueria: expect entrees in the $20s to $30s and a room that fills up fast Thursday through Sunday.

Tac/Quila
PatioBrunchHappy hourDog friendly

Cartel Roasting Co

Coffee · Uptown Design District · $

The Palm Springs outpost of the Arizona specialty roaster (formerly Cartel Coffee Lab), at ARRIVE Palm Springs. House-roasted single origins, cortados and matcha in a relaxed indoor-outdoor space.

Chef Tanya's Kitchen

Vegan · Palm Springs · $

Chef Tanya Petrovna founded the first national plant-based restaurant chain and has cooked gourmet vegan food in the Coachella Valley for over 30 years. Her Palm Springs kitchen does freshly made take-out — sandwiches, salads, deli cases and weekly specials — plus a curated vegan grocery. The deli case seitan and famous sandwich specials are the moves.

Patio

Ristretto

Coffee · South Palm Springs · $

Compact South Palm Canyon espresso bar popular with locals — strong shots, a short pastry case and a handful of tables.

Things to do

Sights and activities in Palm Springs

Neighborhoods

Where to base yourself in Palm Springs

Downtown Palm Springs
The walkable core of Palm Springs along South Palm Canyon Drive, dense with hotels, patios and the Thursday night VillageFest street fair.
Arenas District
Palm Springs’ compact LGBTQ+ nightlife district, centered on East Arenas Road between Indian Canyon Drive and Calle Encilia.
Uptown Design District
The vintage furniture, design store and brunch corridor along North Palm Canyon Drive.
South Palm Springs
The resort-heavy southern end of Palm Canyon Drive, closest to the Indian Canyons trailheads.
Warm Sands
A quiet residential pocket east of downtown known for small LGBTQ+ resorts, including clothing-optional properties for gay men.
Historic Tennis Club
The oldest hotel district in Palm Springs, tucked directly against the mountain behind downtown.
Movie Colony
A central Palm Springs neighborhood of historic homes, quiet streets and small hotels just east of downtown.

Guides

Palm Springs guides

Palm Springs

Events email

Get verified desert events by email

Join the list for our upcoming events email: verified dates across the Coachella Valley. We’ll only email you about PalmSpots events and guides.