P.S. We Love You: Our Favorite Things to See and Do in Palm Springs, CA
Desert Glow sign near Sephora in downtown Palm Springs
We are surprised by the number of Bay Area people we know who have never been to Palm Springs, CA even though it’s a little over an hour flight from SFO, Oakland, and San Jose. We think folks think it’s just for old people to which I say nay nay.
There’s so much (and so little) to do but our favorites are playing tennis, hanging out by the pool, eating, and drinking (maybe in that order!). As for other things to do, we’ve compiled a list of some of the things that we’ve (mostly) checked out and enjoyed.
If you are tempted to go to Robolights, don’t! It’s creepy but not as creepy as the guy behind it. My (Terri) friends and I were not sure we were going to make it out in one piece.
As for places to stay, we have a timeshare at the Palm Springs Tennis Club so that’s where we stay until this year when we rented a condo at the Firebird Estates. There are a number of new or newly remodeled places that look like a lot of fun. We’ve listed a few of them at the end of this post.
Activities
Palm Springs Art Museum, upper floor
Palm Springs Art Museum and the Architecture and Design Center
The Palm Springs Art Museum has two museums and a sculpture garden. We’ve not been to the sculpture garden but we really like the main museum and the Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion.
“The Museum Design Store is located in the original bank vault of this former Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan” which houses the Architecture and Design Center location. This is a fantastic gift shop!
We were surprised by the art and architecture in the main museum. If it’s a hot day, it’s air conditioned.
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
Bring a jacket or a sweater because it can be cold at the top. The ride up the side of the mountain provides spectacular views and there are a number of hikes that you can do up at the top of the tram.
When we went there was a basic snackbar at the top and a small gift shop but it looks like there’s a lot more.
Per the website, there are “50 miles of hiking trails, picnic areas and campgrounds in the 14,000-acre pristine wilderness of the Mount San Jacinto State Park.” They also offer cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snow camping during the winter.
We are going to have to take a second look at this.
Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
We fed giraffes at the Living Desert and it became one of my favorite places in the world. Have you felt a giraffe’s tongue on your fingers? It’s pretty damn cool. This place isn’t just for kids even thought it is great for kids. Go first thing in the morning, as it opens, and head straight for the giraffes! Also, it’s cooler in the morning.
Palm Springs Street Fair
Every Thursday night there is a huge street fair on the main street, Palm Canyon Drive. Most of the brick and mortar stores stay open later so you can enjoy them along with the food, artisans, produce, and entertainment on the street. In years past our kids rode ponies and fed them carrots.
We have lots of great memories (and artwork) from our Thursday night strolls. On our most recent trip, we didn’t enjoy it as much. We aren’t accumulating much any longer and it was really packed full of people so both of these could have influenced our latest view of the event.
Our windchimes are from another repeat vendor who, sadly, we didn’t see during our past visits.
A mid-century modern house on one of the architecture tours
Mid-Century Architecture Tours
There are numerous mid-century architecture tours available online. We paid a small fee for a self-guided tour that took us around neighborhoods with fun doors. We are pretty sure there are plenty of free options. Ride your bike (Palm Springs is very flat) or stay in your air conditioned vehicle and enjoy beautiful mid-century modern homes and gardens.
Palm Springs Celebrity Home Tours
We’ve not done any of these but we have accidentally driven by Liberace’s former home on N. Belardo which is in a lovely neighborhood to cycle through. There are plenty of maps that show where the movie stars of the mid 1900s (1930 and beyond) had their desert homes.
Restaurants and Bars
Terri wrote a separate post on our top 10 favorite places for food and drinks.
Zeke gets at least one date shake from Palm Springs Fudge & Chocolates (located on Palm Canyon Drive) whenever we are in Palm Springs. They also have lots of old school candies including candy cigarettes.
The Impala Bar & Grill is a brand-new, place on S. Palm Canyon Road. It’s a large, open, industrial-feel space with good food and beer. If you want to host a party or watch a game, this is the place.
There are a number of gelato and ice cream places on Palm Canyon Drive that are worth exploring. I haven’t had any bad ice cream or gelato in Palm Springs.
Photo Ops
View from the Rowan Hotel High bar
Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs has a rooftop pool and bar (The High Bar) with a fantastic view of all the mountains.
View from Agua Caliente Casino parking structure
Agua Caliente Casino parking structure top floor has extraordinary views similar to the Rowan. Note: don’t ride your bike to the top of the parking structure because the security folks on bikes will waive you off for ‘safety’ reasons.
There are some cute places for photo ops on N. Palm Canyon Road like Desert Glow sign next to Sephora.
There are colorful angel wings (Stay Human by Colette Miller) on the Rowan Hotel (east side) across from Il Corso restaurant.
A very large Marilyn Monroe statue is situated across the plaza from the art museum (essentially behind the building where Sephora is).
Other Goodies
Swimply: this is a great concept when you only need a pool for a few hours or a day. While in Palm Springs in 2021 (during Covid) and the pools at the tennis club were limited, we rented a lovely pool and backyard of what turned out to be the former home of Mary Martin (she played Peter Pan in the first stage production).
The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs, downtown Palm Springs
The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs is a fantastic bookstore, one block off the main strip (next to an ice cream place where you can get a date shake) and worthy of a visit. It’s woman owned and the staff has great recommendations.
Hats: if you’ve forgotten your hat and need one, check out Hats Unlimited on N. Palm Canyon Road (the main strip).
Flip flops: it’s hard not to pick up a new pair of flip flops at the Havaianas store on N. Palm Canyon Road.
Shopping: there are some great shops on N. Palm Canyon including big name stores like Sephora, Free People, West Elm, and H&M. Even better, there are quite a few locally owned stores including one of our favorites, Oooh La La which has women and children’s apparel, shoes, gifts, and even items for your favorite pooch or pup.
Bike rentals: Palm Springs is very flat and we really enjoyed riding our ebikes around town. There are several places where you can rent bikes including Bike Palm Springs which we haven’t tried but might be worth checking out.
Where to Stay
We’ve only ever stayed at the Palm Springs Tennis Club in Palm Springs proper (and most recently at the Firebird Estates) but if we were to stay somewhere else, we would check out the following:
The Rowan (a Kimpton Hotel)
The Saguaro (this one is not within walking distance to downtown Palm Springs but looks super cute and fun!)
