Four days in Palm Springs with my sisters turned out to be the perfect mix of sunshine, sightseeing, and a few unexpected surprises (including a sunrise at 8,500 feet and a late-night rocket launch!).
If you caught my Palm Springs Packing List post, you already know I had a sisters’ trip planned and what I brought with me.
And now I’m excited to share all the details.
If you’re planning a Palm Springs getaway, here’s exactly what we did, what we loved, and what’s worth adding to your own itinerary.
This itinerary is perfect for a relaxed girls’ trip with a mix of sightseeing, good food, and a little adventure.
Palm Springs sits in the Colorado Desert, a transitional area between the Sonoran Desert (where I live) to the Mohave Desert. Most of the flora and fauna are quite familiar to me as is the weather. And as we have had abnormally hot weather this spring, so have they.
April in the desert can generally be quite cool, but that was not the case this year.
Luckily I packed appropriately and had warm-weather outfits.
Getting There & Getting Around
Palm Springs is so convenient to access. Their airport could not possibly be any cuter. It sports the midcentury vibe the area is so famous for. It’s low key, easy to get around and serves most major airlines. My sister Monique flew in on Southwest. Susie and hub Mike drove in from a previous Las Vegas trip and I picked them up from the rental car drop.
The town has great access to Interstate 10 and that is how I traveled. It’s a short four-hour drive from my house to the airport and I arrived at the same time Monique landed.
Where We Stayed (Desert Hot Springs Rental)
We stayed in a good size short-term rental home in nearby Desert Hot Springs – about 20 minutes north of the airport.
The house was just perfect for all our needs and boasted a fantastic view of the mountains, the windmill farm and nearby spa grounds.
The huge sliding glass door meant we had beautiful views both day and night. One night I looked up from the couch and saw Starlink launch from nearby Vandenberg. It was quite a surprise since I wasn’t expecting a launch. The rest of the family live too far north to be in the normal path, so that was their first viewing.
Day 1: Downtown + Culture + Gardens
Downtown Palm Springs is very walkable so we found easy, free public parking and explored downtown on foot.
The Historic Tennis Club neighborhood is the home to Village Green Historical Society’s four free museums. This includes the Trini Lopez Exhibit and Ruddy’s General Store. Each is manned by the nicest docents. Not only did we learn about the place we were in, they also shared their favorite places around town.
Palm Springs Art Museum is quite large and has some remarkable exhibits outside the building. Notable are the Aluminaire House for its architectural importance and Forever Marilyn, a 26-foot tall statue of Marilyn Monroe.
You can see from this picture that Marilyn towers over nearby palm trees.
We lunched at Sherman’s Bakery and Delicatessen. It is a popular place with a bit of a line, but we got in pretty quickly. Not only did I have delicious matzo ball soup, we enjoyed eating somewhere that shared its name with our dad 🥰.
After we had our fill of walking in a pretty hot downtown, we got in the car and headed to neighboring Rancho Mirage to visit Sunnylands Center and Garden.
This stunning property is part of the Annenberg estate run by the foundation. The grounds are peaceful and lovely to wander through. Although the landscaping is very tame and orderly, it consists of all the thorny cacti native to the area.
There is an education center and café so it’s easy to spend an hour or so soaking up all the desert beauty.
After a day of travel and tourism, we headed to our house as soon as we were able to check in so we could unpack, put together a charcuterie and sip some celebratory champagne.
Tip: Downtown Palm Springs is very walkable—park once and explore on foot.
Day 2: Sunrise Tramway + Scenic Views
Easter Sunday, Monique scored us tickets to the sunrise service and breakfast at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. A rotating tramcar travels 2 ½ miles up Chino Canyon to Mt. Jacinto State Park which sits at 8,500’ elevation.
The center at the top overlooks Coachella Valley and the sunrise. The temps up there were in the 30s so it was cold but so, so beautiful.
Afterwards we feasted on a really nice buffet breakfast and strolled the mountain paths and explored the educational exhibits.
Did I mention how very early sunrise is? Suffice it to say we had a 4 a.m. wakeup.
By 9 a.m. we were about ready for bed, but we picked up a map from a visitor’s center pointing out architecturally interesting neighborhoods, buildings and celebrities’ homes.
Tip: Dress in layers—the temperature difference between the desert floor and the top of the tram is significant.
Day 3: Windmills + Desert Adventure
We awoke to crazy winds and since our house was atop a steep hill it felt like we might blow away. And since we had planned a trip to the Windmill Tours, it worked out just fine. The commercial wind farm offers guided or self-driving tours learning about the history and engineering of the giant windmills that generate electricity for some of southern California.
At the end of the tour it was recommended we stop at the small Windmill Market and try a date ice cream shake. Oh boy, was that a good decision!
Tip: The self-guided tour is more than enough – it includes the discovery center, a film and an app guiding through the grounds.
Day 4: A Relaxed Farewell
Departure day. Susie and Mike had to leave fairly early, so after dropping them off, Monique and I explored Rancho Mirage and enjoyed the Westin. We checked out the spa at Aqua Caliente Casino (and I lost $20 showing her the wolf machine!).
Lunch at Lulu’s California Bistro was delicious once we headed back downtown. We had hoped to have tea at Frisky Business Cat Café, but it was closed. Peeking through the window we met a few little darlings that fed our kitty addiction and withdrawal.
Tip: The local spas are quite generous in allowing visitors to explore the grounds and relax without purchasing services.
Wrap Up
Thank you if you’ve stayed with me this long. If you are looking for a place to spend a few days, this might give you some inspiration.
Wanna know our favorites? Mike loved the windmill farm, Monique loved the tram ride. Susie loved the house tours. Me? I just can’t decide.
It was one of those trips where everything just worked—the weather, the scenery, the time together. If you’ve been thinking about a Palm Springs getaway, I can’t recommend it enough.