8 Fascinating Things To Do In Palm Springs, California (2024)

A deserted settlement in Southern California, the city of Palm Springs, sits in the Sonoran Desert and is surrounded by the Coachella Valley. Justifying its name, Palm Springs is famous for its hot springs, golf-courses, fancy & vintage boutiques, surrounding canyons, mountains, deserts with the fun and welcoming vibes. Palm Springs is known for its mid-century modern style, which in the early 20th century contributed to sprouting this desert city into a resort destination. Only a two-hour drive from Los Angeles and a three-hour drive from San Diego, it welcomes over lakh of travellers every year.

Even though Palm Spring experiences hot and humid weather most months of the year, but it does not affect an inch into its tourism welfare. The city of Palm Spring offers endless opportunities that one will forget about the intensity of heat and enjoy their time to the fullest. However, winters here are cold and cloudy, with pleasant temperature and sunshine throughout the day. The atmosphere and ambience around this desert city make Palm Springs one of the most popular tourist destinations in Southern California. But if you are in doubt about how to spend your weekend in this fascinating location, consider our list of “Things to do in Palm Springs”.

8 Fascinating Things To Do In Palm Springs, California

Have a look:

1. Ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

One experience in Palm Spring that you must not afford to miss is the ride upon Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Out of the fantastic experiences in Palm Spring, these world’s largest rotating aerial tramcars are what fills all hearts with joy and happiness. The Aerial Tramway are like the ski lifts that take you over a quick and mesmerizing ride over the mountain rise of San Jacinto, which is 10,000 feet above the desert. This scenic tramway provides a twelve-and-a-half-minute bird eye view while rotating continuously for a 360-degree view of the Palm Spring grounds, deserts, valley, canyons, and whatnot. Viewing the unspoiled wilderness of this beautiful desert city from up above is one of the divine experiences on its own. Image Source

2. Visit the Indian Canyons

One of the most beautiful places in Palm Springs, the Indian Canyons is surely a visit-worthy location. It is one protected nature sanctuary located at the south end of Palm Springs and is home to some of the world’s most magnificent deserted sceneries. The region comprises three unique canyons environments, an abundance of water, hundreds of flora and fauna and a surprisingly stable living atmosphere which is else way a little difficult to find in deserted areas. Considering its unique settlement, the entire Indian Canyons region is protected, though open for travellers and wonderers. One of its main areas includes the Palm Canyon, lined with huge palm trees, creeks, waterfalls, and a variety of hiking trails.

The sanctuary is also home to the world’s largest grove of California fan palms. Another noted sites here are the Murray Canyon, famous for spotting wildlife, Andreas Canyon, ideal for viewing tiny beautiful birds of a different variety, and visitor centre having a small theatre exhibiting documentary, artefact displays, Indian art, tribal-related items, ad other souvenirs.

3. Get Up-Close And Personal To The Iconic Wind Farms of Palm Springs

Noted amongst one of the windiest places on earth, the Wind Farms of Palm Springs can be reached at the San Gorgonio Pass right outside the city. It is exactly on both sides of the I-10 freeway, leading into the Coachella Valley and can be visited only through the official Palm Springs Windmill tours. Not only wind is high but also constant here in the region, which is also the essential requirement for generating wind-powered electricity. Visiting here is much more than a photo opportunity as one also gets to know a lot of insides about advancing technologies, alternative energies, and more fascinating knowledge that is else way difficult to be grabbed from the internet. As the wind pressure here is, of course, very high, consider avoiding short and flowy dresses and wear comfortable footwear to make a balanced hold. Even though it won’t blow you away, the pressure can be really high.

4. Explore the Date Farms of Palm Springs

Every city has one unique speciality, and Date Farms proves to the one for Palm Springs. The deserted location, dusty roads, humid weather and date farms provide Palm springs with a distinctly Arabian look. An unavoidable experience, travellers, make sure to visit one or more date farms, get an up-close view of the sight and shop some of the finest productions to take back home. You can find several date gardens planted systematically throughout the valley, which seems no less the jewel of this deserted valley. Most of the date crops here were in the late 18th century from the Middle East and North Africa only for experimental farming purposes; however, the supportive climate here flourished the plantation and transformed it into the “Date city” of United States. One of the best amongst all is the Shields Date Garden, where you can explore the settings for hours and further shop any variety that you want.

5. Enjoy the Palm Springs Village Fest

Visitors in this desert city during the weekdays, specifically Thursdays, surely run towards the Palm Springs Village Fest’s eventful vibes. Every Thursday, the village fest is organized throughout the year downtown right at the Palm Canyon Driveway. What makes it a special place for both residents and visitors are the entertainment spots, art blocks and displays, authentic locals’ cuisines, and shopping opportunities. When here, you can enjoy a variety of music performances, instrumental skits, and group dance. If you want to get close to the old-fashioned street fair and local farmers market, make sure you visit this village fest on your trip to Palm Springs. The fest is functional from 6 in the evening and goes until 10 or even 11 at night sometimes.

6. Spend Time in the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens is the site where you can get close to the distinct ecosystems of deserts from all around the world. This extraordinary desert setting comprises a zoo and botanical garden where within a handful of gardens constitutes of over 1400 plant species that natively belongs to several parts of the world. The animal variety here comprises North American and African wildlife, including wolves, foxes, hyenas, leopards, gazelle, badgers, camels, coyotes, mountain lions, raptors and more. Though a non-profit organization, they ensure high aspects of care and conservation for animals residing here. For the last 50 years, it has been one of the top attractions in Palm Springs. It is advisable to visit the area during the early morning hours, or late evening as due to less shaded regions here, it gets extremely hot with scorching sun heat during the day hours. With an extra fee of only $5, you can get close to giraffes and feed them as well.

7. Visit the Palm Springs Air Museum

The Palm Springs Air Museum is indeed one of the top air museums in the world where you can get up-close to bombers, fighter planes, and a few other war equipment’s from World war II, Vietnam, and Korea. Even if you are not interested in exploring the military hardware, the historical displays and glimpse of the past here are worth adding flavour to your trip. It is all worthy of getting close to the machines, touch and feel them, and know more about the risk of flyers who took their lives on their hands and flew on the front foot during the most crucial time this world has ever seen till now. Out of the thousands of visitors who have ever been to the Palm Springs Air Museum, many of them consider it one of the best museums in Palm Springs. Also, if you are in the city with your kids, make sure you take them along as kids are allowed to sit in the cockpit of those famous historical planes and click pictures.

8. Try Desert Adventures in the Greater Palm Springs

Another exciting experience in Palm Springs that must not be missed is the Desert Adventures Red Jeep Tours & Events. These off-road desert guided tours are organized in climate-controlled vehicles (small van’s, open red-jeeps, or SUV’s) for an in-depth visit into the deserted region of Palm Springs. The tours are location specific, fun, adventures and educational as well, with an up-close and personal experience to learn about the unique topography of this reason. The Desert adventure tour here includes a trip to Joshua Tree National Park, Coachella Valley, Mecca Hills, the San Andreas Fault Line, and the Agua Caliente Indian Canyons. You can also opt for late evening tours or night tours and explore the sight when the weather is quiet and calm. Even though the tours are slightly pricey, the experience makes it worth every penny.