From Wikitravel

Palm Springs [1] is a resort city in the Southern California desert. Palm Springs became a destination during the 1950s and 1960s as American movie stars from Hollywood flocked there in droves. Nowadays, the area is filled with golf courses and swimming pools. Palm Springs is also very popular in the gay and naturist community. In early spring, Palm Springs is a favorite destination for west coast college students, resulting in full hotels. So book rooms early. Other nearby desert resort cities include Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Indio.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

• Palm Springs International Airport (IATA: PSP), [2]. Located right in the heart of Palm Springs. Scheduled daily flight connections with major cities throughout the United States and Canada. Served by Air Canada, Westjet and all major US airlines except Southwest.

• LA/Ontario International Airport [3] in Ontario, about 70 miles to the west of Palm Springs, has many more flight connections and is the closest airport served by Southwest Airlines.

[edit] By train

• Amtrak Station, 300 North Indian Canyon Drive (.6 mi south of Interstate 10), 1-800-USA-RAIL (872-7245), [4]. Amtrak's Sunset Limited route connects Palm Springs with Los Angeles and with Arizona and points eastward with three westbound and three eastbound trains per week (arriving Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday). Amtrak also provides Palm Springs with connections to and from the San Joaquins trains, which run up California's Central Valley to the Bay Area and Sacramento, via multiple daily Amtrak Thruway motorcoach runs to and from Bakersfield.

[edit] By car

From Los Angeles, take Interstate 10 East towards Phoenix. Palm Springs is about a two hour drive if there is not much traffic. Beware, weekend getaway traffic can be very heavy.

[edit] Get around

Palm Springs is a very car-oriented city. You may have trouble getting around if you don't have a car. Rent a car at the airport, or if you want to splurge, numerous limousine services are available, including West Coast Transportation, Cardiff Limousine and A-1 Sahara Limo.

[edit] By car

The main drag through this area is Highway 111 and S. Palm Canyon Drive. Highway 111 runs east-west along the mountain side and connects all the cities in the Palm Springs area. This road has lights and lots of traffic, so if you are going far, you should drive out and hop on Interstate 10. S. Palm Drive is always busy and is hard to find a parking place on the weekends and at night. You should try to park on one of the side roads if possible.

[edit] By bus

• Sun Bus, 1-800-347-8628, [5]. Palm Springs runs a bus service called Sun Bus which runs routes, including some to neighboring resort cities.

[edit] By bike

Palm Springs and the surrounding environs are mostly flat and dry and can be very conducive to bicycling. There are numerous options available for renting bikes in Palm Springs.

[edit][add listing] See

• The Indian Canyons. Tahquitz Canyon, Palm Canyon, Andreas Canyon and Murray Canyon, were sacred Native sites, now open to the public for hiking. [6]

[edit][add listing] Do

Golf is one of the primary motivations for Palm Springs visits almost any time of year. Theatre and Indian gaming casinos offer additional night time excitement.

• Historic Plaza Theatre, 128 South Palm Canyon Dr, 760 327-0225, [7]. The home of the Palm Springs Follies, featuring talented and energetic seniors singing and dancing. Matinee at 1:30PM and evening show at 7PM. From $39.

• Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Drive, 760 325-7186, [8]. Founded in 1933, the museum hosts special exhibits and work from its permanent collection which includes Ruscha, Robert Arneson, Nathan, Charles Russell, Frederic Remington and Native American and Mesoamerican Art.

• Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, 1 Tramway Rd, 760 325-1391, [9]. A good place to go to get away from the heat. Incredible views at night, and snow in the winter.

• Palm Springs Air Museum 745 N. Gene Autry Trl, 760 778-6262, [10]. Nice place to go to if you have half a day to spare. Home to great condition WWII airplanes and more.

• Palm Springs International Film Festival, [11]. Held first 2 weeks of January. One of the largest film festivals in North America. Star-studded black tie gala open to public with purchase of gala tickets.

• Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films, [12]. Largest short film festival in North America; second largest in the world. An Academy sanctioned festival. Fifty of the short films screened at this festival have been nominated for Academy Awards. The public can meet up-and-coming directors and actors at special parties. Held Aug 23-29th, 2007.

[edit] Golf

• Rancho Las Palmas Country Club, 77-200 California Dr, Rancho Mirage, 760 862-4551, [13]. Open to Rancho Las Palmas Resort guests, 27-holes.
• Shadow Ridge Resort, 9002 Shadow Ridge Rd, Palm Desert, 760 674-2700. 18 holes designed by Nick Faldo.
• Palm Desert Country Club, 42-000 Bob Hope Dr, Palm Desert, 760 345-2525, [14]. Open to public, 18-holes.
• SilverRock Resort, LaQuinta, 760 776-6688, [15]. 18 holes, open to public, designed by Arnie Palmer.
• The Desert Princess Country Club, 67967 Vista Chino Cathedral City, 760 322-7000, [16]. Features 27 holes of championship PGA-rated golf among three 9-hole courses.
• Shadow Ridge Resort, 9002 Shadow Ridge Rd, Palm Desert, 760 674-2700. 18 holes designed by Nick Faldo.

[edit] Gaming

• Spa Resort Casino, 401 E. Amado Rd, 760 883-1000, [17]. Offers live entertainmant, restaurants, a players club, and over 1000 slot machines.

• Morongo Casino, 49500 Seminole Dr. Cabazon, CA 92230 800-252-4499 [18] is about 20 minutes west of Palm Springs. Offers all the amenities, hotel, and 2000+ slots. This is the areas newest casino.

[edit][add listing] Buy

• Art. Palm Springs has more than a dozen art galleries featuring local artists and desert themes.

• Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon, [19]. Large outlet mall with over 100 stores.

[edit][add listing] Eat

• Tylers Burgers, 149 South Indian Canyon Dr. This small hamburger joint, famous for their sliders, has the best hamburgers in all of Palm Springs. Only open for lunch. Be sure to get there early or be prepared to wait because this is where all the locals eat.

• Kaiser Grille, 205 S. Palm Canyon Dr, 760 323-1003, [20]. Good American food right in the middle of downtown Palm Springs.

• The Chop House, 262 S. Palm Canyon Dr, 760 320-4500. Steakhouse along the main drag of Palm Springs.

• Le Vallauris, 385 W. Tahquitz Canyon Way, 760 325-5059, [21]. Expensive, but good french food off of S. Palm Canyon Drive.

[edit][add listing] Drink

• Blue Guitar, 120 S. Palm Canyon Dr. This blues and jazz bar is located on the second story in downtown Palm Springs. Featuring a live band on the weekends for $10, the music will get you up and going. The drinks are bit pricey, but the atmosphere is well worth it.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

• Alexander Inn , 1425 S. Via Soledad, (760) 327-4970, [22]. Palm Springs' newest luxury Inn. Beautiful gardens and great mountain views. Walk to many great restaurants. Email: info@alexander-inn.com

• a Sea Mountain Inn couples only Nude resort hotel ranked best of the USA by New York Times http://www.nudespa.com couples only
• Best Western Inn at Palm Springs, 1633 S Palm Canton Drive, (760) 325-9177, Toll-free: (800) 222-4678, Fax: (760) 325-9177, [23].
• Sea Mountain Inn Resort, 877-928-2827, [24] Natural mineral water nude resort and nude spa hotel with 24 hour dance lounge for couples only.

• Best Western Las Brisas, 222 S Indian Canyon Drive, (760) 325-4372, Toll-free: 1 800-346-5714, Fax: (760) 320-1371, [25].

• Chase Hotel at Palm Springs, 200 West Arenas Road, toll free: 1 888-320-8867, [26].

• Courtyard Palm Springs, 1300 Tahquitz Canyon Way, 760 322-6100, Toll-free: 800-321-2211 (Fax: 760 322-6091), [27]

• Doral Desert Princess Resort in Palm Springs, 67967 Vista Chino Cathedral City, CA 92234 Phone: 760.322.7000 Fax: 760.322.6853 , [28].

• El Rancho Lodge, 1330 E Palm Canyon Dr., 760 327-1339, fax 760 327-7689 [29]. Small motels with some nice features A great library of books and DVDs and DVD players in every room, friendly owners/managers, nice pool and hot tub in the courtyard and Louise, the resident dog will win over your heart.

• Hyatt Grand Champions, 44-600 Indian Wells Lane (Indian Wells), ☎ +1 760 341 1000 (fax: +1 760 568 2236), [30].  edit

• Motel 6 Palm Springs Downtown, 660 South Palm Canyon Drive, 760 327-4200, Fax: (760) 320-9827, [31]

• Motel 6 Palm Springs East-E Palm Canyon, 595 East Palm Canyon Drive, 760 325-6129, Fax: (760) 320-9304, [32]

• Palm Court Inn 1983 N. Palm Canyon Dr., 800-667-7918 [33] Offers rooms at affordable prices.

• Terra Cotta Inn Clothing Optional Resort and Spa, 2388 E. Racquet Club Rd. 800-786-6938 [34]. Considered a "mainstream" nudist resort.

• Villa Royale Inn, 1620 Indian Trail, 760 327-2314, fax 760 322-3794, [35].

• Wyndham, 888 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, 760 322-6000, fax 760 322-5351, [36]. A good hotel for business or pleasure. Located three blocks from fashionable Palm Canyon Drive and directly linked to the Palm Springs Convention Center.

[edit] Get out

• Joshua Tree National Park. This desert park is a great day trip to take while at Palm Springs. You can get there in less than an hour by going north on route 62. Take a minimum of four hours to do the loop from the north through the south of the park. Camping is allowed as well as rock climbing.
• Idyllwild is a mountain resort approximately 45 minutes drive away on the beautiful Palms to Pines highway. It can also be reached by a scenic 10 mile hike from the top of the Palm Springs Tramway.

This is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!