Travel information

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  • The Indian Canyons. Tahquitz Canyon, Palm Canyon, Andreas Canyon and Murray Canyon, were sacred Native sites, now open to the public for hiking. [7]
  • Historic Plaza Theatre, 128 South Palm Canyon Dr, 760 327-0225, [8]. The home of the The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, featuring talented and energetic seniors singing and dancing. Matinee at 1:30PM and evening show at 7PM.
  • Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Drive, 760 325-7186, [9]. 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, [10]. 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, [11]. 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, [12]. Held the first two weeks of January. One of the largest film festivals in North America. A star-studded black tie gala, it is open to public with the purchase of gala tickets.
  • Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films, [13]. 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.

Events

January – March

  • Palm Springs International Film Festival
  • Modernism Week
  • Desert Concours d’Elegance
  • Festival of Native Film & Culture
  • Tour de Palm Springs

April – June

  • Arthur Lyons’ Film Noir Festival
  • Restaurant Week
  • Girls Weekend (formerly Dinah Shore Weekend)
  • White Party

July-September

  • Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films
  • 4th of July Celebration
  • Cinema Diverse Gay and Lesbian Films

October – December

  • American Heat Bike Show
  • Exotic Car Show and Auction
  • Greater Palm Springs Pride
  • Festival of Lights Parade
  • Veterans Day Parade
  • Walk of the Inns
  • Tree Lighting Ceremony at Aerial Tramway

Golf

  • Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort [14]. Consists of two spectacular 18-hole golf courses, both offer gorgeous views. Golf Digest recently rated Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort as "one of the best places to play"
  • Indian Canyons Golf Resort [15]

Gaming

  • Spa Resort Casino, 401 E. Amado Rd, 760 883-1000, [16]. Offers live entertainmant, restaurants, a players club, and over 1000 slot machines.

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, and Continental.
  • 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.

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. Be aware that there are no rental car agencies that provide shuttles to the Amtrak station in Palm Springs and there is no public transportation available there. The "station" is really just an open platform without any building. Taxis from the Palm Springs Amtrak to the Palm Springs airport (where the rental cars are available) is about $30 (2008).

By car

From Los Angeles, take Interstate 10 East towards Phoenix. Palm Springs is about a two hour drive from most Southern California destination if there is not much traffic.

Palm Springs has a pedestrian friendly downtown. Visitors can enjoy the palm tree lined streets along Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive. Many boutique shops, outdoor restaurant and art galleries line the streets.

By 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. The main drags are 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. Most of the major car rental companies are represented at the airport.

By bus

  • Sun Bus, +1-800-347-8628, [5]. Run by the city, it has routes around the town and to some neighboring resort cities.
  • My Chauffeur [6]. 760-321-4001 Bus, Limousine, and Town Car Service.

By bike

Palm Springs and the surrounding environs are mostly flat and dry and can make for good cycling during the cooler months. Numerous rental facilities can be found around town.

  • Art. Palm Springs has more than a dozen art galleries featuring local artists and desert themes.
  • Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon, [17]. Large outlet mall with over 100 stores.

The annual Palm Springs Desert Resorts Restaurant Week [18] offers an opportunity to try a number of restaurants at a discounted rate.

  • 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, [19]. 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, [20]. Expensive, but good french food off of S. Palm Canyon Drive.
  • 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.