Palm Springs sits in the Coachella Valley at the foot of the San Jacinto Mountains — a desert resort city that has drawn visitors since the early 20th century with its reliable sunshine, natural hot springs, and dramatic mountain backdrop. It became a Hollywood playground in the mid-century era, and the legacy shows: the city has one of the finest concentrations of mid-century modern architecture in the United States, from the Kaufmann Desert House to the rows of steel-and-glass estates that line the residential streets.
The climate is the main draw. Winter days are warm and clear, evenings cool enough for a jacket. Spring brings the bloom season when wildflowers carpet the desert floor. Summer is genuinely brutal — temperatures regularly exceed 110°F — but even then the town has a certain empty, bleached appeal.
Beyond the architecture and poolside lounging, Palm Springs offers real outdoor adventure. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway climbs from the desert floor to the alpine forests of Mount San Jacinto State Park in under 15 minutes, a transition of climate zones that still feels remarkable. The Indian Canyons — ancient palm oases operated by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians — offer some of the most beautiful desert hiking in California.
The mid-century modern architecture is the other great draw: Palm Springs has one of the finest concentrations of 1940s–60s modernist residential design anywhere in the United States, and the residential streets north of downtown are worth exploring. The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum tells the longer story of the Cahuilla people who shaped this landscape long before the celebrities arrived.
The downtown strip along Palm Canyon Drive has restaurants, galleries, and shops; the gay and lesbian community has shaped the city's culture significantly since the 1970s and gives it a more cosmopolitan edge than most desert towns. Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, held in nearby Indio each spring, draw hundreds of thousands of visitors — book accommodation months ahead if your trip coincides.