Outdoor fun | culinary adventure | art & culture | wellness
Greater Palm Springs
As soon as you arrive in this oasis of cool little towns, stream-fed canyons—and of course, plentiful namesake palm trees and hot springs—you realize you’ve left your everyday reality behind. The world as you know it turns otherworldly in an instant under these sun-saturated blue skies and snowcapped desert peaks, where escapes of all kinds await, whether you crave foodie adventures, outdoorsy fun, art and culture or just straight-up chilling. And whether you’re a longtime visitor or a total first-timer, you’ll find plenty of newness here now. It ranges from the highly practical (increased nonstop service to Palm Springs International Airport on various carriers) to the heart-pumping (riding 7-foot waves at Palm Springs Surf Club). So prepare for the extraordinary, then read on for the details that will help turn it into your reality.
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Outdoor fun
Culinary adventure
Art and culture
Wellness
Plan your trip
Hiking in Mission Creek Preserve
Parker Palm Springs
Mural in Indio
Kestrel
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Palm Springs Art Museum
Azure Palm Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa Oasis
Rooftop yoga at Power Yoga Palm Springs
Good Vibes Sound Bath at Tommy Bahama Miramonte
Reffen Street Food Market
Photo credits: Lukas Bukoven (left); Reffen - Copenhagen Street Food (right)
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Swiss Canyon Trail
4 Saints
Mural in Indio
Yoga at Miramonte
Of course, if you’d prefer to get around in a different way, that’s no problem. Guided rides into the palm-filled oasis of the Indian Canyons depart daily from Smoke Tree Stables in Palm Springs, while moonlit rides are date night perfection with Coyote Ridge Stable in Morongo Valley. Another kind of ride that’s hard to beat in Greater Palm Springs? The kind on two wheels. BIKE Palm Springs leads guided e-bike tours in partnership with the Palm Springs Historical Society. For more of an adrenaline rush, there’s Big Wheel Tours' Earthquake Canyon excursion to the San Andreas Fault.
Fueling your local adventures is a delectable and—as with most good things here—ever-expanding proposition. For starters, there are all the offerings at the Thompson Palm Springs, a gorgeous nod to the Rat Pack era, where the signature restaurant, Lola Rose Grand Mezze serves up kabobs, spreads, seafood and bread from the house tandoor oven in a glam indoor-outdoor setting. Meanwhile, the hotel’s Hall Napa Valley Tasting Room & Wine Lounge hosts tastings of celebrated varietals from beloved winemakers. Bar Issi offers Mediterranean small plates and creative cocktails.
More buzzy new food and drink offerings in a hotel that underwent a huge refresh last year: the Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas, where the restaurants have a more Latin flavor. The first is Tía Carmen, an homage to the aunt of its renowned chef, Angelo Sosa, who has created the likes of ember-roasted purple yams with aged mole or lamb barbacoa with caviar. That same aunt’s love of global travel and gastronomy inspired the menu at Carmocha, where the offerings range from Cuban sandwiches to pasta pomodoro. Of course, not every widely anticipated new restaurant here is in a hotel, though another one is in Indian Wells: Kestrel, from celebrity chef Richard Blais, who puts a fun, creative spin on American classics. Think shrimp cocktail with guava horseradish and fried chicken in a bao bun with hot honey.
Needless to say, you should save room for some longstanding favorites, too, a few of which have earned Michelin mentions. There is, for example, 4 Saints at the Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs, where the SoCal-meets-Southern Comfort vibes are accompanied by such dishes as chicory persimmon with gouda, candied hazelnut, pomegranate and shallot vinaigrette, as well as prime bone-in filet with broccolini, pistachio, aged balsamic and cabernet reduction. Of Workshop Kitchen and Bar, also in Palm Springs, the Michelin guide raves: “A dedicated garden in Rancho Mirage, along with a sizeable herb planter behind the kitchen, furnishes peak-season produce for wood-fired dishes like a flat iron au poivre.” And just down the road, Bar Cecil serves up beloved classics, from sole meuniere to steaks and frites to cacio e pepe.
The design on display in Greater Palm Springs spans a staggering array of styles and eras, from the millennia-old artifacts at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum to the newly commissioned large-scale installations on display during the Coachella festival and beyond. But of course, there’s one esthetic and era the area is known for above all others: midcentury modern. Serious fans will want to join the thousands of others who’ll make the pilgrimage to Palm Springs for Modernism Week. Scheduled for Feb. 12–22, 2026, the annual 11-day festival celebrates architecture, art, interior and landscape design as well as vintage culture via more than 400 tours, programs and events.
Then again, modernism is hardly the only branch of the arts to inspire a festival worth traveling to in the area. A brief look at just the early 2026 lineup: the Palm Springs International Film Festival (Jan. 2–12), when Hollywood descends on the desert for screenings, awards and general revelry; La Quinta Art Celebration (Feb. 26–March 1), when artists from around the globe exhibit juried works at the La Quinta Civic Center; and of course, the iconic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (April 10–12 and 17–19), whose 2026 lineup includes Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, Karol G, The XX, The Strokes, Young Thug, Moby and David Byrne. Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson and Post Malone will headline the Stagecoach Country Music Festival (April 24–26).
Of course, on any given day in Greater Palm Springs, you can simply go and experience world-class art and culture. Start at the Palm Springs Art Museum, where you’ll find the 1931 metal Aluminaire House. Considered one of the most important buildings of the last 125 years, according to Architectural Record magazine, Aluminaire House is a great intro to the modernist wonders you can get a gander at in Greater Palm Springs, whether on your own or a guided tour. These include Elvis’s Honeymoon Hideaway, where he and Priscilla hid out in 1967; Kaufmann House, Richard Neutra’s 1946 rhapsody in steel, glass and stone; and Twin Palms, designed for Frank Sinatra, who rang in the new year there in 1948 and hosted many a legendary gathering on the property thereafter. There’s also monumental public art wherever you look, from the “Anonymous Farm Worker” mural el Mac painted for the Coachella Walls project to “Sarbalé Ke” abstract baobabs by Francis Kéré in Indio’s Dr. Carreon Park.
The Greater Palms Springs desertscape seems purpose-built for wellness. The views alone inspire a profound sense of bliss and calm—to say nothing of how you feel when immersed in the earth-warmed, mineral-rich ancestral spring water of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, who have made those healing properties available to anyone who books a tub soak at The Spa at Séc-he, which sits at the site of the spring. (There’s also a full menu of fabulous treatments beyond the soaking tubs, from a quartz and poultice massage to a desert sage scrub, all worth considering.) To sample more of the region’s geothermic waters, head to Desert Hot Springs for dips in the spring-fed tubs and pools at Azure Palm Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa Oasis; the Good House; and (if you check in for the night) Two Bunch Palms.
More recent additions to the wellness scene (as with the food scene) come courtesy of the new and refurbished hotels. At the Thompson, for example, guests can book al fresco yoga on the second-level lawn with views of the San Jacinto Mountains. The refreshed Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas offers its own variation on the theme with Agua Serena Spa Yoga Stretching, in addition to other wellness offerings such as Aqua Fit water workouts in the expansive pool complex. Of course, you can also find exercise outside the resorts, with Power Yoga Palm Springs' rooftop yoga being a perennial favorite.
For anyone who’d like to be lulled into a sense of well-being through the remarkably soothing vibrations of gongs and Tibetan crystal singing bowls, Greater Palm Springs offers several sound bath options. Bliss Chakra Spa runs monthly communal sessions in La Quinta, but you can also book a private session if the dates don’t align with your visit (or you just want a more individualized experience). You should also check out the calendar at Crystal Fantasy in Palm Springs, where sound bathing routinely appears on the lineup (in addition to reiki circles and full moon drum circles). And if you’d like your sound bathing to be more than figurative, you can pair flotation with the smooth stylings of the Good Vibes Sound Bath bowl and chime-meisters, who orchestrate extra-ethereal session at resort pools across Greater Palm Springs (check the calendar for details). Even if you've never contemplated such treatments before in your life, you'll no doubt emerge an avid fan. It's the natural result of escaping your ordinary in Greater Palm Springs.
4 Saints
Bar Cecil
Modernism Week
Agua Caliente Cultural Museum
The Spa at Séc-he
Two Bunch Palms
With such a dazzling landscape, you'll want to explore as soon as you drop off your things at the hotel. There's epic hiking to be done in Greater Palm Springs, and soon you’ll be happily crunching along the fallen needles of the local pine forests. To get there, embark on a pre-adventure: The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway—the world’s largest rotating tram car—will whisk you 2.5 miles along the cliffs of Chino Canyon to the wilderness of Mt. San Jacinto State Park, where you’ll find more than 50 miles of trails. One crowd pleaser: the moderate, 4.5-mile Round Valley Loop among the mountaintop pines and oaks. There is also otherworldly hiking along the 2.7-mile Palm Canyon Trail, in the same palm-shrouded canyon system that Smoke Tree Stables visits on horseback. For even more palm magic, head to the Thousand Palms Oasis, where the 25+ miles of trails include the stunning 4.5-mile loop that is the Willis Palms Trail.
Palm Canyon Trail
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
Horseback riding
Hiking in Mt. San Jacinto State Park
Lola Rose Grand Mezze
Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa
BNP Paribas Open
American Express PGA golf tournament
With more than 300 days of sunshine each year, Greater Palm Springs can host oodles of sporting events outdoors without fear of rain. The area is a golfer’s parade thanks to 100+ golf courses as well, making it an easy choice for the annual American Express PGA golf tournament (Jan. 19–25). Tickets are still available to follow your favorite players around the course. Old Dominion and One Republic will be the headliners for the concert series.
Since 1974, the BNP Paribas Open has been running in Indian Wells. This year’s event (March 1–15) will bring some of the world’s best tennis players like Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic to the Coachella Valley. Fans can watch them practice and compete either via single session tickets or series packages.
An annual event in the Coachella Valley, the Palm Desert Food & Wine Festival (March 19-22) is a culinary highlight on the calendar. Held on the tree-lined El Paseo shopping district, this is a celebration of the nation’s top chefs, vintners and brewmasters. There are celebrity demonstrations as well as regional chefs and restaurants with tasting plates, but get there early as this is first-come, first-serve.
When you find so much natural beauty, room to roam and energizing sunshine in one place, your instinct for adventure can’t help but kick in—and the sheer variety of excursions on offer in Greater Palm Springs doesn’t hurt. The aforementioned Palm Springs Surf Club is a literal oasis in the desert thanks to its state-of-the-art wave pool. Novices can rent a board from the in-house shop, while more advanced surfers can bring their own boards to ride engineered waves of different heights. The second surf destination in the area, DSRT Surf, is expected to open in summer 2026 with a 5.5-acre wave pool on the grounds of the Desert Willow Golf Resort.
Palm Springs Surf Club
Modernism Week
Stagecoach Festival
Palm Desert Food & Wine Festival
Palm Desert Food & Wine Festival
Tía Carmen
Outdoor fun | culinary adventure | art & culture | wellness
Outdoor fun | culinary adventure | art & culture | wellness
Outdoor fun | culinary adventure | art & culture | wellness
