Two days — architecture tour, Aerial Tramway, mid-century vintage shopping, and the Thursday VillageFest street market.
Morning architecture walk through the Old Las Palmas and Vista Las Palmas neighborhoods, then up the Aerial Tramway to Mount San Jacinto for hiking above the desert.
Two rotating gondolas carry you 2.5 miles up the face of Mount San Jacinto — from desert floor at 2,643 feet to Mountain Station at 8,516 feet. Temperature difference can be 40°F. The hike from Mountain Station to the peak is 5 miles each way for serious hikers; the flat trails near the station are excellent for everyone else. Buy tickets online — it sells out on weekends.
The best restaurant in Palm Springs — an old bank building converted into a farm-to-table kitchen. The sourdough pizza and the local vegetable dishes are excellent. Strong craft cocktail list. Book in advance on weekends.
PSP airport is 5 minutes from downtown — one of the best airport-to-city ratios in California. Uber is $15. The airport is small; baggage claim is fast. If driving from LA, the I-10 east through Banning takes about 2.5 hours.
Sleep in, vintage shopping in the Uptown Design District, browse the weekly flea market at the Spa Hotel, and VillageFest in the evening.
The Uptown Design District on North Palm Canyon has the highest concentration of mid-century modern furniture and decor shops. Iconic Mid-Century Modern and Dazzles are the two best. You'll find actual Eames chairs, not reproductions. Even if you're not buying, the shops are worth walking.
Traditional Mexican in a converted home — the chile rellenos are handmade and the margaritas are good. One of the few restaurants in Palm Springs that isn't specifically catering to the Modernism Week crowd. Budget-friendly for the city.
Palm Canyon Drive closes to traffic every Thursday evening from October through June for an outdoor street market — produce, art, vintage goods, and food trucks. It's genuinely good. Go after 6 PM when the vendors are set up.
March brings Modernism Week (early March) and Coachella (mid-April) to the valley. Hotel prices triple and everything books out months in advance. January and February are the sweet spot — perfect weather, reasonable prices, still busy but not crazy.
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