The Perfect Weekend in Palm Springs (2024)
Looking to enjoy the perfect weekend in Palm Springs? We’ve got you covered with all the best attractions, restaurants, and places to stay.
This weekend in Palm Springs itinerary covers the entire Greater Palm Springs area all the way to Indio.
Everything is within about a 30 minute drive of each other so you can spend more time doing things instead of just driving around.
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👉🏼 Accommodations
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The Perfect Weekend in Palm Springs
These activities are a great way to pass the time during your weekend in Palm Springs.
There are things to do for all ages and all types of travelers.
☑️ Azure Palm Hot Springs Day Spa
You can purchase a day spa pass from Azure Palm, even if you’re not staying at the hotel.
For only $56 per person you can enjoy all of these amenities:
- Morning Video Yoga
- Mineral Spring Pool
- 2 Outdoor Spas
- 2 Indoor Spas
- A Sauna
- 5 Free-Flowing Mineral Tubs
- Reflexology Walk – A Geo-thermally heated stream filled with pebbles that massage and stimulate your feet
- Himalayan Salt Room (subject to availability)
- Ice Room (subject to availability)
For a small upgrade fee you can also rent a locker, a robe, and slippers for the day.
The Azure Palm Cafe on site allows you get food and drinks throughout the day that you can bring down to the pool with you or dine in the cafe if you choose.
You can check out our full experience in this video on our YouTube Channel!
☑️ Modern Tours Palm Springs
These are self-driving tours where you can see the best of the Mid Century Modern architecture that Palm Springs is famous for.
We opted for the Modernism Mega Tour, which combines 2 other tours into one.
This tour featured 21 stops around town where we were able to visit iconic homes, hotels, and other businesses around town.
There are plenty of tours to choose from depending on your interests.
There are celebrity home tours, tours that highlight the best selfie spots, and tours that feature the best doors and the best breeze blocks.
☑️ Shopping and Dining at El Paseo
El Paseo is a massive shopping and dining district in Palm Desert.
Restaurants here include high end steakhouses, Italian cuisine, Mexican cuisine, and coffee shops.
There are also a ton of art galleries, antique shops, and consignment stores.
Spa and salon services are popular throughout this area as well.
In “The Gardens” area you’ll find your typical mall stores in an outdoor setting.
☑️ Thrift and Antique Shopping
Our favorite store in the area is Angel View.
They have about a dozen locations throughout the Greater Palm Springs area.
When we were visiting, they had just started their “Christmas in July” special where they were selling FULLY decorated Christmas trees for $149.
You never know what you’ll find at these places, so they are great for browsing any time you travel.
Another popular shop in the area is called Revivals.
It’s part thrift store, part furniture store.
We found this one to be a little more expensive and didn’t have as many treasures as the Angel View stores did, but they’re still neat to check out.
☑️ Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
This is the world’s largest rotating tram car.
It takes you on a trip 2 1/2 miles up to Mt San Jacinto State Park.
The ride is about 10 minutes up and 10 minutes back down.
You can spend as much time as you’d like up on Mt San Jacinto.
The elevation is over 8,500 feet, so it’s much colder up here than it is down in town.
👉 Click Here To Book Your Ticket On The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Today!
☑️ Take a Drive Out To Joshua Tree National Park
If you’re just looking for a day trip out to Joshua Tree, it’s pretty easy to do from Palm Springs.
Here is the route I recommend:
- Start at the Cottonwood Springs Visitor Center
- Take the short trail to the palm oasis
- Drive to the Cholla Cactus Garden and take the short boardwalk loop
- Drive to Skull Rock and take the trail until you see the Skull Rock
- Drive to Barker Dam and take the trail OR Drive to the Lost Horse Mine Trail, which is a 4 mile hike
- Make your way to Keys View for sunset views of the valley, Salton Sea, and Mexico
For a more detailed explanation of how to visit Joshua Tree, you can check out our post from our first visit to Palm Springs.
👉 Click Here To Enhance Your Joshua Tree National Park Visit With An Audio Tour!
Where to Eat Around Palm Springs
When you spend a weekend in Palm Springs, you get the opportunity to enjoy a little bit of everything.
There are many classic, old school restaurants, as well as cool, new, trendy places.
✅ Elmer’s
Breakfast here is a must.
They are known for serving German Pancakes, which you can see in the photo below.
Breakfast is very popular here, so you’ll want to come early.
✅ TKB Bakery & Deli
TKB was actually the #1 restaurant in America on Yelp recently.
All of their sandwiches are stacked high with all kinds of toppings and names you won’t forget.
On our visit we tried the Mexican Marilyn Monroe, which is a chicken salad sandwich.
Then we took the Sexy Italian sandwich home for dinner.
The bakery has amazing desserts too.
We tried the Oreo Brownie, a Key Lime Tarte, and a Strawberry Lemon Bar.
✅ Enzo’s Bistro & Bar
Enzo’s has a location in La Quinta and Rancho Mirage.
From 3 pm – 7 pm every day at the bar is happy hour.
We just happened upon it and found that it was essentially a small plates version of the main menu.
So we got to sample quite a bit for a small price!
We started with meatballs and risotto balls, which were amazing.
For our entrees we tried the penne alla vodka and the lasagna.
Of course we had to have dessert too, so we opted for the tiramisu.
✅ Billy Reed’s
This Palm Springs classic has been around since 1975.
Just the decor alone is worth checking out this restaurant.
We stopped in for a quick bite mid-afternoon because we were starving, but we had dinner plans later.
So I tried the crab cakes and JP had a breakfast platter with eggs and hashbrowns.
They serve breakfast all day, so if you get a late start during your weekend in Palm Springs, this is where you can go to get breakfast at 2 in the afternoon if you want.
✅ Tropicale
The Tropicale Restaurant and Coral Seas Lounge are iconic dining spots in Palm Springs.
The decor is so cute and they have a ton of amazing drinks.
During our visit, one of the weekly specials was a watermelon sangria that was practically my own personal fish bowl.
Their signature drink, a coconut martini, is also worth a try.
For our meal, since the portions are quite large, we shared the boneless deep fried chicken.
Then we got mashed potatoes and green beans as a side.
There was so much here that we even took some home as leftovers.
✅ Armando’s Bar & Grill
This Mexican restaurant is right in the middle of El Paseo.
The portions are pretty large too, so we just shared a chicken chimichanga for lunch while we were browsing the area.
✅ Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse
A weekend in Palm Springs is a great time to treat yourself to a fancy dinner.
JP and I visited for the first time on our 1 year anniversary.
To celebrate, he took me to dinner at Ruth’s Chris.
They really went all out to celebrate us.
The table had heart confetti and we got this dessert at the end of our meal.
✅ Sherman’s Deli & Bakery
Sherman’s Deli has 2 locations in the Palm Springs area.
It has a very old school diner feel where you can get sandwiches like reubens and patty melts.
Then for desserts they have a selection of pies and other treats.
✅ In N Out
If you’re from an area without In N Out, then a weekend in Palm Springs is the perfect time to try it out!
I highly recommend getting a cheeseburger with grilled onions or getting your fries served “animal style”.
Where to Stay Around Palm Springs
During your weekend in Palm Springs, you can really stay anywhere in the area.
We’ve stayed right in the middle of Palm Springs and in the neighboring areas of Indian Wells, La Quinta, and Indio.
All of them have their own charm and benefits and we would stay in all of them again.
☑️ Worldmark Indio
This resort is away from it all.
On the far outskirts of Indio, it’s right up against the mountains and buffered by a golf course.
My favorite part of this resort is the lazy river.
For the first hour it is open in the morning it is only for walking in the reverse of the current.
The rest of the day innertubes are mandatory.
The other benefit of staying in a property like this is that it has a full kitchen and separate bedroom.
It’s great for work-cations, which is how we generally travel.
👉 Click Here To Book Your Stay At Worldmark Indio Today!
☑️ La Quinta Resort & Club
We have stayed here twice and we absolutely love it.
It is part of Hilton’s hotel group and you might recognize it from The Bachelorette!
The Claire/Tayshia season was filmed entirely in this resort during the pandemic.
I’ve visited before with my family and we liked that all the buildings were in small groupings with their own pools and hot tubs.
At the time, I worked for Hilton and the rooms were only $75 with my team member rate, so we split 5 people between two rooms.
The other visit was just JP and I.
It was New Year’s Day a few years ago and we had the day off and just felt like going for the night.
Palm Springs is less than a 2 hour drive for us, so it was an easy getaway.
👉 Click Here To Book Your Luxurious Stay At La Quinta Resort & Club Today!
☑️ Miramonte Resort and Spa Indian Wells
JP and I stayed here on our first ever visit to Palm Springs.
At the time, it was another Hilton resort, but it doesn’t appear to be anymore.
It’s right up against the mountains and the pool area is really nice.
It’s very centrally located to a lot of the activities we recommend in the area.
👉 Click Here To Book Your Stay At Miramonte Resort and Spa Indian Wells Today!
☑️ Marquis Villas Resort
UPDATE: THIS RESORT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED
This resort is right in the middle of Palm Springs!
Just around the corner is Sherman’s Deli & Bakery.
It is owned by Diamond Resorts, which is a timeshare company that was recently bought out by Hilton Grand Vacations.
So the branding may change sometime, but the resort will largely by the same.
The video below will really explain it best, but this resort is odd in the best way.
It’s one of those things where the more you look at it the more questions you have.
Conclusion: The Perfect Weekend in Palm Springs
Pairing the above activities, restaurants, and resorts, you’re bound to have the perfect weekend in Palm Springs!
