Palm Springs

Understand

Climate

Palm Springs has a hot desert climate. Summer temperatures are extremely hot, with average highs of 106°F and lows of 79°F. Temperatures and heat indices have been known to climb upwards to 121°F and not go below 89°F at night during the summer months.

Visitor information

Place Palm Springs Visitor Center (Albert Frey's Tramway Gas Station building)

📍 2901 N Palm Canyon Dr🕒 10AM-5PM daily☎ +1 760-778-8418Checked Aug 2022

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Get in

By plane

Go Palm Springs International Airport (PSP)

In the heart of Palm Springs. Year-round service to western hubs, with seasonal service to major cities throughout the United States and Canada. Served by Air Canada/Air Canada Rouge, Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, Sun Country Airlines, United Airlines, Westjet in the Sonny Bono Concourse which consists of gates 4-11. It is served by American Eagle, Contour Airlines, Delta Connection, Horizon Air, and United Express in the Regional Concourse (Gates 12-20). Palm Springs International Airport is also popular for general aviation and business jet travelers. It has a very pleasant outdoor concourse. Air taxi and aircraft charter companies provide private aircraft charter services from this airport. You can take Palm Springs bus number 24 to go from the airport to downtown Palm Springs. The bus does not stop right at the terminal; you'll need to catch the bus one block west of the airport at Civic Drive and East Tahquitz Canyon Way.

📍 3400 E Tahquitz Canyon Way⚠ Last checked Apr 2020 — confirm before you go

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By train

Amtrak has a station at 300 North Indian Canyon Drive (0.6 mi / 1 km south of Interstate 10), +1-800-USA-RAIL. 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 Gold Runner 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. Rental car agencies do not provide shuttles to the Amtrak station in Palm Springs and there is no public transportation available there. The "station" is an open platform without any building. Taxis from the Palm Springs Amtrak to the Palm Springs airport (where the rental cars are available) is $40-50 (2019). The Amtrak bus station is at 200 E Taquitz Canyon Road, and is the preferred method to get to Palm Springs via Amtrak. The LA/Orange County line runs through Fullerton and has only one stop between there and Palm Springs, at downtown Riverside. Another option is to take the Surfliner train to Fullerton. Then, take an Amtrak motorcoach to Palm Springs Airport or downtown Palm Springs. The Amtrak bus stop is at 190 North Indian Canyon Drive.

By car

• From Los Angeles take Interstate 10 or CA 60 East towards Phoenix – 110 mi, about 2 hours.
• From San Diego take Interstate 15 north, Interstate 215 north to CA 60 East – 130 mi, about 2 hours.
• From Phoenix take Interstate 10 West – 270 mi, about 4 hours.
• From Las Vegas take Interstate 15 South to Interstate 10 East (via San Bernardino) – 280 mi, about 4½ hours.

By bus

Additional bus stations and stops with Greyhound, El Paso-Los Angeles Limousine Express and Tufesa are only in Indio. Flixbus is the only intercity company that offers direct connections into downtown Palm Springs as well as Indio:

Get around

Palm Springs has a pedestrian-friendly downtown. Visitors can enjoy the palm tree-lined streets along Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive. 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 thoroughfares through downtown are one-way only between Alejo and Ramon. Palm Canyon Drive is the southern route, and the home to most restaurants, hotels, and entertainment venues. Indian Canyon Drive runs north, and also has many, though fewer, attractions. California State Route 111 runs south from I-10, then east-west along the hill side and connects all the cities in the Palm Springs area. This road has stop lights and lots of traffic, so if you are going far, you should drive out and hop onto I-10 S.

Palm Canyon Drive is usually busy and can be hard to find a parking place on the weekends and at night. There is ample free parking in the many city owned parking lots and garages, except for Thursday through Saturday nights.

Most of the major car rental companies are represented at the airport.

By bus

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.

Go next

• Joshua Tree National Park – This desert park is a great day trip to take while at Palm Springs. There are two routes to the park, both about an hour drive: north on CA 62 to the north entrance in Joshua Tree Village, or east on I-10 to the south entrance direct off I-10. To loop through the entire park from north to south (or vis-a-versa), plan on a minimum of 4 hours. Camping is allowed as well as rock climbing.
• Idyllwild – A mountain resort approximately 45 minutes drive away on the beautiful Palms to Pines highway. It can also be reached by a scenic 10 mi hike from the top of the Palm Springs Tramway.
• Salton Sea – Southeast of Palm Springs, California's largest lake formed when an irrigation canal burst in 1905 and flooded the Salton Basin for more than a year. This unusual area is home to geothermal features, a wildlife refuge, the partially built resort community of Salton City, and the "profoundly strange" artwork of Salvation Mountain in the squatter town of Slab City.

Other nearby desert resort cities include Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Indio.