Palm Springs

Palm Springs is the fabled ‘playground of the stars’ – the desert hideaway where Frank Sinatra aimed to entertain John F Kennedy, where Elvis Presley honeymooned with Priscilla and where all the stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood sought refuge from the movie studios.



In recent time’s it’s where everyone from Barry Manilow to Madonna have bought homes – and where Chris Evans and Billie Piper lay in the sun just before and after their Las Vegas wedding.

Today it’s not just celebrities who head east from Los Angeles to take a break in Palm Springs. If you love golf you’ve got more than 125 world class and emerald green courses to choose from – not bad for a town in the middle of a desert. Amazingly enough you can ski at the top of the stunning San Jacinto mountains as well. Kids will love the Living Desert and Joshua Tree National Park, shoppers can spend whole days scouting out bargains at the nearby outlet malls. Architecture fans can marvel at some of the most perfectly preserved modernist gems in America. And everyone can find a clear blue pool with an extraordinary mountain view.

Despite all these advantages Palm Springs remains relatively undiscovered by British tourists. Many confuse it with Palm Beach thousands of miles away in Florida. Many more simply ignore it in the rush to visit California’s higher profile attractions nearer the coast. But if you do drive a couple of hours into the desert, or fly into the perfectly preserved modernist airport terminal then you are unlikely to be disappointed.

Here’s our list of everything you need to know about the town, and everything you can do when you get there.

Neil Simpson is a former Personal Finance Journalist of the Year and writes regularly on insurance and property issues for the Mail on Sunday, City AM and many other publications.

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