48-Hours in Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs, California, the man-made desert oasis built for movie stars and Hollywood producers, was the perfect place for a mom and daughter trip when I was visiting my family in Los Angeles. 

​On a Monday morning in mid-June, we loaded up the car and set out eastward from L.A. bound for a girly two days of sightseeing, poolside sitting, and desert exploring.

​This was my sister, my mom, and I's first time visiting Palm Springs. We tried our hardest to squeeze in as much as we could, but of course, we couldn’t do it all in 48 hours. ​

The three of us atop the Palm Springs Aerial Tram.

Here is what we managed to do and a few things we wish we had seen. Enjoy!

Where to Stay in Palm Springs: (read more here!)

The Saguaro Hotel came up many times during our quick search for “Best Pool”, “Best Places to go on a Girls Trip / Bachelorette”, and “Best Restaurants”. 

We quickly found availability online and booked a weeknight stay for only $200. For Palm Springs, at the last minute, it was pretty reasonable.

Book your own stay at The Saguaro Hotel here.

The colorful neon theme made for the most fun atmosphere as we enjoyed the DJ by the pool and explored the playful grounds. There were hammocks, giant games, horseshoes to play, really good drinks being served from the poolside bar, plus delicious food from El Jefe as well (read more below). It really was the best hotel!

Enjoying the pool floats!

The colorful poolside view.

Our pool view balcony room.

Where to Eat in Palm Springs:

​El Jefe 
In the Saguaro Hotel, there is a great Mexican restaurant, El Jefe. We ordered food from there and had it delivered to us poolside. Later that night, we ordered late night tacos as well!
Make a reservation here!

Drinks form El Jefe by the pool.

Azucar
We did not go here, but it was highly recommended to us. Its rooftop looks amazing and the drinks look delicious. It’s on the list for next time for sure!
See what I mean here!

Bootlegger Tiki 
Another place we couldn’t fit in was Bootlegger Tiki. It looked like the cutest happy hour spot with a nice, light menu and bright, colorful cocktails.
Checkout their menu here!

Things To Do During The Day:

It should go without saying that the desert is hot. We knew this and thought we were prepared, but it was about 115 degrees when we were there, and it was unbearable! 

There was an extreme heat wave in the summer of 2021, but on average in the summer, Palm Springs gets freaking HOT. 

We should have planned to be inside during the mid-afternoon instead of walking around, but we planned our trip focusing on locations instead of weather. We didn’t get to quite as much stuff done as we planned.

​Ride The Aerial Tram
Our first activity of the day was riding the Palm Springs Aerial Tram. It was a beautiful ride on the oscillating tram. It provided for 360 degrees of stunning views of jagged mountain rocks that contrast with the vast desert to the east.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tram.

Riding the tram!

The top of the mountain was nice and cool, and surprisingly wooded. When walking around the Visitors Center, I learned about backpacking trails and the wildlife atop the mountain here. I will have to look more into this and plan a trip back up. 

See more from The Palm Springs Aerial Tram in my detailed blog post, here!

Cost: $16.95 - $28.95
Hours: Monday - Friday 10 am - 8 pm, Saturday & Sunday 8 am - 8 pm 
Recommendation: Go during the heat of the day, The top of the tram is sometimes 20 degrees cooler than the desert below! This means it gets chilly in the morning.

Discover more for yourself on their website here!

The view down onto Palm Springs.

Looking the other way, towards the mountains!

Shopped on Palm Canyon Drive
We wandered in and out of shop after shop on the main street of Palm Springs. It was so fun looking at all the brightly colored clothing and high fashion stores!

The NEW Marilyn Statue in Palm Springs.

​Saw Marilyn Monroe
Right in front of the Palm Springs Art Museum is a brand new statue of Marilyn Monroe. We walked over to see her just two days after the unveiling! We sadly didn’t get to go inside the Art Museum, because it’s closed on Mondays.
Cost: Free to see Marilyn, $6 - $14 to enter the Art Museum

Swam in the Pool
Palm Springs has the highest concentration of man-made pools in the entire USA! I recommend finding a hotel that has one, so you can cool off during the late afternoon.

It was so hot when we were in Palm Springs that all we really did the second half of the afternoon was sit poolside at The Saguaro Hotel. We drank frozen cocktails, listened to the DJ play, and floated on the giant inflatables.

The pool at The Saguaro Hotel.

See more from The Saguaro Hotel here!

Visit The Robo Lights
One thing we wanted to do was visit the Robolights Exhibit. It is a quirky art installation by artist Kenny Irwin. 
Appointments are required to enter due to COVID-19. Please check his facebook page for contact info!

Photo of the Robot Lights from AtlasObscura.com

Take an Architecture Tour
One thing Palm Springs is really famous for is its architecture. It has a very distinct, modern style of white, sleek houses with colorful accents around their straight lines. The style comes from when the town was booming during the 50’s-70’s. 

We could have explored town to just view the beautiful designs, but we wanted to get information from a guide who could share details about the designers and owners of the homes. We especially wanted to learn about celebrities', like Frank Sinatra’s, estates and stories!

Photo of Palm Springs architecture on California.com

Other Things We Did in the Area:

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​Day Trip to Joshua Tree National Park
​
Our second day in the area, we went out to explore the desert. We woke up at the crack of dawn and left our hotel around 4:30 a.m. 

Joshua Tree National Park is about an hour from downtown Palm Springs, and we wanted to beat the day’s heat. We arrived in The Cholla Cactus Gardens right at sunrise. It was perfect.

The Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park.

At sunrise there was no one else around us.

We spent half the day exploring this spectacular preserve and barely scratched the surface of exploration.

Skull Rock in Joshua Tree National Park.

If you only have a short amount of time inside Joshua Tree National Park, check out my blog post "One Day in Joshua Tree" to see all that we did! 

​Find The Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum
​
The town of Joshua Tree is an extremely eclectic art town. Out in the middle of the desert, outside of what they call the town, is The Noah Purifoy  Outdoor Desert Museum of Assemblage Structure. It truly encapsulated the bizarre spirit of Joshua Tree and even features a toilet throne!

Discover just how strange the desert can be from this interesting exhibit in my blog post below!

Visit Pioneertown
​
As mentioned before, Palm Springs was built for movie stars and Hollywood producers, because a slew of western films were filmed out near Joshua Tree. ​

Pioneertown was built for The Silver Screen and to be the set of movies and tv shows for decades. It’s not really used for filming anymore, but you can still walk around the famous, old set that was graced by western actors like Roy Rogers, Bob Nolan, and Gene Autry.

Learn more about this famous built for camera town, here!

Pioneertown, California - the set of dozens of Westerns.

​Take a Selfie with a T-Rex
The last thing I recommend doing during your road trip is stopping by the giant dinosaurs in Cabazon on your way home. They have been deemed the largest concrete dinosaurs in the world and are recognized as some of the most famous roadside attractions in the world.

Featured in movies like Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure and The Wizard, the Cabazon Dinosaurs are a must-see attraction.

The Cabazon Dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs were the last thing on our road trip before we made it back home. It was a lot to cram into two days, but we did it and had a blast!

Our last selfie of the trip!

I hope this guide can help you plan your perfect getaway to Palm Springs and the surrounding Joshua Tree area especially if you only have a limited amount of time to explore. 
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Please let me know in the comments if you find this guide or any of my other California Guides helpful. Thank you for reading!