The title ‘Palm Springs’ is widely used to refer to the eight resort communities located in the Coachella Valley including Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Indio. Palm Springs has a long standing reputation for wealth and celebrity. Although the area’s reputation suffered a minor setback during the 80’s, Palm Springs has once again re-established its picture-perfect image and is attracting a new brand of visitors including Hollywood celebrities. If it’s the stars you’re after, you’ve come to the right place. Unlike in the celebrity crazed city of Los Angeles, the stars come to Palm Springs to escape and generally aren’t surrounded by paparazzi and bodyguards. Celebrity bus tours are very popular here, stopping at more than 30 homes of some of yesterday’s mega stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Liberace as well as the secret getaways of today’s rich and famous such as Celine Dion, Barry Manilow and Arnold Schwartzeneggar. The Palm Springs International Film Festival in January also draws a huge list of big name celebrities to the city. Two of America’s largest music festivals, Coachella and the Stagecoach Festival, are held in the Palm Springs area with some of the music industry’s biggest names on the bill.

Believe it or not, Palm Springs’ main attraction is not the stars but the spectacular desert surroundings and mountain vistas. The area is a vast playground for just about every outdoor adventure you could think of from hiking and jogging to hot air balloons and aerial tram rides. Mount San Jacinto State Park covers more than 5,600 hectares of breathtaking wilderness, including the towering peaks of Mount San Jacinto which reaches heights of more than 10,000 feet. The park contains close to 100 kilometres of nature trails ranging from easy to extreme. Temperatures at the peak are generally 30˚ to 40˚ cooler than at the base. During the winter months you can even enjoy snow and winter activities like cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and tubing. The highlight of any trip to Palm Springs is a ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. The tram takes visitors to the top of Mount San Jacinto and offers extraordinary 360˚ views of the park. The Indian Canyons - Andreas, Palm and Murray, are all popular for wildlife viewing, hiking and witnessing ancient Native American petroglyphs. Of course, if you don’t mind a short drive, Joshua Tree National Park is an absolute must see. Guided 4x4 tours and adventures are available with a number of companies including Desert Adventures and Elite Land Tours. Fantasy Balloon Flights is another exciting way to see the sights.

One of Palm Springs most popular active pursuits and the draw for millions of visitors is golf. The area is home to more than 100 world class championship courses designed by the game’s greatest names like Arnold Palmer and Pete Dye. Palm Springs also hosts up to seven professional tournaments including the LG Skins Game, the Bob Hope Classic and the Nabisco Championships. PGA West is a large residential community that includes six impressive and challenging courses, three of which are open to the public; the Greg Norman course, the Jack Nicklaus course and the TPC Stadium course which is renowned as one of the most difficult courses in the whole country. A few other courses to check out include the new Arnold Palmer designed Classic Club, the Pete Dye creation, La Quinta Resort and Club and the two courses at Tahquitz Creek Resort. No matter what kind of game you have, a round in Palm Springs will be one to remember. Palm Springs is not just a playground for the rich and famous, it is also the perfect destination for you. Palm Springs is blessed with more than 350 days of sunshine and less than six inches of rain each year. This is the kind of climate we dream about in Canada. However, during the summer months temperatures can be quite extreme, often soaring above 37˚C. The dry desert heat can sneak up on you, so always make sure to wear your sun screen and drink lots of water. Winters are very pleasant with average daily temperatures around 21˚C . The nights are much cooler, often dropping to anywhere between 5˚C and 10˚C which is actually perfect sleeping weather. Be sure to bring some warmer clothes for the evenings though.