3 Days in Palm Springs: How I Spent My 72 Hours Here in 2026

Some of the coolest and most unique activities I did during my entire California road trip were right here in Palm Springs.

I went hiking through some incredible canyons, took a cable car up onto a massive mountain, got a picture with Marilyn Monroe, and saw some of the coolest architecture I’ve come across anywhere in the USA.

So yeah, there’s actually quite a bit going on here!

I know that getting your bearings and figuring out how to plan a trip can quickly turn into a bit of a headache, so I decided to put together this 3 days in Palm Springs itinerary based on exactly how I spent my 72 hours here.

Hopefully, this gives you some ideas for your own trip, or at the very least inspires you to make a little detour into the California desert!

How to Spend 3 Days in Palm Springs – My Quick Answer

I’ve put together this 3 day Palm Springs itinerary based on how I personally like to travel. And I’m definitely someone who likes to stay busy, so I’ve packed this itinerary pretty full with activities to keep you going throughout the day.

But if that’s not your style, don’t do that! If you’d rather spend half the day by the pool drinking cocktails, then DO IT. You can easily just pick and choose the activities from this itinerary that sound good to you and leave the rest.

That being said, I really wanted to make the most out of my time in Palm Springs, so I basically split my three days into one day exploring Palm Springs itself and two days doing the bigger activities around the area.

On the first day, I explored downtown Palm Springs, visited the Palm Springs Art Museum, and spent a good amount of time biking around all the iconic mid-century modern neighborhoods.

Then, over the next two days, I got out of the city and did some of the bigger activities around Palm Springs, including hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, hiking in Indian Canyons, and taking the famous Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up toward Mount San Jacinto.

Everything You Need to Know Before Visiting Palm Springs

Where You Should Stay in Palm Springs

Palm Springs isn’t a super big city, so when it comes to choosing where to stay, it really comes down to whether you want to be downtown or don’t mind being a little further out.

Personally, I’d stay somewhere fairly central because it’s really nice being able to walk to restaurants, bars and everything else around downtown.

We stayed at The Skylark Palm Springs, which I absolutely loved. It had just been renovated, it was super vibey, and honestly, the value for money was amazing. We also had free bike rentals here, which was perfect for exploring all the mid-century modern neighborhoods around town.

Alternatively, The Dive Palm Springs also looks incredible. It’s a little more boutique and unique, although just a heads-up: it’s an adults-only hotel.

The Best Time to Visit Palm Springs (And When NOT to Visit)

In my opinion, the best time to visit Palm Springs is probably early spring or late fall.

That way, you get much milder temperatures without dealing with the crazy summer heat, while also hopefully avoiding some of the bigger winter crowds that come to Palm Springs between November and February.

There is one big exception, though: April. That’s festival season, with Coachella and Stagecoach happening nearby in Indio, and Palm Springs can get completely overrun with festival-goers.

Be Aware of the HEAT!

We visited Palm Springs in July, which definitely had its pros and cons.

The pros: It wasn’t busy, hotel prices were super cheap, and we basically had the whole town to ourselves.

The con: It was HOT.

We were dealing with temperatures around 100°F (38°C) pretty much every day, so whenever we wanted to do anything outdoors, we had to get up ridiculously early to beat the heat.

Respect People’s Houses – They Live There!

When we visited in summer, quite a few of the beautiful mid century modern homes seemed to be empty since Palm Springs has so many second homes, which made it feel a little less awkward when we were biking around taking pictures.

But if you visit during the winter or another busy time of year, just remember that people actually live here. Don’t walk onto someone’s property, don’t stand outside their front door, and definitely don’t treat someone’s house like a tourist attraction.

Take your pictures from the street, be respectful, and remember that you’re basically just admiring someone else’s home.

My 3 Day Palm Springs Itinerary

Day 1: Biking Around Iconic Neighborhoods, Palm Springs Art Museum & Drinks Downtown

Since we stayed at The Skylark Palm Springs, we had two amazing perks: free bike rentals and being literally a two-minute bike ride from my favorite neighborhood in Palm Springs for mid-century modern architecture, Vista Las Palmas.

So we got up early and spent the whole morning riding around on our bikes, exploring the neighborhood and taking pictures of all the incredible houses. Honestly, this was one of my favorite things we did in Palm Springs.

If riding a bicycle around in the desert heat doesn’t sound like your idea of a good time, though, there are also plenty of guided tours around the mid-century modern neighborhoods, including golf cart tours. Click here to check out the best guided tours around Palm Springs.

After lunch, we headed over to the Palm Springs Art Museum, where, of course, I immediately had to take a picture with the huge Marilyn Monroe statue out front.

We then spent at least a couple of hours inside the museum, and I have to say, there is some suuuper weird and interesting art in there. I’m not even a huge museum person, but I actually really enjoyed walking around and seeing all the different exhibitions (and enjoy the AC for a while).

Then, in the evening, we headed downtown to wander around, grab some drinks and have dinner.

Downtown Palm Springs is a really fun place to just walk around in the evening. There are plenty of restaurants and bars, and we also kept seeing all these cool vintage cars driving around, which honestly felt very Palm Springs.

If you’re looking for a good dinner, I can definitely recommend The Tropicale, and if you’re in the mood for Mexican food, El Mirasol is another great option.

Day 2: Hiking Indian Canyons, Moorten Botanical Garden & the Aerial Tramway

For Day 2, we got up early again and headed over to Indian Canyons to do the Murray Canyon Trail.

It’s a relatively short and easy hike, and honestly, I thought it was a really cool way to see some of the incredible desert landscape around Palm Springs without having to commit to some crazy long hike. The canyon itself is beautiful, there’s plenty of nature around, and the whole thing felt very manageable, even if you’re traveling with kids or just aren’t a huge hiker.

After the hike, we stopped at the Moorten Botanical Garden, which is basically right on the way back toward Palm Springs.

It’s a fairly small botanical garden, but it’s absolutely gorgeous, especially if you’re into cacti and succulents. There are all kinds of weird and interesting plants throughout the garden, and then, suuper randomly, they also have a tortoise just wandering around.

And then, for me, the big highlight of the day was definitely riding the famous Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up toward Mount San Jacinto.

The ride itself is really cool, because you’re basically climbing from the desert floor all the way up into the mountains, and the views on the way up are incredible. And after spending the morning hiking around in the heat, the much cooler temperatures at the top were VERY appreciated.

Day 3: Day Trip to Joshua Tree National Park

And then for Day 3, I’d dedicate the entire day to a trip to Joshua Tree National Park, which is for sure one of the coolest national parks in California.

It’s close enough to Palm Springs that you can comfortably make it a day trip, and once you’re inside the park, there are tons of incredible landscapes and landmarks to explore.

Some of the places I’d want to have on my list include Hidden Valley, Skull Rock and Barker Dam, which are all classic stops around Joshua Tree.

If you have a regular rental car, this is absolutely something you can do on your own. The roads are easy enough to navigate, and having your own car also gives you the freedom to stop whenever you see something cool along the way.

If you’d rather not deal with driving or planning the whole day yourself, though, there are also plenty of guided Joshua Tree tours that pick you up in Palm Springs and take you around the park.

Personally, I’d probably choose the rental car option because I like having the freedom to explore at my own pace, but a guided tour could definitely make things easier if you don’t want to deal with the logistics yourself.

FAQs About How I Spent a Weekend in Palm Springs

Should I Spend 3 or 2 Days in Palm Springs?

I think this depends heavily on how much of the surrounding area you want to explore. If you want to spend a whole day in Joshua Tree National Park, I’d definitely plan for 3 days in total.

But if you mainly care about Palm Springs itself, hanging out by the pool, exploring the iconic mid-century neighborhoods and enjoying the food and drinks, then a 2-day weekend is totally enough.

What Is There to Do in Palm Springs?

There’s actually quite a lot to do here. You can go hiking in Indian Canyons and Joshua Tree National Park, explore all the iconic mid-century modern neighborhoods, visit the Palm Springs Art Museum, ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, or just spend half the day by the pool.

Is Palm Springs Worth Visiting?

For sure, especially if you’re keen on seeing a completely different side of California.

I’d already seen plenty of wine country and seaside towns around Southern and Central California during our road trip, so heading into the desert and spending a few days in a quirky place like Palm Springs was such a cool change of scenery.

Where Should I Stay in Palm Springs?

I can highly recommend the hotel I stayed at, The Skylark Palm Springs. It had been newly renovated, had a super cool and vibey Palm Springs feel, included free bike rentals, and was also really affordable when we visited.

Is Palm Springs Expensive to Visit?

If I compare it to many other places in California, I’d actually say not necessarily.

I thought the hotel prices were really good value for money when we visited, especially because we were there in July. Restaurants and activities were pretty much on par with the rest of California.

Final Thoughts on Three Days in Palm Springs

I really think 3 days in Palm Springs is the perfect amount of time if I’m being honest.

I definitely could’ve added another day just for hanging out by the pool, drinking cocktails and doing absolutely nothing, but I really didn’t need to. Three days gave me enough time to explore Palm Springs itself, get out into the surrounding desert and still have a pretty relaxed trip.

I’m also very aware that I packed this itinerary pretty full, and you definitely don’t have to do everything I did. If you’re more of a slow-travel person, you could easily skip Joshua Tree and spread the other activities out over three days, which would give you way more freedom and downtime.

I hope this guide on how I spent 3 days in Palm Springs gave you a good idea of what to expect, what’s actually doable in a weekend, and how you can plan your own trip to the California desert.