First time in Palm Springs

Hi All
This will be our first trip to Palm Springs for a week and we are staying at the Marriott Desert Springs Villa II. Can anyone give us suggestions of the best things to do and any must visit restaurants? Any info would be appreciated! Thanks!!!

Be prepared for extreme heat! Stay in the A/C. Drink a LOT of water. Take the gondola to the mountain top- it'll be cooler there. If you are into such things, there are home tours of the 'Rat Pack' of the 60's. Sinatra, Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. Bob Hope, etc. We enjoyed it. Can't point you to restaurants as that's not our thing. You'll find plenty. College of The Desert has one GREAT Street market. Saturday mornings.

Passepartout said:

Be prepared for extreme heat! Stay in the A/C. Drink a LOT of water. Take the gondola to the mountain top- it'll be cooler there. If you are into such things, there are home tours of the 'Rat Pack' of the 60's. Sinatra, Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. Bob Hope, etc. We enjoyed it. Can't point you to restaurants as that's not our thing. You'll find plenty. College of The Desert has one GREAT Street market. Saturday mornings.

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We went to the street market in late August one year and it was really not that much. I think a lot of folks just don't like the extreme heat and there aren't the crowds that there in the spring. But not bad for a short visit.

Drive up mountain

Make the drive to the city right above Palm Springs. Way cooler. We felt like it was a Lake Tahoe type setting but without the lake. Get an ice cream at the Dreyer's store, there are only a few across the country and they only carry favors made for those stores ( can't get same flavors in a regular store or other ice cream shop).

You are going to love Palm Desert and MSII. We stayed there last year and plan to return every year. There is a plethora of good restaurants. Babes near Rancho Mirage has very good bar-b-q (and excellent sweet potatoes). Las Casuelas in downtown Palm Springs has excellent Mexican food, and the atmosphere is excellent as well..

Thursday street fair covers several blocks of downtown Palm Springs. It's a nice stroll after dinner.

Dave

We haven't been here yet, but we're planning on going in July: http://palmspringsairmuseum.org/ I believe that the hangars are air conditioned.

I second the tram suggestion - there's pretty good hiking up at the top.

We like to eat here: http://clementineshop.com/ They have odd summer hours so be sure to double check before you head over.

Cheeky's

Not sure when you will be there. Cheeky's is closed for the summer and reopens Aug 20. 622 NORTH PALM CANYON DR. Great breakfast.

Cork Tree restaurant is the best

Cork Tree is in the little shopping center with the Ralph's grocery store basically across the road from you. When we stay at Club Intrawest we always go there.

Catalan is a great restaurant. Don't miss it.

Cafe Italia is a fun experience. It is a small restaurant that has singing waiters who will break into singing show tunes throughout the dinner. As I recall, we were happy with our food and it was a unique and memorable dinner.

Kurt

PigsDad said:

Cafe Italia is a fun experience. They have singing waiters who will break into singing show tunes throughout the dinner. As I recall, we were happy with our food and it was a unique and memorable dinner.

Kurt

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Cafe Italia is out of business.

Definitely take the tram to the top of Mt. San Jacinto! About 30 cooler up there. Nice restaurant to eat lunch and some nice hiking around too. Really fun day trip.

We really enjoy taking the shuttle over to the JW for cocktails and dinner at least once when we stay at DSV II. Mikado's is fun for teppanyaki (they have an early bird special, inquire on time) and the Rockwood Grill is their main restaurant with great mountain views and very good food. We just ate there in June for our annual trip right after school gets out!

Enjoy, we love the area. If you get a cooler day,consider driving to Thousand Palms Oasis. It's pretty cool and there is lots of shade. A true desert oasis with water and the whole works!