Palm Springs Travel Guide
For details of what to do and see in Palm Springs check out our Palm Springs guide to car hire in Palm Springs.
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The origins of Palm Springs as an upmarket holiday destination date back around a hundred years, to the days when the new Hollywood stars, eager to escape the glare of publicity would head away from Los Angeles to relax in this quiet desert town.
Hideaways for the wealthy stars opened around the town, and surrounding area, and the resort soon gained a reputation for being a place in which people could chill out away from the public eye. Myths about the legendary parties of the early stars thrive to this day and lend the resort a frisson of sleazy glamour.
These days of course, most visitors to Palm Springs, come to escape the pollution and crowds of Los Angeles for a few days being pampered in the peaceful surroundings of a luxury hotels or on the golf course, while the celebrities themselves inhabit walled communities outside the tourist areas where the telephoto lenses cannot find them. The most popular times of year are during the hot summer, when people are desperate to escape the humidity of the city, and over Christmas, and the rest of the time, there are usually bargains to be had.
The main attractions for most visitors to Palm Springs are the clean air, and the chance to play a few rounds of golf on one of the many world-class courses that surround the city. Most hotels are self-contained resorts where you can relax by the pool and dine out in fine restaurants. Consequently, few people feel the need visit Palm Springs itself, which is a shame. The artistic community has led to there being a number of galleries exhibiting contemporary art, and a plenty of places to eat, which offer more choice and better value than the hotel restaurants.
When the first wealthy tourists put Palm Springs on the map a century ago, there were two main attractions of the town - the peace, and the ubiquitous springs that gave the town its name. Palm Springs was one of the first spa destinations in North America, and even though the early baths are gone and forgotten, many of the treatments that were pioneered in the city are still on offer in the pleasant surroundings of the hotels and in smaller places in town. No visitor to the town should miss out on having one of the legendary wraps enjoyed by the celebrity visitors, not least because they help your skin to absorb the sun better, and give you a far better suntan.
