Whenever people ask us the highlights of our California trip, straight away my husband and I say “Palm Springs’. After seeing the gorgeous Marcia from Not So Mumsy visit here earlier in the year, I knew I had to add Palm Springs to the list.

After landing in LA around 8 pm and not even getting out of the city till well into the early hours of the next morning, we drive into a sea of red flashing lights.

It took us a few minutes to get a good view and realise this was the sea of giant wind turbines that wave around the valley as you drive into Palm Springs, it was like nothing I’d seen before.

When we left LA it was a nice 28 degrees. When we arrived in Palm Springs (just two hours to the east) it was still 40 degrees at midnight. Now I know what you’re thinking – TOO HOT!! But weirdly their heat is not like our Aussie heat. It’s completely dry and somewhat more bearable!

We only had three days in Palm Springs, thinking there was not much around rather than the chance to relax and hang out in the pool. I was shocked at just how much there is around the area and we easily could have spent a few weeks here.

Sadly, we didn’t even get to check out everything we wanted to but I’ve put a little guide together of the things we did and what you should certainly add to your list if you find yourself here.

There are also a million amazing photo opportunities in the area if your into photography which I’ve added in too 😉

The Houses

The house I found us on Airbnb was a gorgeous midcentury in the Racquet Club estate, called the Sycamore House. It was a three bedroom and had an amazing outdoor area and pool. It was perfectly styled with the times of the houses and also catered to the kids!!

Check out Palm Springs on Airbnb and have fun going through all the awesome houses there are on offer.

Pretty Much Every Street

And it’s not just about the house you’re staying in – the entire city is like a drive-through art gallery!!

The charm of Palm Springs comes from its eccentric mid-century architecture. It’s pretty random that this city even exists, just smack bang in the desert. But I read on TripSavvy “If you were a movie star in the middle of the twentieth century and wanted to escape the hustle and bustle for the weekend, Palm Springs was the place to go. It was a practical matter: Palm Springs is as far away from Hollywood as a contract actor could get and still be back at the studio within two hours when they were needed.

The Hollywood A-listers hired the era’s most visionary architects to design sleek, modern Palm Springs homes that embraced the desert environment. Their creations were suited to the desert climate, with lots of glass and clean lines, using innovative materials to create spaces for indoor/outdoor living”.

This means no matter where you look there’s some amazing architecture to check out and no matter where you point your camera, you’ve got the perfect shot.

Take a drive around and check out the houses – the famous Pink Door house is also in Palm Springs!

Cabazon Dinosaurs

Located next to the random Casino in the middle of the desert as you drive into Palm Springs. The Cabazon Dinosaurs is perfect if you’ve got T-Rex loving little ones. It’s a little old (and starting to look it) but still a great one for kids.

My lovely Instagram community got me onto this one and mentioned you must grab a Date Shake there too. I forgot 🙁

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Salvation Mountain

I got chatting to one of the lovely flight staff on our Qantas flight over. He had just had a stopover himself in LA and headed out towards Palm Springs. He told me about Salvation Mountain and showed me some photos he took. I was blown away by this place and had to see it for myself.

Located around an hour and a half east of Palm Springs – literally in the middle of nowhere. Salvation Mountain is multi-coloured mural covered in words of praise. It has heaps of little caves and nooks and is just incredible to see in the flesh.

While it was hot the time of year we went – about 44 on the day we went! The kids LOVED it and we spent a good hour here exploring.

heading out to Salvation Mountain is defs a full day commitment as by the time your back you’ll need a nap from the heat!

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Hotel California

I saw this in someone’s Instagram photo and had to find it! It’s located just at the end of the main road, follow the road as it curves and it’s on your left!

I don’t think it’s actually THE Hotel California but it looks cool in a photo so who cares!

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As you can imagine with only three days, there was a lot more we wanted to see and do but just couldn’t fit it in. Our next trip will certainly include the Aerial Tramway, Joshua Tree, Wet & Wild.