Tag: Palm Springs

  • Palm Springs Air Museum

    Palm Springs Air Museum

    745 NORTH GENE AUTRY TRAIL
    PALM SPRINGS

    An exciting destination for both kids and adults, the Palm Springs Air Museum is dedicated to the history of U.S. aviation. Spread across a whopping 10 acres, the facility boasts one of the largest collections of planes in the world, with everything from a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk to an F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter to Walt Disney’s personal Grumman Gulfstream I displayed throughout five hangars. Visitors can even venture through a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress via tours guided by men who actually flew aboard the massive craft during World War II, affording a truly unique and personalized experience. The museum also features a gift shop, a theater, a canteen, multiple flight simulators and a library stocked with every “Life” magazine ever published.

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  • Robolights

    Robolights

    1077 EAST GRANVIA VALMONTE
    PALM SPRINGS

    Easily the desert’s most unique attraction, “Robolights” is a massive art installation on the grounds of a private residence in the exclusive Movie Colony neighborhood. The brainchild of artist Kenny Irwin, who began building robot displays as a youngster in the yard of his family’s home using trash and scrap materials, the exhibition has grown to encompass an entire two-acre plot. Though it is no longer open for tours during the holidays as it once was, Kenny’s vivid creations can still be seen from the roads surrounding the Irwin home and are a true sight to behold!

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  • Moorten Botanical Garden

    Moorten Botanical Garden

    1701 SOUTH PALM CANYON DRIVE
    PALM SPRINGS

    Initially established as a nursery in 1938 by actor-turned-horticulturalist Chester Moorten, this botanical garden is one of the city’s most popular sites. In fact, its cactarium (pictured) has been dubbed “the most Instagrammed greenhouse in the world!” While the grounds measure just one acre, there is plenty to see and do. Home to more than 3,000 plant varieties, nine geographically-themed gardens, a gift shop, and a menagerie of desert animals, Moorten is an idyllic spot to spend a free hour or two on a sunny afternoon.

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  • Palm Springs Vintage Market

    Palm Springs Vintage Market

    2300 EAST BARISTO ROAD
    PALM SPRINGS

    Held the first Sunday of the month each October through May, the Palm Springs Vintage Market makes for a splurge-worthy weekend excursion. With countless vendors hawking fabulous mid-century, retro and antique finds, it is easy to get lost in the stalls, the wide array of historic memorabilia on display providing wistful walks down memory lane. From purses to clothing to barware to furniture to artwork, if it’s vintage you’re seeking, this is the place to find it!

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  • Bobo Palm Springs Mural

    Bobo Palm Springs Mural

    750 NORTH PALM CANYON DRIVE
    PALM SPRINGS

    If you’re looking for an Instagram-worthy backdrop to document your Coachella Valley travels, head straight to Bobo Palm Springs and make a beeline for the stationery shop’s perfectly pink “Greetings from Palm Springs” mural. Hand-painted by store owner (and artist/journal-creator extraordinaire) Angie Chua, the charming display is the ideal spot to strike a pose and even boasts a “shelfie stand” for your selfie-snapping convenience.

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  • “Forever Marilyn”

    “Forever Marilyn”

    MUSEUM WAY & BELARDO ROAD
    PALM SPRINGS

    This 26-foot-tall steel and aluminum statue, which captures Marilyn Monroe mid-dress-billow in the iconic scene from 1955’s “The Seven Year Itch,” was unveiled by prolific sculptor Seward Johnson in 2011. In the years that followed, it called many different places home but was relocated to Palm Springs permanently in 2021 and now stands proudly in Downtown Park as one of the city’s main fixtures and central attractions.

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  • Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

    Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

    1 TRAMWAY ROAD
    PALM SPRINGS

    One of the city’s most beloved attractions – and the world’s largest rotating tram! – the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway transports passengers nearly 6,000 feet up the face of the San Jacinto Mountains. At the top, visitors are granted jetliner views of the entire valley, as well as access to hiking trails, a gift shop, an informational movie and two eateries, including Peaks Restaurant, a unique top-of-the-tram fine dining experience. Tickets do book up fast, so plan accordingly. And those who experience motion sickness, should take note – the gondolas spin ever so slowly as they make their ascent and descent.

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  • Loretta Young House

    Loretta Young House

    1075 MANZANITA AVENUE
    PALM SPRINGS

    Two-time Academy Award winner Loretta Young purchased this Deepwell Estates property in 1993 with her third husband, Jean Louis (the prolific fashion designer responsible for Marilyn Monroe’s infamous “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress). During the actress’ seven-year tenure on the premises, she is said to have regularly tended to the hedges herself (using a pair of scissors, no less!) and decorated both the interior and exterior with a plethora of angels each Christmas.

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  • Frank Sinatra Estate

    Frank Sinatra Estate

    1145 EAST VIA COLUSA
    PALM SPRINGS

    Legendary singer Frank Sinatra called this pad, known as “Twin Palms,” home for nearly a decade, beginning upon its completion in 1947. Designed by iconic architect E. Stewart Williams (his first residential commission!) and featured in the 1950 Joan Crawford movie “The Damned Don’t Cry,” the property is most famous for being the site of what Sinatra’s second wife, Ava Gardner, called “the most spectacular fight of our young married life.” The primary bathroom sink still bears the scars from that row in the form of a large crack, the result of a champagne bottle the singer threw at Gardner during the melee. Today, the site is utilized as a special events venue/vacation rental and is available for private tours, making it one celebrity home that is fully – and fabulously – accessible to the public!

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  • Piazza Di Liberace

    Piazza Di Liberace

    1441 NORTH KAWEAH ROAD
    PALM SPRINGS

    This opulent estate, built in 1952, was Liberace’s third desert abode. Mr. Showmanship purchased the one-story structure in 1968 and sold it just four years later. Surprisingly, the statuaries that line the front walk today are not holdovers from the performer’s day but were the addition of a later owner. While the property’s interior has been remodeled several times since the 1972 sale, most recently in 2010 by renowned designer Christopher Kennedy, the exterior remains intact (unlike Liberace’s Cloisters house, which has been modified beyond recognition), and boasts countless nods to its former famous inhabitant, including music notes dotting the front gates and a whimsical piano-shaped mailbox.

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