Palm Springs is a beautiful getaway destination just 2 hours from San Diego. So we usually end up going here during the winter when we do not have any other trips planned. It is a great place to unwind and relax. There are many resorts, so getting accommodation should not be an issue!
We have gone to Palm Springs many times, I have just combined all the things in a single trip plan for ease of planning.
As mentioned there are many resorts to choose from, and most of them add a resort fee as well. We stayed in the Palm Desert Marriott Villas (no resort fee). This is place is very family friendly and had a lot of resort activities for kids. The JW Marriott is next to this place, so the guests of the Villas are allowed to use the facilities of JW Marriott as well. The Villas had a huge heated pool (no slides though), Recreation center for the kids with lots of games, bike rentals. They offer a free shuttle to the JW Marriott (which is also a quick drive), and we enjoyed the Miniature Golf and the Gondola ride there as well. We would surely stay at the Villas again for sure!
We traveled during the Christmas Week.
Day 1: Joshua Tree National Park
Start from San Diego in the morning to Joshua Tree National Park ~ 2 hours 30 mins
This is a desert park and two distinct eco systems - the Mojave and the Colorado come together. This place is well known for Star Gazing as well, though we did not try it out (Winter - Cold Brrrr!). We should plan a star gazing trip during the summer months.
We did simple trails. List of all the trails/hikes can be found HERE.
One day can be easily spent here and each trail gives a breath taking view of the desert. We packed picnic food, as food is not available inside.
Day 2: Aerial Tramway - Mt. San Jacinto State Park.
This is the worlds largest rotating car. It is usually busy during the holiday season and winter, so carefully pick your days else you could end up waiting for a long time. It takes 10 minutes to go up to the mountains and the car rotates slowly so we get a 360 degree view of the beautiful landscape. There are 2 restaurants at the top observation deck, natural history museum, documentary theater and many trails. Since we went during the month of December, the mountains were covered with a blanket of snow. So be prepared for the weather and be sure to pack your gloves, snow boots and dress appropriately. We did all the small trails and all the places were covered with a at least a foot of snow. It was very beautiful and worth the effort!
You cannot do any snow activities like sledding, skiing or tubing. But you can have all the fun with snow play.
More details on the tramway is available HERE.
We spent the full day here and got back late evening.
Day 3: Shield's Date Garden and relax at the relax at the resort
Today was a relaxed day and we planned to take it easy. We headed to the Shield's Date Farm for breakfast. They are one of the major producers of dates in USA. There is a restaurant there, but we went to their shop/cafe and had their famous date shakes instead! It is to die for, tasted heavenly. Was economical - 24 Oz for 6 bucks!
They have a wide variety of dates to buy and also provide dates for tasting on request. If you buy for $25, they allow free access to stroll in their date garden, else it is $5 per person.
The date garden is beautiful and well maintained. Can easily spend more than an hour in this place.
Later we drove through the Indian Wells and then back to the resort. Rest of the day pretty much was playing in the pool and biking in the resort.
Since it was Christmas Eve, there was a tree lighting ceremony in the evening with some kid activities.
After that we went to Palm Springs Downtown for dinner.
There is a wide variety of restaurants to choose from and parking was easy as well.
Do try out Lulu California and Bill's Pizza, we loved it.
Day 4: Coachella Valley and back home
We had breakfast in the room and then headed out to Coachella Valley - Thousand Palms. You would be able to walk on top of the San Andreas Fault on view the Oasis. The place was magical - filled with Thousand Palm Trees. We spent couple of hours here and headed back to our resort.
Later we went to the JW Marriott to play Miniature Golf. As I mentioned before, guests of the Villas get free access to the facilities in JW Marriott. They had a proper 18 course golf - miniature version. Kids would love this place and can easily spend more than an hour playing golf. Later we strolled around the resort, enjoyed the holidays lights and went on the Gondola Ride inside the hotel.
We headed back home after the fun, relaxed vacation.
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