DESTINATIONS PALM SPRINGS THE US
into a blast of cold, pine-fragranced air and the soundtrack of woodpeckers. I spend an hour hiking along the
well-marked trails, stopping off at viewpoints to take in breathtaking views of the city, a colourful oasis of tiny, pastel-hued buildings surrounded by vast expanses of desert. After a windy descent back down the mountain, I’m relieved to return to terra firma – a phrase to be used with caution in this part of California. “You can tell your friends you
experienced 200 earthquakes during your week in Palm Springs!” grins Les, the Desert Adventures guide who leads my tour of the San Andreas fault zone ($139 per person). The last significant quake occurred
ASK THE EXPERT
Ross Sinclair, senior product manager, USA, Caribbean and Canada, Travel 2 “This year sees a range of openings in Palm Springs. Visitors can savour Mediterranean dishes and craft cocktails at the new 4 Saints restaurant, while Chef Tanya’s Kitchen serves up delicious vegan sandwiches, tacos and burgers. For outdoor adventures, The Willow Creek trail has reopened following the fires in 2013.”
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travelweekly.co.uk 5 July 2018
two years ago. The tour winds through the canyons and valleys which surround Palm Springs, much of which is owned by the Cahuilla Indians. At one point, we clamber over boulders and through tiny gaps in the rock before coming to a stop in an area where the canyon walls widen. It’s eerily silent, and here, in some places, wind erosion and animal activity have left smooth, deep holes in the stone. Les tells me that his biggest finds have been made following earthquakes, when shifting rock formations reveal ancient treasures such as arrowheads. Later, we spot a rattlesnake basking on a boulder, and we’re invited to try the palm tree seeds
Palm Springs
RIGHT: Palm Springs
Visitors Center BELOW:
Melvyn’s restaurant
which once formed a crucial part of the Cahuilla Indians’ diet. Suddenly, those date shakes seem rather appealing.
w DESIGN Don’t know your breezeways from your button tufting? Get to grips with the basics during an architecture tour – an essential for anyone keen to learn about the city’s most famous buildings and residents. Sadly, local legend Robert Imber is no longer running his Palm Springs Modern tours, but the three-hour PS Architecture Tours (from $95 per person), run by his former colleague, Trevor O’Donnell, are just as good. You’ll see some of the city’s most
famous buildings, including the UFO- like house where Elvis and Priscilla honeymooned. But there are recent additions too, including three new homes by modernist architect Hugh Kaptur and a minimalist stone and steel creation designed by world- renowned architect Sean Lockyer. One of my favourite buildings is City Hall, where three palm trees poke through a circular hole carved out of the entrance lobby. And the Palm Springs Visitors Center isn’t just a great place to pick up some leaflets (although I recommend grabbing one of the self-drive architecture tour maps). If you’re arriving via Route 111, it’s the first thing you’ll see, thanks to its distinctive roof, an enormous cantilevered canopy. Make sure you check out the display
of Palm Springs memorabilia, including a wonderfully retro pop-up flyer for the Doll House restaurant, which opened in 1946. Jazz legend Peggy Lee was a regular. Although the Doll House is long gone, I learn that some of Palm Springs’ oldest, most iconic venues have recently been given a spruce-up. This includes The Ingleside Inn and Melvyn’s restaurant, where walls heave with framed photos of former guests including John Travolta, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, who held his wedding reception here. The hospitality group that now
owns it has done an admirable job of restoring the property to its former glory, repainting the walls in the original charcoal grey. It’s not a shade I’d choose for my kitchen but, like most of Palm Springs, this historic property wears it very, very well.
PICTURES: MICHAEL STERN; INGLESIDE INN/STEVE KEPPLE; MARC GLASSMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
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