Palm Desert is very much a lifestyle city, surrounded by desert but full of lush green golf courses to the point that it’s become known as the “World’s Golf Capital.” There are many resorts and communities where you can enjoy swimming pools, tennis courts, spas, fitness centers, clubhouses, and more. If you’re not privy to membership of these places, the city has its own recreational facilities you can use, too. Palm Desert also has a great reputation for shopping and dining, and it’s pretty good on the cultural front, too.
Dining in Palm Desert
Palm Desert has 194 restaurants to choose from according to TripAdvisor, and they cover a large range of cuisines from Californian, to Mexican, to Italian, and French, though there are numerous others that are partly reflective of the multi-ethnic community that Palm Desert is today.
Cork Tree California Cuisine is the top rated restaurant in the city, which, as you might have guessed, specializes in Californian cuisine. The second best rated restaurant, Grill-A-Burger, is great if you love burgers and fries, since you’ll find 30 different hamburgers on the menu. With its affordable menu, it’s popular with families, too.
Attractions in Palm Desert
You wouldn’t come to Palm Desert for its tourist attractions, but the city is a popular tourist destination nevertheless. Golf is one of the main appeals of Palm Desert, and if you love to golf then you’ll love living here. There are more than 30 golf courses located within 10 miles of the city, including the municipal Desert Willow Golf Course with its two championship courses.
On the edges of the city there are great places to go hiking in the desert environment, and with the mountains surrounding the city you don’t have to go far to enjoy the excellent views. Cahuilla Hills Park is one, and Indio Hills Palms Park is a little farther out, while farther still is Joshua Tree National Park.
The Living Desert is a zoo and botanical gardens attraction that’s popular with both locals and visitors. They have around 430 animals from 150 different species including badgers, bighorn sheep, jaguars, mountain lions, reptiles, and more. The gardens are split into many different themes including a native bee garden, yucca garden, butterfly garden, and hummingbird garden.
Shopping in Palm Desert
Palm Desert has many excellent places to shop, including malls and shopping centers, but the best known place to shop is El Paso. This area was developed as an upscale shopping district and it’s often compared to Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive. Lined with palm trees and high-end retail stores, this is the place to be seen shopping for clothes and other goods in the city. It’s not just clothing stores, though; in total there are about 150 galleries, boutiques, and restaurants. At one end is the Westfield Palm Desert shopping center, while just beyond this there are big box stores, too—so Palm Desert has shopping for all budgets.
