Road Trip from Palm Desert
 

I will be in Palm Desert the first week in April, and am looking for some suggestions for a 4-5 day road trip. We don't mind driving a few hours to get us ina good location. We have spent time in Los Vegas and LA so are looking for new ideas.

Are there any short cruises that you know of from S. CA? Thanks.

I don't know if you've spent time in Palm Springs before or not but it is a really beautiful place. I'd find a great hotel like the Marriott Desert Springs and veg.

That said, San Diego is very pretty and I much prefer it to LA.

There are short cruises out of San Diego down to Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas - Carnival Cruises and probably others.

I don't personally think of Palm Desert as "beautiful" although I do love the desert. Are you going to have a few days in Palm Desert and THEN you have 4-5 more?

Not to add on... but... I'm going to be in Palm Desert for a week at the end of the month. I'd appreciate any hot tips or must sees anyone has!

We are a 45 and 60 year old couple, staying with a friend and we will have a car. We'll be driving to PD from the San Diego area.

Thanks!

If you enjoy driving there are all kinds of options.

Santa Barbara to San Francisco is spectacular... driving a lot of Hwy 1.

From Palm Desert take 371 over the hill to San Diego... or visa versa. Great drive!! Great city!!

That being said the desert is wonderful and it's great to just hang out there... even if you are not a golfer. I've heard that the "living desert zoo" is spectatular. As a general rule most of the better restaurants etc are along Hwy 111. El Paseo is a great shopping street.

April is not a bad time to see Death Valley. You could make a loop up to Ridge Crest into DV out to Lone Pine and back down to PD.

If you can spare the time go on north on Hwy 395 to Mamouth Mtn and then come back south. Best route for that would be to take Hwy 6 out of Bishop to Hwy 120 then come back west to 395, spend the night in Mamouth.

You can make it back to PD form Mamouth in a day with no problem.

If you're looking for a day trip from PD you can go to Joshua Tree National Park. There are some easy hikes and February might have some wildflowers. There's also the Coachella Valley Preserve which is free.

Get one of the free weekly entertainment guides Desert Post puts out. There is always lots going on in season.