Palm Springs · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Summer prices collapse because it is 45°C — the trade-off is genuinely that simple.
Uptown Design District
There are no real hostels, so the cheap beds are motels along North Palm Canyon Drive, refurbished mid-century ones included, walkable to the bars.
What a day costs
Room 50–90 USD in summer and roughly double from January to April, food 15–35, and a hire car from about 40 a day if you want the desert.
Getting around cheap
The free Buzz shuttle loops the central strip Thursday to Sunday, SunLine buses run up the valley for a couple of dollars, and the town centre is flat and cyclable.
Free by day
The mid-century architecture is free to drive or cycle past, the art museum opens free on Thursday evenings, and VillageFest closes Palm Canyon Drive weekly.
Where travellers meet
The Ace Hotel pool and its bar take non-guests on day passes, and it is where solo travellers and weekenders end up by mid-afternoon.