You can tell a town is really laid back and unhurried when one of my activity recommendations is an outlet mall, but the Desert Hills Premium Outlet in Palm Springs is truly one of the best in Southern California, so if you are making the drive down to Palm Springs then it is worth a visit.
Outlet shopping was a popular family summer activity from my childhood, seeing as there were many outlets within the Chicago vicinity and, as they are all outdoors, being outside in the sunshine (while you can) always automatically became a “fun” summer activity. I was surprised to find that outlet shopping centers are not as easy to find in California, although with fancy shopping centers like The Grove, retailers find less value in having outlet locations.
So, every time I travel down to Palm Springs I always make sure to stop at the Desert Hills Premium Outlet. It is a massive outlet with plenty of stores offering good deals on their items and a great way to enjoy the desert heat for a brief moment as you walk in and out of air conditioned stores.
Views of the mountains in California never gets old, and you can even see a little bit of snow at the very top.
This is random, but I found it so funny that there was a fire pit outside at the outlet when it felt like a 100 degrees outside when I took this picture (I guess it does get chilly when the sun goes down in the desert, but a fire pit seems dramatic).
The best part about outlets is that things are 80% off just because. No need for any special holiday sales when things can be cheap any day of the year. This also means the outlets can be busy any day of the year. The Desert Premium Outlet is definitely not impacted by the struggling brick and mortar retail industry, at least at this moment.
