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This trip is assembled of three day trips I have made to Palm Springs. So I if you are planning a trip you can see this a recommended trip , if not, it is a non chronological summary of the trips. You make this trip in a day, but if you plan to prolong your stay at the tramway or in Palm Springs you find the day a little short.

You can easily start from about any place in the southland . From Los Angeles County take the Santa Monica Freeway  e.g. I10 East, or from  Orange County the California State Highway 91 to Riverside. If you like oddly shaped geological formations in form of rounded hills, then take the California Hwy 60 from Riverside to Beumount through the Badlands. You will then merge into the I10 again on your way to Palm Springs.

After about 1-1.5 hours of travel through suburbia, depending on traffic and where you start, you are in the desert. Maybe its time for a coffee break. At Burger King in Cabazon you can study the dinosaurs outside. After this spiritual and bodily enhancement (the quality of both can be argued about) you can now continue on the I 10. Hardly have you set the cruise control before its time to take the Cal St. Hwy. 111. But before you hit the off ramp you can look to the left  at the forest of power windmills. They use the this narrow part of the Coachella valley to take advantage of the winds created by the temperature difference between the Pacific Ocean and the Mojave desert. Depending on which are hotter or cooler you will get the wind in or out of the valley. For example, the Santa Ana winds are moving hot dry desert air in to the cooler LA basin.
 
 
 

Driving on the 111  towards Palm Springs the San Jacinto Mountains on right will work as an effective rain shield to prevent it from raining in the Coachella valley. Right before you drive into town, the road to the right will take you to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway (There's a sign and not many roads to choose from so you will hardly miss it!).
 
 

Compared to the Tramways in the Alps the ride up is kind of backwards. You are leaving a sparsely vegetated desert and entering in to a pine forest, in Europe its mostly leaving a green forest or a meadow valley and going up to bare mountains above the tree level with only rocks and ice. The 17 bucks are compared to most european tramways a fair ticket price (My personal record =Interlaken-Jungfrau in the swiss alps for 158 CHF which is approx. 100$!).
 
 
 

When you have arrived at the top you will be greeted with a station in alpine style. Even thou they have posters from Jungfrau and Berner Oberland in the swiss alps its hard to find that real alpine ambiance. Just go outside and that will not disturb you any more, because the view over the desert landscape will probably fascinate you too much.
 

After descending from the cool mountains its time to drive the few miles into the town center. You can make at stop at the Tourist Information Center just as you enter the town and restock on postcards, brochures and souvenirs. Any way , you're on your way in to the town of Spa's and golf courses. North Palm Canyon Drive as the 111 is also called through the town center is main street for shopping and hotels in Palm Springs. You can do as I do, just look at all the stuff in the store windows that you don't need and thank yourself for not wanting it. Any how, the town has a much slower and calmer pace than LA, which is nice.
 

When you are satisfied with Palm Springs continue on the 111 through Cathedral City to Palm Desert and then turn right on to the Cal St Hwy 74 towards Hemet. This is one of my favorite roads, period. Its fun to drive through its serpentines and fascinating as you go from one climate zone to another. Its starts with a rocky dry bare landscape that turns into bushes and cactuses as you reach the top of the pass. Downhill on the rainy side of the San Jacinto Mtns. it turns into a pine forest with some green meadows, this is why its also called the Pine Palms Hwy. Coming down to Hemet you are back in the more typical southern California climate zone with orange trees on the side of the road as you enter into town. Well, Hemet is not Palm Springs, so lets just say that a stop is not necessary.
 

Leaving Hemet behind us ,still on the 74, you can see a little "mountain range" to left. This is part of a big manmade fresh water reservoir called the Diamond Lake Valley Reservoir. Once filled up it can hold water for about fourteen days to the LA area. The 74 now merges into I 215 so if you're in a hurry you can continue to Riverside. If not ,turn off the I 215 at Perris and continue on 74 towards Lake Elsinore. You got a second chance to hurry into la-la-land when you cross the I 15 just before Lake Elsinore, if you then take the I15 north towards Rancho Cucamonga. As you climb the mountain when your leaving Lake Elsinore behind you, there will be a stunning view over the lake area. As you descend  down to the pacific ocean, you will find this is another fun and scenic part of the Cal St Hwy 74.

Arriving in San Juan Capistrano your choices are between taking the busy San Diego Freeway (I5) north  or choose the more scenic route by taking the I5 south for a few miles to Dana Point and then take the Pacific Coast Highway 1 north. In Newport Beach you can then hook up with the freeway system via the 55.

This trip will provide you with another view of southern California than a Disneyland or Universal City surrounded by congested freeways.