Idyllwild is a small mountain town just outside Palm Springs. It took us about 5 hours to drive there from Phoenix. It was a great place to escape from the heat we had been having here in Phoenix during September. We rented a beautiful 2 bedroom cabin right there on the forest. The patio was so nice we had all our meals and morning coffee out there. If you walked down the road a short ways it would lead you to hiking trails and beautiful views. If your a birder like myself this was a wonderful area to see so many types of them. Just from the cabin patio I was able to see ravines, Stellar Jays, acorn woodpecker, pygmy nuthatch, mountain chickadee, dark eyed junco and more.
Then next day we did travel into Parris, Ca to the railroad museum to ride the Harry Potter immersive train. This was interesting because it was an actual train ride but with live entertainment. At times super cheesy but fun. When you arrive at the museum they have a big white tent with air conditioning set up in it. As you go through the ticket booth and into the main room you see merchandise to buy, fun photo opts and a place for kids to color while waiting for the conductor to announce your train. At the end of the train ride you walk to another tent and you can take a picture with the Hogwarts express train and buy butterbeer (which tasted more like caramel apple cider), and this is your last chance to purchase any merchandise. It was definitely a fun afternoon for all ages.
Sunday we chose to travel into the small town of Idyllwild which is like a 3 min drive form where we were staying. First stop was the Alpaca Coffee and Tea shop. I choose the Spanish latte hot. lets just say we did end up going back the next day for another cup of coffee. We definitely recommend them. It is a cute little coffee shop with a small patio and they do sell some baked goods as well. We walked around the cute little town and the stores. The nursery they have there is the most adorable I have ever seen. It is like walking through a small botanical gardens. We hen found a a place called Wildland Organics. That store smelled so amazing and it is all natural products. I bought a lotion called wild love, the super bar and their famous product the ritual oil. I highly recommend stopping at this amazing little store. After shopping around we went to Fratello’s Ristorante and sat on the patio. We shared two pizzas the vegetarian and Margherita. The pizzas are wood fired and come in regular crust or gluten free. We had enough left over to reheat in the oven for dinner. So good and I would say it is a must stop.
If you have never made it to Idyllwild California I would recommend making it a long weekend trip or even a week long trip in the summer. I would love to go back and explore even more that they have to offer.