Beverly Hills walking tour & town guide

Rodeo Drive and the Golden Triangle

The shopping district known as the Golden Triangle sits between Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard and Canon Drive. At its heart, Rodeo Drive is lined with the flagship stores of the world's fashion and jewelry houses, and its sidewalks are a stage for supercars, tourists taking photos and the occasional celebrity sighting.

Halfway along, Via Rodeo is a short, curving cobblestone lane with Spanish Steps leading down to Wilshire Boulevard. The neighboring streets, Beverly Drive and Canon Drive, are more relaxed, with cafés, bakeries and everyday shops.

Beverly Gardens Park and City Hall

Along Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Gardens Park runs for almost two miles as a narrow green ribbon, with rose gardens, a cactus garden and the well-known Beverly Hills sign beside a lily pond. Nearby, the 1932 City Hall, with its tiled dome and Spanish-style tower, is one of the town's most photographed buildings.

Streets of mansions

North of Santa Monica Boulevard, the residential streets known as the flats are planted with a single kind of tree each, palms on some, magnolias or jacarandas on others, and lined with Tudor, Spanish and modern houses behind perfect lawns. Further up in the hills, Greystone Mansion, built in 1928, is now a public park with terraced gardens and views over the city.

A classic walk: Rodeo Drive to the Beverly Hills sign

Start at the Wilshire end of Rodeo Drive by the Spanish Steps of Via Rodeo and walk north past the boutiques to Santa Monica Boulevard. Cross into Beverly Gardens Park to see the lily pond and the Beverly Hills sign, then continue north into the flats along a palm-lined avenue and loop back past City Hall. The route is about four kilometers and completely flat.