Beverly Hills and Bel Air – the stars of Los Angeles
Beverly Hills is an independent and historic city that is now entirely absorbed by Los Angeles. It's a very wealthy city, starring in many movies and TV shows, the most famous being Beverly Hills 90210. The city's center is the Golden Triangle, a luxurious shopping area with Rodeo Drive at its heart, one of the most glamorous shopping streets in the USA. Up the Santa Monica Mountains, you'll find giant mansions and places to visit. To the west, in Westwood, is the UCLA campus and above the Bel Air neighborhood, the richest place in Los Angeles. Close to Bel Air is the massive Getty Center Museum, the most important art museum in California.
How much time do you need for a trip to Beverly Hills and Bel Air?
A trip to Beverly Hills and Bel Air requires a full day's tour. If you are art enthusiasts, it's worth spending an additional half day to delve into the Getty collection.
8 Things You Must See and Do in Beverly Hills and Bel Air
- The rare art collection at the Getty Center on the hill (the view is also stunning)
- Luxury shopping on Rodeo Drive in the heart of the Beverly Hills Golden Triangle
- Old-school glamor at the Beverly Hills Hotel
- Amazing greenery at the Virginia Robinson Gardens
- Important modern and post-modern art at the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation
- Advanced student vibe at the UCLA campus
- All the biggest stars resting at Westwood Memorial Park
- Post-Impressionist and modern art at the Hammer Museum
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What are Beverly Hills and Bel Air?
- The independent city of Beverly Hills is an enclave within the city of Los Angeles
- It is located at the northern part of the metropolis, on the southern slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains
- About 25,000 people live in Beverly Hills, each more famous and wealthier than the next
- The city's zip code 90210 was immortalized in the iconic 90s teen drama produced by Aaron Spelling, branding the city as one of the most definitive symbols of American wealth
- The city itself was founded in 1906 with a garden city urban plan featuring a suburban character, north of Downtown Los Angeles
- Originally, the city was planned for a white population only. Today, most of its residents are Jewish, with a large portion being of Persian descent.
- The city's center, Rodeo Drive, is one of the most legendary shopping streets in American culture.
The upscale neighborhood adjacent to Beverly Hills to the west is Bel Air, which, unlike it, is municipally part of Los Angeles. It consists of residential streets with enormous estates winding between the rises and falls of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Bel Air's northern axis is Mulholland Drive, and its western is the 405 freeway where the famous Getty Center is located. Bel Air is the wealthiest neighborhood in the entire Los Angeles metropolitan area, primarily known for Will Smith's breakout series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Map of Beverly Hills and Bel Air
Travel Route in Beverly Hills, Eastwood, and Bel Air
- The trip route in Beverly Hills, Eastwood, and Bel Air is based on driving and stopping at sites on the southern slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles, between Hollywood and Highway 405
- You can combine Beverly Hills and Bel Air with a tour of all the western slopes of the range, including Hollywood to the east and Santa Monica to the west
- At the top of the hill, right next to the mansion houses of Bel Air beyond the 405, lies the Getty Center, the modern and artistic part of the Jean Paul Getty collection. The giant museum at the top of the range is a very important art center offering a breathtaking view of the city sprawling below to the south
- It's best to start the day at the museum, then head down towards the center of Beverly Hills
- The Beverly Hills tour focuses on the Golden Triangle and Rodeo Drive, from which you can continue toward Hollywood or climb up to the streets on the ridge to Virginia Robinson Gardens and the spectacular Beverly Hills Hotel
- The hilly department of Beverly Hills continues westward along the ridge streets towards the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation and onward to Westwood and Bel Air, to the UCLA campus
- From the campus, head back southward to the grand avenues towards Westwood Village, where you'll find the Hammer Museum and the Hollywood Stars Cemetery at Westwood Memorial Park
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Everything you must see and do in Beverly Hills, Eastwood, and Bel Air
Getty Center
The center is the art section of the vast collection amassed by the wealthy oil tycoon and art and antiquities lover, Jean Paul Getty. It is one of the two museums making up the J. Paul Getty Museum or The Getty, along with The Getty Villa.
The villa is located in the upscale beach town of Pacific Palisades, north of Will Rogers Beach heading towards Malibu. The center is perched atop the ridge, near Highway 405 on the opposite side of Bel Air.
Click here for a guided tour combining the Getty Center and Griffith Observatory…
The new center opened in 1997 as an extension of the villa. Besides Getty's art collection, the museum features additional wings for photography and rotating exhibitions, serving as a massive, vital arts center, one of the key attractions in the Los Angeles metro area. The entire center is considered an architectural gem with designed gardens offering stunning views of the city.
The Getty collection features some important and well-known works:
- Painting “Holding the Spear”, the most famous painting by the great Italian Mannerist Jacopo Pontormo
- Painting “The Descent from the Cross” by the Flemish Baroque giant Peter Paul Rubens
- Portrait “Alfonso d'Avalos, Marquess of Vasto” by the Venetian Renaissance master Titian
- “The Abduction of Europa” by the Dutch Baroque maestro Rembrandt van Rijn
- “Sunrise in the Marina” by the Impressionist Claude Monet
- “Irises” by the Dutch Post-Impressionist Vincent van Gogh
- Painting “Young Italian Woman at a Table” by Paul Cézanne
- “The Promenade” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
- The unfathomable masterpiece by the Belgian giant James Ensor “Christ's Entry Into Brussels”
- In the collection, masterpieces by Nicolas Poussin, Édouard Manet, Francisco Goya, and many other European giants
Address: Getty Center Dr. 1200, Los Angeles
The Golden Triangle of Beverly Hills
The commercial center of Beverly Hills is known as the Golden Triangle due to its famous sides. It's the area between Wilshire Boulevard on the south, Santa Monica Boulevard to the west, and North Crescent Drive to the east. The triangle is packed with shopping streets, restaurants, luxury hotels, and more.
At the heart of the triangle is Rodeo Drive, the place for the most luxurious shopping in Los Angeles. Along Santa Monica Boulevard stretches Beverly Gardens Park, a charming and shaded green avenue. The park extends all along the boulevard up to Hollywood, where you will also find the famous Beverly Hills Sign.
Click here for a guided tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and star homes (from the outside)…
Rodeo Drive
The legendary shopping street of Beverly Hills stretches from Santa Monica Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard. It's one of the most famous and luxurious shopping destinations in the USA, well-known in pop culture through various movies and TV shows. This is where Julia Roberts went shopping with Richard Gere's credit card in one of the most memorable scenes from the movie “Pretty Woman.” The scene fully expressed the rather shallow and snobbish attitude of the street, catering primarily to the wealthy or nouveau riche clientele. Beyond that, it's a street that's a lot of fun to walk down, with avenues of palm trees, luxury shops, and people who seem too good to be true.
Beverly Hills City Hall
The grand palace of Beverly Hills City Hall, built in 1932, has become one of the city's landmarks. The City Hall dominates the Golden Triangle from the east, at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard with North Crescent Drive. The building is known for its tall clock tower topped with a gold and blue Renaissance-style dome.
Address: 455 N Rexford Dr., Beverly Hills
The Beverly Hills Hotel
The historic Beverly Hills Hotel was built in 1912 and from then until now, it has been home to one of the most luxurious hotel facilities in Greater Los Angeles. It's called the Pink Palace because of its color and is perched on the famous Sunset Boulevard.
The hotel has been a set for many films and over the years a hangout and retreat for numerous movie stars. Recently, its glamour has been overshadowed by an issue with the owners, the holdings company which is essentially the Sultan of Brunei, who imposed many secular bans on the hotel and subjected it to Sharia law. This move greatly harmed the hotel's reputation, turning it taboo. Nonetheless, the place is stunning, and the magnificent gardens with dozens of luxurious bungalows are a testament to the historical glamor of Beverly Hills.
Address: Sunset Blvd. 9641, Beverly Hills
Virginia Robinson Gardens
In the mountains of the Santa Monica Range, just above the historic Beverly Hills Hotel, lies the estate of Harry Robinson and his wife Virginia. Harry Robinson owned a large chain of department stores operating in Arizona and California. They bought the house in 1908 and Virginia dedicated her efforts to designing and planting huge gardens around their home. Over the years, the place became part of the almost aristocratic social life of the wealthy city. In 1982, they opened to the public as botanical gardens and have since become a popular travel destination in the city.
A five-minute drive east from the Virginia Robinson Gardens and the Beverly Hills Hotel is Greystone Mansion & Gardens: The Doheny Estate. This is the historic estate of Edward L. Doheny. This mansion has been the set for quite a few films.
Address: Elden Way, 1008, Beverly Hills
Click here for the gardens' opening hours…
Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation
The private Weisman Art Museum is located in a mansion in the Holmby Hills neighborhood, technically the eastern part of Bel Air. Frederick Weisman, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, was a talented businessman but mostly an enthusiastic collector of modern and postmodern art.
In the Weisman mansion, built in a Mediterranean style, a large collection of 500 art pieces is displayed. The collection includes many works by great modern artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Cézanne, René Magritte, and others. The collection also features paintings by American giants like Roy Lichtenstein, Mark Rothko, and Andy Warhol. The museum also has a pleasant sculpture garden.
Address: N Carolwood Dr. 256, Los Angeles
UCLA Campus
The large campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, is located between the Westwood and Bel Air neighborhoods of Los Angeles. The campus isn't as large as those of the major East Coast universities, but it's an interesting place where you can experience one of the leading academic institutions in the world. The campus features a series of significant educational buildings such as Royce Hall and Powell Library.
The Fowler Museum, an anthropological museum with fascinating artifacts from all over the world, is located on the campus. You can also visit the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden on campus, which houses over 70 modern sculptures and is considered the largest sculpture garden in Los Angeles.
UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden
The garden of UCLA's famous Department of Botany is located in the southern part of the campus towards Westwood Village. The botanical garden features over 3,000 different plant species typical of North America, arranged thematically (university or not?) into 13 different climate sections ranging from tropical to sub-tropical.
Address: Tiverton Dr. 707, Los Angeles
Click here for the latest opening hours of the gardens…
Westwood Village
The heart of the Westwood district is the Village, the urban core of the former town that's long since been absorbed into the Los Angeles metropolis. The Village is a commercial area with hotels, restaurants, entertainment spots, and more. It stretches along Westwood Boulevard descending from the UCLA campus towards Wilshire Boulevard and onward to Santa Monica Boulevard. The Village isn't the most photogenic spot in North Los Angeles, but it's a pleasant place for a stroll and shopping with several interesting sites such as the Hammer Museum and the celebrity cemetery – Westwood Memorial Park.
Hammer Museum
The museum of private collector Armand Hammer is located in the southern part of Westwood Village. Beyond the captivating figure of Hammer, known as Lenin's favorite capitalist due to his unwavering connections with the USSR, the museum showcases a fascinating modern collection that reflects Hammer's taste and influence.
The museum opened in 1990 after Hammer's death. The museum collection includes paintings by Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Honoré Daumier, and other giants who worked in France in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to the permanent collection, the museum has an exhibition wing frequently hosting groundbreaking postmodern exhibitions.
Address: 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
Click here for the museum's hours of operation…
Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary
On the southern side of Wilshire Boulevard, opposite the Hammer Museum, there's a small, peaceful city cemetery where some of Los Angeles' greatest residents are buried. Since Los Angeles is the city of stars, the simple graves bear the names of the great movie stars on their modest headstones. Here lie Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Burt Lancaster, and the great singer Frank Zappa.
Fox Plaza (Nakatomi Building)
One of the area's biggest stars is the skyscraper at Fox Plaza, now known as 2121 Avenue of the Stars. This 34-story building dominates the relatively low skyline of Beverly Hills and Westwood. The entire tower became a celebrity when it portrayed the fictional Nakatomi Tower in the 1988 film “Die Hard.”
Subsequently, the tower appeared in numerous other Fox shows and films, including the tower that collapses at the end of “Fight Club” and a scene in “Lethal Weapon 2.” Due to the iconic status of “Die Hard,” the building became a central attraction for visits and photography.
Address: Avenue of the Stars, 2121, Los Angeles
