Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. To be specific, Beverly Hills is bordered on the northwest by the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel-Air and the Santa Monica Mountains, on the east by West Hollywood, the Carthay neighborhood of Los Angeles, and the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, and on the south by the Beverlywood. The area’s "Platinum Triangle" of affluent neighborhoods is formed by the city of Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Bel Air and Holmby Hills.

Landmarks in Beverly Hills include Beverly Gardens Park, Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Electric Fountain, Greystone Mansion, La Cienega Park, Pickfair, Virginia Robinson Gardens, Greenacres, Beverly Hills Police Department, Roxbury Park, Walden Drive, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills Public Library.

In spite of the city’s name, most residents live in the "flats" of Beverly Hills which is a relatively flat land that includes all of Beverly Hills itself. The houses situated in the hills north of Sunset Boulevard have a much higher value then the average house price for the rest of the city. Some of the most exclusive and most expensive homes in Beverly Hills are all situated high up in the hills. Santa Monica Boulevard divides the "flats" into two areas, locally known as "North or South of the tracks," referring to the train tracks that were once used by the old Pacific Electric streetcar line that traversed Beverly Hills along Santa Monica Blvd. Houses south of Wilshire have more urban square and rectangular lots, in general smaller than those to the north. There are also more apartment buildings south of Wilshire Blvd than anywhere else in Beverly Hills, and the average house value south of Wilshire is the lowest in Beverly Hills. Nearly all businesses and government offices in Beverly Hills are located south of Santa Monica Boulevard, two notable exceptions being the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Just outside the city limits to the west lies the Los Angeles Country Club. Other locations commonly associated with Beverly Hills include the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Beverly Center, just outside city limits to the east.