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A Walking Guide to Rodeo Drive, Block by Block

Three palm-lined blocks, a cobblestone side street, a sidewalk of fashion plaques and, starting Nov. 9, ten monumental sculptures. Here's how to see Rodeo Drive on foot.

By the editors of The Beverly Hills Dossier ·

Rodeo Drive is shorter than most visitors expect. The famous part is three blocks between Wilshire Boulevard and Little Santa Monica Boulevard. The Rodeo Drive Committee says those blocks hold more than 100 of the world’s leading luxury brands. You can walk it in 15 minutes, or spend a whole afternoon.

The name came first

The street isn’t named for horse shows. El Rodeo de las Aguas, the Gathering of the Waters, was the name of the rancho that came before the city. The Rodeo Drive Committee notes that a rodeo was also the yearly cattle roundup there. Rodeo was among the first streets laid out in 1907.

How it became Rodeo Drive

For decades this was a local shopping street with ordinary businesses. The Rodeo Drive Committee’s history lists the turning points:

  • 1961: Fred Hayman opens Giorgio Beverly Hills, the street’s first high-end boutique.
  • 1968: Aldo Gucci opens a store.
  • 1969–1976: Van Cleef & Arpels, a Vidal Sassoon salon, The Polo Store and Bijan Pakzad’s showroom arrive.
  • 1977: the Rodeo Drive Committee is founded, with Hayman as its driving force. Its goal was to make Rodeo America’s answer to Via Condotti, New Bond Street and the Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

A walk, south to north

Start at Wilshire. The Beverly Wilshire hotel stands on Wilshire between El Camino and Rodeo. It opened in 1928 on part of the old Beverly Hills Speedway.

Two Rodeo. Just off the first block is Two Rodeo Drive, a European-style cobblestone shopping lane completed in 1990.

Dayton Way. At Rodeo and Dayton, look for Torso, the sculpture by Robert Graham that marks the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style. The Rodeo Drive Committee created the Walk in 2003, with sidewalk plaques honoring fashion figures.

The 400 block. The Rodeo Collection at 421 N. Rodeo opened in 1983. It was built partly below street level to meet local height rules.

Past Little Santa Monica. Cross Little Santa Monica and Santa Monica boulevards and you reach Beverly Gardens Park. It began as the three-block Santa Monica Park in the city’s 1907 plan, and Rodeo turns residential beyond it.

New for winter 2026

Practical notes

  • Parking: the city’s public structure at 9510 Brighton Way offers two hours free, according to the city.
  • The Concours: every year the Rodeo Drive Committee hosts the Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance, which it calls the largest single-day automotive concours in North America.