Though the name is synonymous with opulence and celebrity, Beverly Hills’ sun-soaked charms are just as accessible without opening your wallet as they are by splurging. Formerly a lima bean farm, this 35,000-person city is an arborist’s dream, planted with fragrant trees ranging from pink cedar to southern magnolia and dotted with public gardens.

Originally settled by Spanish ranchers in the 19th century, the area was incorporated in 1914 after the Amalgamated Oil Co. failed to find sufficient crude here. The opening of The Beverly Hills Hotel and the construction of movie stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford’s mansion in the early 1900s put the Hills on the map as a place to see and be seen.

Despite its name, much of the city lies within “The Flats,” a relatively level area sandwiched between West Hollywood and West Los Angeles. Stretching along Santa Monica Boulevard through the center of the city, the 22-block Beverly Gardens Park is shaded by hundred-year-old cypress and ficus trees and features contemporary sculptures including Yayoi Kusama’s psychedelic tulips and Roxy Paine’s stainless steel boulders.

Nestled in the hills above Sunset Boulevard, the majestic Greystone Mansion now serves as a public park. The Tudor-style mansion and formal English gardens built by oil baron Edward Doheny have provided a backdrop for numerous movies. Television buffs should head to the Paley Center for Media, which offers tours of sets, props and costumes as well as weekend screenings from its library of nearly 150,000 programs from the past 100 years.

Of course, if you’re looking to indulge in some retail therapy, there’s no better place than Rodeo Drive, where you’ll find luxury shops ranging from Armani and Cartier to Tiffany and Versace. Every Sunday, locals flock to the Beverly Hills Farmers’ Market on Civic Center Drive, where the shopping includes farm-fresh produce and flowers as well as gourmet prepared foods.

For star treatment, Hollywood’s elite head to The Peninsula Beverly Hills Spa, which will pamper you with a range of tailor-made facials and massages. Afterward, refresh with a dip in the hotel’s 60-foot rooftop swimming pool. Finish your day with a single-malt whiskey or a glass of Pinot Noir at The Peninsula’s wood-paneled Club Bar, or take in the sunset on the poolside terrace at The Beverly Hills Hotel’s Bar Nineteen12.