Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. Golf, swimming, tennis, horseback riding and hiking in the nearby desert and mountain areas are major forms of recreation in Palm Springs. The city is also famous for its mid-century modern architecture and design elements. Palm Springs has a high percentage of gay residents and is a favorite for gay travellers and also naturist communities.

Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is named after the Christian saint, Monica. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is bordered on three sides by the city of Los Angeles –Pacific Palisades to the north, Brentwood on the northeast, Sawtelle on the east, Mar Vista on the southeast, and Venice on the south. It is well known for its affluent single-family neighborhoods but also has many neighborhoods consisting primarily of condominiums and apartments. Over two-thirds of Santa Monica's residents are renters. As one of the most highly educated cities in the nation, Santa Monica is home to many professionals.

Los Angeles, Spanish for "The Angels", is the most populous city in California and the second most populous in the United States, with a population of 4.06 million on a land area of 498.3 square miles (1,290.6 km2). It is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles-Long Beach Riverside  combined statistical area, which contains nearly 17.8 million people. This makes it the 12th most populous metropolitan area in the world. Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most multicultural counties in the United States. The city's inhabitants are referred to as "Angelenos".