Pasadena – The Quality City at the Foot of the San Gabriel Mountains
Pasadena is a small gem in the northern San Gabriel Valley. At the foot of the massive range to the north, this cultural city offers a huge and surprisingly high-quality variety of museums and attractions. The Norton Simon Museum showcases one of the most impressive collections of European art on the entire Pacific coast of the USA. The galleries of The Huntington to the south also feature renowned masterpieces and the atmosphere of a British manor with its stunningly beautiful botanical gardens. The city is also an important scientific base home to the California Institute of Technology – Caltech, one of the leading science institutions in the world.
How much time should you spend in Pasadena?
It's worth dedicating a whole day for a trip to Pasadena.
What are the must-see and must-do activities in Pasadena?
- The high-quality art collection at the Norton Simon Museum
- The magnificent “Blue Boy” by Thomas Gainsborough in The Huntington gallery
- The rare illustrated books in The Huntington Library
- English tea and aristocratic ambiance at the Huntington Botanical Gardens
- Meet Sheldon Cooper (and Leonard and Penny from The Big Bang Theory) at Caltech
- The massive flea market at the Rose Bowl
- The impeccable carpentry of the Gamble House
What is Pasadena?
Pasadena is the largest city in the San Gabriel Valley, the central part of the valley, a vast residential strip north of Los Angeles, stretching from the San Fernando Valley to the city of San Bernardino in the east.
- The city lies on the plain adjacent to the southern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains, with Mount San Antonio towering over 3,000 meters above sea level
- Pasadena is home to about 140,000 people and is well-connected with Los Angeles through highways and the metro with the L Line of the extensive metropolitan system
- The city was founded in 1886 based on quite a few resorts and healing spots built in the northern part of the San Gabriel Valley.
- Its ancient part, the Old Town of Pasadena, is the city's original urban base and still serves as its commercial center today.
- In 1911, the California Institute of Technology was founded in the city—Caltech, the second most important technological academic institution in the USA after MIT, in nearby Cambridge, Boston.
- Besides the modest-sized campus, there are plenty of interesting sites and museums throughout the city.
Map of Pasadena
How to Plan a Travel Itinerary in Pasadena
The trip to Pasadena is part of a journey through the Los Angeles metropolis. The city is just a fifteen-minute drive from the center of Los Angeles and Hollywood (depending on the traffic, of course). To thoroughly explore the city, you should dedicate at least a full day, so it might be wise to consider staying overnight in the city or heading out early from Los Angeles and returning by evening to a hotel in the city.
- It's worthwhile to start your Pasadena tour in its historical center, the Old Town or Old Pasadena
- Right next to Old Town to the west is the high-quality Norton Simon Museum, and not far north towards the Rose Bowl Stadium, you'll find the Pasadena History Museum and Gamble House
- For flea market enthusiasts, it's worth planning your visit for the second Sunday of every month when the Rose Bowl Flea Market, one of the most popular flea markets in California, is held
- From Rose Bowl, head towards the suburb of San Marino, where you'll find the grand Huntington complex, one of the most luxurious spots in the San Gabriel Valley.
- At the Huntington, you must check out the library, the top-notch art gallery, and then catch a breath of fresh air with British vibes at the sprawling botanical gardens.
- You can also visit the Caltech campus, one of the finest universities in the USA, and the Pacific Asia Museum in downtown.
Click here for itinerary planning in Pasadena and professional advice…
Everything you need to know about accommodations and hotels in Pasadena
In Old Town Pasadena, you'll find several fantastic hotels from major chains like Marriott, Westin, and Hyatt. These are four-star hotels conveniently located right in the heart of the city. They offer comfortable parking and in many ways are an upgrade compared to the abundance of motels in the surrounding area.
- When visiting Pasadena, it's recommended to stay in motels along Colorado Boulevard or near the Interstate 210 in the eastern part of Colorado Boulevard.
- Pasadena is a small city, and the motels are just a very short drive from the center.
- The city's motels are of high quality, and you can find all the top brands such as Best Western, Holiday Inn Express, and more.
All about visiting sites and attractions in Pasadena
Old Pasadena
The historic center of Pasadena (not as historic as Italian cities, but everything is relative) is a fairly rare feature in the USA, with streets you can happily stroll through on foot, shops, restaurants, and beautiful home fronts. Like much of America, Pasadena's center suffered from decline in the 1950s (with the suburban sprawl). The city decided to try to save the center, and with a quick process of restoration starting in the 1960s, the historic center was revived and became one of Pasadena's tourist attractions. The main strip of Old Pasadena is the wide Colorado Boulevard.
Just north of Old Town, on Garfield Avenue, stands the impressive city hall in a neo-Renaissance style, famous for its large red dome above it.
Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is one of the finest art museums in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the West Coast of the USA. The institution began operating in 1954 as the Pasadena Art Institute, based on a private collector who donated about 400 wonderful paintings of German Expressionism to the city.
In 1969, the museum moved to its current location on the western part of Colorado Boulevard. Over the years, the museum gathered around 11,000 art pieces from all periods, including some very high-quality works by well-known European artists.
The Norton Simon collection includes several famous paintings by the great masters:
- The most important painting in the collection (there are many important ones, but it's extraordinary) is the ‘Adam and Eve' painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, from 1530. This painting is one of the significant works of the greatest (alongside Albrecht Dürer) German Renaissance artists.
- ‘Self-Portrait' by Rembrandt from 1640
- The early painting by Dirk Bouts, the great Flemish Renaissance artist, ‘The Resurrection of Christ', from 1455
- The painting “Madonna and Child with an Angel” by the Florentine Renaissance giant Sandro Botticelli, from 1468
- The masterpiece “Madonna and Child with a Book” by Raphael
- Paintings by great modern masters such as Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and an impressive array of works by Vincent van Gogh
- The museum also has a very impressive collection of Asian art, with an emphasis on Buddha sculptures from India and Indochina
Address: 411 W Colorado Blvd, Pasadena
Click here for the museum's updated opening hours…
The Pasadena Museum of History
The city's historical museum is housed in the impressive Fenyes Mansion, the home of the Hungarian physicist Adelbert Fenyes. It's located north of the Norton Simon Museum, across from the busy junction of the Ventura Freeway and Long Beach Freeway. Founded in 1924, the museum provides all the information on the development of the city and the settlement in the San Gabriel Valley. In the museum's beautiful gardens, the Folk Museum's Finnish collection is displayed, donated after Fenyes' granddaughter married the Finnish consul in Los Angeles.
Address: 470 W Walnut St., Pasadena
Click here for the museum's current opening hours…
The Gamble House
Just north of the Panis estate, in the more rural area of West Pasadena, lies the grand tree house built in 1909. This house is one of the most stunning examples of precise wooden construction in the western USA and a masterpiece of perfect carpentry. It was built by the industrialist James Gamble for his son David. Gamble is one of the founders of the industrial giant Procter & Gamble. Today, visitors can tour the grand estate and witness this marvel.
Address: 4 W Walnut St., Pasadena
Rose Bowl Stadium
The Rose Bowl Stadium is one of the most famous stadiums in the whole USA. Although it's considered quite outdated today (built in 1923 and has undergone numerous renovations since), it still holds great importance in the history of American and global sports. The stadium is currently the home field for the UCLA football team, and from time to time, it hosts professional games, college games, or other events.
The stadium is where Brazil beat Italy in the 1994 World Cup final. The game ended undecided and in penalties, the Italian giant Roberto Baggio shot the ball over the crossbar, in what is considered one of the most tragic events in football to date.
Every second Sunday of the month, the huge parking lot of the stadium hosts the Rose Bowl Flea Market, one of the most popular in California. With over 2500 stalls, it's a hotspot for visitors and antique enthusiasts who flock there specially.
Address: W Walnut St. 1001, Pasadena
USC Pacific Asia Museum
The Pasadena Museum of Oriental Art showcases a giant collection of unique items from around the eastern basin of the Pacific Ocean and the island regions in the ocean. The collection is based on the grand collection of Grace Nicholson, who specialized in and acquired many important artworks from the Pacific basin. The museum opened in 1924 on the eastern part of Colorado Boulevard, and it contains about 15,000 display items, including rare and ancient pieces. It's a must-visit spot for fans of far eastern art.
Address: 46 N Los Robles Ave., Pasadena
Click here for the museum's current visiting hours…
The Huntington
The expansive Huntington complex is located in the suburb of San Marino, south of Pasadena's center. The Huntington is a massive estate built on the mansion and extensive gardens of Henry and Arabella Huntington, and today serves as a research center and a complex of attractions for discerning visitors. The complex includes a library, a very high-quality art museum, and botanical gardens.
The Huntington Library boasts a collection of over half a million ancient books, including many illustrated volumes from across Europe. The library also features the institute's tea house, a remarkably elegant spot nestled in the adjacent gardens.
The Huntington's art galleries are based on the couple's collection and additional collections, featuring numerous valuable decorative objects, rare handicrafts, and more. The European painting collection includes the famous masterpiece “The Blue Boy” by British painter Thomas Gainsborough, as well as works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Childe Hassam, among others.
The entire estate is filled with gardens designed in various styles according to geographical and climatic zones. There are botanical gardens with rare Japanese bonsai trees, exquisitely elegant Chinese gardens with streams, a palm garden, a desert growth garden, subtropical vegetation, an Australian plant garden, and more.
Address: Oxford Rd. 1151, San Marino
Click here for the current museum visiting hours…
Caltech – California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology, or Caltech, is a tiny institution with only 2,000 students, yet it's considered one of the finest and most unique in the USA. Founded in 1891, the institute has brought countless discoveries and innovations to the world, such as the Richter scale for measuring earthquakes, jet engine developments, and more. More than twenty Nobel Prize winners have come from its halls, not including the fictional win of physicist Sheldon Cooper in the epic TV series “The Big Bang Theory,” whose set is the university campus and all of Pasadena.
Address: E California Blvd. 1200, Pasadena
