Neighborhood 48H guide
Pasadena: Where to Stay & What to Do in 48 Hours
The Huntington’s gardens, Old Pasadena, the domed City Hall and the Colorado Street Bridge.
Pasadena is a separate city in the San Gabriel foothills, home to the Rose Bowl and the Rose Parade. Old Pasadena has walkable shopping streets, the Norton Simon Museum is nearby, and the Huntington is just south in San Marino.
Photo gallery
Photo: RBerteig · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Mcbruin12 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Why stay here
Calm, walkable, with the Metro A Line to downtown.
Who it's for: Museum and garden lovers, families and Rose Bowl visitors.
Pros
- The Huntington and Norton Simon
- Walkable Old Pasadena
- Metro A Line
Cons
- Far from the beach
- Hot in summer
- Quieter at night
48H in Pasadena
Gardens, Old Pasadena, a historic bridge.
10:00 – The Huntington
Library, art and gardens; closed Tuesdays. Reservations needed Fri–Sun.
15:00 – Old Pasadena
Shops and restaurants along Colorado Boulevard.
17:30 – Colorado Street Bridge
1913 arched bridge over the Arroyo Seco.
Named recommendations
Real places with links to their official site or a Maps place page. We do not invent hours, prices, or ratings.
Shop
Shop
Old Pasadena
Colorado Blvd & Fair Oaks Ave
Historic downtown blocks of shops and restaurants.
Official site / map →
See / do
See / do
The Huntington
1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino
Library, art collections and botanical gardens.
Official site / map →See / do
Pasadena City Hall
100 N Garfield Ave
1927 domed Spanish Revival city hall with a courtyard.
Photo: RBerteig · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →See / do
Colorado Street Bridge
Colorado Blvd
1913 concrete arch bridge over the Arroyo Seco.
Photo: Mcbruin12 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →
Where to stay
Specific named properties—not vague city-wide searches. Expedia stays use tracked Creator links; others open the hotel's official site.
Roam48 may earn a commission when you book a stay through Expedia or Vrbo links on this page, at no extra cost to you. All commercial stay links use rel="sponsored nofollow".
Hotel · Expedia
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena
1401 S Oak Knoll Ave
Grand 1907 resort hotel with gardens, a pool and a spa.
Check rates on Expedia →
Vacation rentals
Prefer an apartment or whole home in this neighborhood? Browse Vrbo listings for Pasadena.
Los Angeles and most nearby cities (Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Culver City, Malibu) limit short-term rentals, usually to registered hosts in their own homes. Look for a city registration or permit number on the listing before you book.
Browse vacation rentals in Pasadena on Vrbo →Other ways to spend 48 hours in Los Angeles
- Santa Monica — The pier’s Ferris wheel, the beach bike path and beachfront hotels on the sand.
- Venice — The boardwalk’s skatepark and Muscle Beach, the quiet canals and Abbot Kinney’s shops.
- Malibu — El Matador’s sea stacks, Malibu Pier and an inn on Carbon Beach.
- Hollywood — The TCL Chinese Theatre, the Walk of Fame, Musso & Frank and Griffith Observatory above it all.
- West Hollywood — The Sunset Strip’s clubs, the Comedy Store and cocktails at the Art Deco Sunset Tower.
- Beverly Hills — Rodeo Drive, the Pink Palace’s Polo Lounge and Wolfgang Puck’s Spago.
- Downtown LA — The Broad, Disney Concert Hall, Grand Central Market and the Angels Flight funicular.
- Silver Lake / Echo Park — The reservoir loop, Intelligentsia at Sunset Junction and Echo Park Lake’s paddle boats.
- Culver City — Sony Pictures’ studio tour, the Culver City Stairs and a 1924 hotel downtown.