We highly recommend two stops: Old Pasadena for a walk and lunch, and the Norton Simon Museum, which is a short walk from the A Line. The Gamble House is our pick if you like architecture. A day here costs $3.50 in Metro fares from Union Station. Hours and prices below were checked on 8 November 2026.
What we tested
- A Line timetable, 8 Nov 2026. We read the Metro A Line timetable effective 7 June 2026. A train leaving Union Station reaches Memorial Park 24 minutes later and Sierra Madre Villa 31 minutes later. Trains leave Union Station every 10 minutes from 1:08 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends, for example 1:08, 1:18, 1:28. The line now runs on to Pomona North, but the Pasadena stops are the same.
- Walks from the stations, 8 Nov 2026. We measured each route on OpenStreetMap data (FOSSGIS foot router). Memorial Park station to City Hall is 507 m, about 7 minutes. Memorial Park to the Norton Simon is 1,346 m, about 18 minutes, and Del Mar to the Norton Simon is 1,570 m, about 21 minutes. Del Mar to Memorial Park is 936 m, about 12.5 minutes. Memorial Park to the Gamble House is 1,801 m, about 24 minutes. Memorial Park to Kidspace is 2,505 m, about 33.5 minutes. Memorial Park to the Rose Bowl is 3,392 m, about 45 minutes.
- Fares for a day, 8 Nov 2026. Union Station to Pasadena and back is 2 x $1.75 = $3.50. If you add a Downtown stop with two more rides, four rides cost $7.00 in single fares and $5.00 with Metro's daily cap (Metro fares page). A Pasadena Transit Route 10 ride is 75 cents, or 25 cents with a Metro transfer (Pasadena Transit fares page).
- Rose Bowl on foot, 8 Nov 2026. Metro's Rose Bowl page lists a 1.5-mile walk from Memorial Park along the Arroyo Seco trail. The street route we measured to the stadium address is 3.4 km (2.1 miles). Allow about 45 minutes either way, or use a rideshare.
So, ride to Memorial Park and walk to City Hall, Old Pasadena and the Norton Simon. Use a rideshare for the Huntington, the Gamble House and the Rose Bowl.
Pasadena at a glance
| Sight | Price | Hours | How to get there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Pasadena | Free to walk | Each shop sets its own hours | Del Mar or Memorial Park (A Line) |
| Norton Simon Museum | Adults $20, 18 and under free | Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays | Memorial Park, 18-minute walk |
| The Huntington | See the admission page | Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Tuesdays | Rideshare from the A Line |
| Gamble House | Tour prices differ by page | Tours Tue and Thu to Sun | Memorial Park, 24-minute walk, or rideshare |
| Pasadena City Hall | Free to see from outside | No public hours listed | Memorial Park (A Line), 7-minute walk |
| Kidspace Children's Museum | $17 for adults and children 1 and up | Tue to Sun 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Rideshare or Pasadena Transit |
| Rose Bowl Flea Market | $15 general, under 12 free | Second Sunday, from 9 a.m. | 45-minute walk from Memorial Park, or rideshare |
Getting to Pasadena by Metro
The A Line runs north from Union Station into Pasadena. The Pasadena stops are Fillmore, Del Mar, Memorial Park, Lake, Allen and Sierra Madre Villa. Visit Pasadena names Del Mar for Old Pasadena, Memorial Park for the Civic Center, and Lake for the Playhouse District (Visit Pasadena, car-free page, read 8 Nov 2026).
Subway: 24 minutes from Union Station to Memorial Park, and 31 minutes to Sierra Madre Villa. Trains leave Union Station every 10 minutes in the afternoon (Metro A Line timetable effective 7 June 2026, read 8 Nov 2026)
Price: $1.75 a ride, with free transfers within 2 hours when you tap to ride. Metro never charges more than $5 a day or $18 in seven days. Seniors 62 and over pay at most $2.50 a day (Metro fares page, read 8 Nov 2026)
Note: Metro's timetable says rail lines after 8 p.m. may have delays for maintenance (same timetable)
How to pay on Metro, the hours of each line and safety tips are in our LA Metro guide.
Pasadena Transit buses
Getting there: Route 10 runs along Colorado Boulevard and Lake Avenue and meets the A Line at Memorial Park, Del Mar, Lake and Allen (Pasadena Transit Route 10 map, read 29 Oct 2026)
Price: 75 cents a ride. Free transfers between Pasadena Transit buses for 2.5 hours with a TAP card. Coming from Metro, the transfer is 25 cents. You can pay with a contactless bank card, which is charged the full fare (Pasadena Transit fares page, read 8 Nov 2026)
Note: Pasadena Transit is free on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, the days after Thanksgiving. By our count that is 27 and 28 November 2026. The city says the dates may change (same page)
Check the Route 10 schedule on the Pasadena Transit site for how often it runs and whether it runs on Sundays. We would walk to the Norton Simon from Memorial Park instead (18 minutes).
The sights, with address, hours and price
Old Pasadena (we highly recommend)
Address: Colorado Boulevard and the streets around it, west of Arroyo Parkway
Hours: Each shop and restaurant sets its own hours
Price: Free to walk
Subway: Del Mar station on the A Line, per Visit Pasadena. Memorial Park station is 936 m east of Del Mar (our walk test)
The Old Pasadena Management District calls it Pasadena's original business district. It describes decay and neglect in the 1960s and 1970s and a revival in the 1990s. Today it has historic streets, alleyways and brick storefronts, with eateries, boutiques, galleries and theaters (Old Pasadena Management District, about page, read 8 Nov 2026). We would walk it between the Norton Simon and your train.
Norton Simon Museum (we highly recommend)
Address: 411 W. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91105 (Visit Pasadena event listing, read 8 Nov 2026)
Hours: Monday, Thursday and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday noon to 7 p.m. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Last entry for visitors without tickets is 4:15 p.m., or 6:15 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Closed 26 November, 25 December, 31 December and 1 January. Open 29 and 30 December, noon to 5 p.m. (Norton Simon visit page, read 8 Nov 2026)
Price: Adults $20. Seniors 62 and over $15. Visitors 18 and under and students with ID are free (Norton Simon visit page, read 8 Nov 2026). Free for everyone on the first Friday of each month from 4 to 7 p.m., with no reservation. The next free Friday on Visit Pasadena's list is 4 December 2026 (Visit Pasadena event listing, read 8 Nov 2026)
Subway: Memorial Park station, 1,346 m away, about 18 minutes on foot. Del Mar is 1,570 m (our walk test)
The museum has European painting and sculpture and a large South Asian collection, plus a sculpture garden. Our pick is the free first Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., since it closes at 7 p.m. that day. Otherwise go Friday or Saturday, when it is open until 7 p.m.
The Huntington
Address: 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 (The Huntington, plan your visit page, read 8 Nov 2026)
Hours: Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Tuesdays (same page)
Price: Check the day's price on the admission page at huntington.org, since it shows current prices and any free-day rules
Getting there: No A Line station is at the gate. The Huntington said on 29 Oct that it is in a residential area and the nearest bus stops are about a mile away. We recommend a rideshare from the A Line
The Huntington has a library, art galleries and botanical gardens. We would give it at least half a day and book ahead.
Gamble House
Address: 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena, CA 91103 (Gamble House, visit page, read 8 Nov 2026)
Hours: Open Tuesdays and Thursday to Sunday. Closed Monday and Wednesday. The bookstore is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on tour days. Tour times vary, so check the ticket page (same page)
Price: Prices depend on the tour. One event page lists $15, $12.50 for seniors and students, and free for children 12 and under, while its ticketing page lists $12, $10 and $8 for a holiday touring event. Check the ticket page for your tour. Walk-up tickets are sold in the bookstore based on availability. Discounts cannot be applied online (visit page and event pages, read 8 Nov 2026)
Subway: Memorial Park station, 1,801 m away, about 24 minutes on foot. Del Mar is 2,364 m (our walk test)
The house offers a one-hour docent tour, a 45-minute family tour and an exterior tour of the gardens and gables, among others (same page). We would book the one-hour tour ahead if you care about the Arts and Crafts style, and take a rideshare back.
Pasadena City Hall
Address: 100 N. Garfield Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101 (City of Pasadena, City Hall page, read 8 Nov 2026)
Hours: The city page lists no public building hours
Price: Free to see from outside
Subway: Memorial Park station, 507 m away, about 7 minutes on foot (our walk test)
Construction was completed on 27 December 1927. John Bakewell and Arthur Brown designed it, and the building outlines a spacious court (City of Pasadena, City Hall page). Plan to see it from Garfield Avenue. It is a five-minute stop on the way to Old Pasadena.
Kidspace Children's Museum
Address: 480 N. Arroyo Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91103 (Kidspace, visit page, read 8 Nov 2026)
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Special hours: Monday 9 November 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Friday 13 November 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. because of a Rose Bowl event (same page)
Price: $17 for adults and children 1 and older. Seniors 62 and over $15. Under 1 free. Kidspace does not accept cash. Free parking is in Rose Bowl Lot I (same page)
Getting there: Kidspace says you can reach it by Metro and Pasadena Transit. It is 2,505 m, about 33.5 minutes on foot, from Memorial Park station (our walk test), so we would take a rideshare
Kidspace is a children's museum next to the Rose Bowl. We would skip it if you have no young children.
Rose Bowl Flea Market
Address: Rose Bowl Stadium, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena, CA 91103 (Rose Bowl Flea Market listing, read 8 Nov 2026)
Hours: The second Sunday of each month. General entry from 9 a.m. VIP early entry from 5 to 8:45 a.m. (R.G. Canning Shows, admission page, read 8 Nov 2026). By the second-Sunday rule, the next date is 13 December 2026, but the admission page lists no dates, so check the ticket listing
Price: General $15, or $15.83 with the online fee. VIP $22, or $23.21 with the fee. All tickets are sold online only. Children under 12 are free with an adult. The market runs rain or shine (same page)
Getting there: Metro's Rose Bowl page lists a 1.5-mile walk from Memorial Park along the Arroyo Seco trail. Metro's free event shuttle from near Memorial Park runs every 5 to 7 minutes but only for select events, and Metro tells riders to check with the organizer (Metro Rose Bowl page, read 8 Nov 2026)
The flea market is only worth the trip on a second Sunday, and you must buy a ticket online first. Wear good shoes, since the market and the walk from the train both cover a lot of ground.
CicLAvia Pasadena on 15 November
The City of Pasadena has scheduled CicLAvia Pasadena for Sunday, 15 November 2026. Part of Colorado Boulevard will be closed to cars, with connections to the Memorial Park A Line station. Route maps and street closures were not posted yet on 8 November, and Route 10 has a detour that day (City of Pasadena, news release and Pasadena Transit page, read 8 Nov 2026).
LA 2028 Olympics at the Rose Bowl
The Rose Bowl will host the final matches of the Olympic football tournament, with the early rounds in other US cities. Olympics.com reports the men's gold medal match on 28 July 2028 and the women's on 29 July (olympics.com, LA28 football venues article, read 8 Nov 2026). The schedule could still change.
The Rose Parade on 1 January 2027
The 138th Rose Parade is on Friday, 1 January 2027, from 8 to 10 a.m. It is a 5.5-mile route. It starts at Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard and wraps up at Villa Street (Tournament of Roses, parade day guide, read 8 Nov 2026). We did not check grandstand prices.
Free things to do in Pasadena
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Walk Old Pasadena and its alleys.
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See the Norton Simon free on the first Friday of the month, from 4 to 7 p.m.
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Look at City Hall from Garfield Avenue.
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Walk around the outside of the Rose Bowl and along the Arroyo Seco.
A day in Pasadena by Metro
Our plan: take the A Line to Memorial Park in the late morning. Walk 507 m to City Hall, then on to Old Pasadena for lunch. Walk to the Norton Simon in the afternoon (18 minutes from Memorial Park), and finish with dinner in Old Pasadena before the A Line home from Del Mar or Memorial Park. Put the Huntington on a separate day, with a rideshare from the station.
The Norton Simon is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thursday to Sunday works best for this plan.
Sources and what can change
Read on 8 November 2026: Metro A Line timetable, Metro fares and Metro Rose Bowl page; Pasadena Transit and its fares page; Visit Pasadena car-free page and its Norton Simon free Friday listing; Old Pasadena Management District; The Huntington; Gamble House; City of Pasadena City Hall page; Kidspace; R.G. Canning Shows admission page; CicLAvia Pasadena release; Tournament of Roses; olympics.com; walking times from OpenStreetMap foot routing at routing.openstreetmap.de. Read on 29 October 2026: the Huntington's visit page and the Pasadena Transit Route 10 map. Also read on 8 November: the Norton Simon visit page. Check Huntington prices, Gamble House tour prices, Route 10 frequency and City Hall courtyard access on each official site. Hours change on holidays and for events, so check each venue's page for your date.
