old town pasadena - what is there??
 

I have heard several people suggest a stop in Old Town Pasadena while in the LA area...what is there to see and do in Old town?? I've tried a couple web-sites - either I am not hitting the right ones, or the websites are not very good.....

Try oldpasadena.com and you will get all of the information you could ever want.

Old Town Pasadena is part of the old ROute 66. There are numerous restaurants, shops, art galleries, and antique stores. Not far from the main drag is the Norton Simon Museum and a walking tour of the old houses (the style which escapes me at the moment) that originated in Southern California.

The Gamble House is a masterpiece of the American Arts and Crafts movement.

Thanks for your help!! It looks like it maybe worth a half day trip topped off by a meal - does that sound about right??

Depends on what you're looking for. I'm not a shopper but we had a couple of hours to kill before a show at the Pasadena Playhouse and walked all over Old Town. I didn't see anything great about the stores -- mostly the same you'd see anywhere else and they are scattered about. But there are a lot of really good restaurants. We went to the Huntington estate and grounds, but realized we needed more than an hour or two to cover it -- so will go back another time. Spend about two wonderful hours at the Norton-Simon -- don't miss their sculpture gardens as well as the inside galleries.

I love Old Town. It's always a treat to visit somewhere that old, that's survived all the earthquakes...!!

Patrick is right in that there are quite a few chain stores in the shopping area (a big Crate and Barrel mothership store, for one)-- but the gems are the funky galleries and shops run by locals, in the alleyways and side streets. I'm not a shopper either, but I found places to kill time-- a great CD store, a doggie bakery, etc.

The city of Pasadena does boast one of the finest (and best-preserved) collections of Craftsman houses in the country. The Gamble House is world-famous among design and architecture buffs. However, this might be lost on a lot of people. The Norton Simon, however, is one of the finest museums around-- just about every piece is a true masterpiece. It's well worth a visit.

This info is very helpful - we leave in 5 days, so at least I have an idea what to expect.