The closest and most convenient airport is in Burbank. Other nearby airports are in Los Angeles, Ontario, and Orange County.
There are a couple of ways to get to Pasadena from the LAX airport, other than a taxi, which costs around $80.
Supershuttle and Primetime are shared-ride vans which serve the Pasadena area from LAX. Stand under the orange "shared ride vans" sign in the center concrete island outside the airport. Tell a customer service representative that you need a ride to Pasadena. They are easy to identify by their blue jackets (Supershuttle) or red jackets (Primetime). If no representative is available, then flag down a blue van (Supershuttle) or red van (Primetime) with a "Pasadena" placard in the windshield. Approximate cost is $25 per person. Approximate time to Pasadena is 1 hour.
The cheapest method to get to Pasadena from LAX is to use the Metro, opeating from 11:52 p.m. to 3:45 a.m., but do not use this method if you have many bags to carry or you do not like to walk long distances. Stand under the green "FlyAway, Buses and Long-Distance Vans" sign in the center concrete island outside the airport. Board a blue FlyAway bus heading to Union Station, $7 one-way (a 45-minute trip). It is a large charter-style bus, and is occasionally not labeled. FlyAway buses operate every half hour, 24 hours a day.
Next, walk behind the ticket counter, and proceed down the stairs. Follow the path and enter Union Station on the left. Walk to the Metro Gold Line (yellow signs) which is located at track 1 in Union Station. Inside the track 1 terminal is an automated kiosk for purchasing tickets. Buy a one-way ticket and insert $1.50. Consider a day pass if you will be traveling by Metro again in the same day (note that a day pass is economical only if you will be boarding any Metro service at least four times in one day). Proceed up the stairs to the trains. Be sure to board the northbound (Sierra Madre Villa) trains. The Gold Line stops in Pasadena at Fillmore, Del Mar, Memorial Park, Lake, Allen, and Sierra Madre Villa stations. The travel time varies from 30-90 min, depending on rush hour conditions.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Pasadena
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Pasadena - updated May 2024
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Pasadena Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
