Things To Do

My husband and I will be arriving in LAX on Fri Febr 2 and we will have a rental car. We will be staying in Pasadena on FRI and Sat night. Would like suggestions on what to see and to do in that short ime. On Sund we will leave and drive to Irvine for a 3 days conference. Was thinking of doing a scenic drive by the beaches on the way down to irvine. Any particular stop that any one can recommend would be appreciated. Also any suggesitons on what to do and see in the Irvine area after 5:00 pm.

Things To Do

Hi Lady_penguin11,

When you get to Pasadena, you must go to old town. They have great restaurants and lots of shopping.

Re: Irvine, you can hang out at the specturm, and you must check out Newport Beach and Laguna Nigel. If you can get to spa montage just to look around if nothing else.

Things To Do

How early do you arrive on Friday? You could drive from LAX up the coast into Malibu, then take a leisurely drive up Sunset Blvd through Beverly Hills and Hollywood, maybe even stopping for lunch at The Getty Center. Depends on arrival time and traffic hours.

Sat %26amp; Sun are good days to do some auto touring since traffic is lighter...but why are you staying way up in Pasadena? Something up there that you are planning to visit/see/do?

Laguna Beach isjust south of Irvine in fact borders the town. Nice shopping/downtown district. Newport is also quite nice but more ';cityish';. Perhaps you could slip into Laguna for dinner?

I just like wandering the shops, lots of artists live locally and you see a lot of nice things not unreasonably priced.

The nicest thing is your drive down will be I htink on Superbowl Sunday so hopefully the traffic will be light.

Do see Old Town- perhaps hit the Icehouse comedy club.

I love Pasadena at night- its a happening little community.

BUT they make plenty with radar and parking tickets so drive and park attentively!

Good travelling and welcome to town!

Hi,

While in Pasadena, you may want to check out the Huntington Library and gardens (google it, it%26#39;s world-famous). If you enjoy architecture %26amp; history, visit the Gamble house, a Green %26amp; Green craftsman gem. Descanso gardens, and the LA Arboreteum are also close to Pasadena.

Here%26#39;s something different to do, but only do it if you%26#39;re comfortable with mountain roads:

Drive up to Mt. Wilson Observatory. You don%26#39;t need to go to the observatory (is it even open anymore?). Just go for the incredible drive up, and the spectacular view at the top.

For directions, go to maps.google.com

Click on get directions. Put in Pasadena, CA and Mt. Wilson, CA. You will be rewarded with directions.

If it%26#39;s cloudy, jettison the above suggestion.

As far as getting from Pasadena to Irvine, let me give you an unorthodox route that will give you an interesting view of the LA area.

From Pasadena, take Rosemead Blvd south (CA SR 19). It will turn into Lakewood Blvd at I-5. Make a left at Pacific Coast Highway, travelling south west (it%26#39;s a a traffic circle).

Just follow PCH south from there until it%26#39;s time to turn left into Irvine.

It%26#39;s hard to tell you where to stop, as we no nothing about you or your interests. Really, you can just take that drive and stop at whatever looking interesting. If it looks like it%26#39;s worth a stop, it probably is!