Old Pasadena Thanks to plenty of trees, a half-dozen Metro stops and relatively dense clusters of businesses, Pasadena as a whole is pretty walkable. But Old Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley city’s historic downtown area, just might be the most pedestrian-friendly spot in the county. The shops along Colorado Boulevard are largely the same ones you’d find in an upscale mall, but they’re certainly more pleasant to peruse when housed inside remarkably well-preserved old buildings, some of which date back to the late 1800s. Even the alleyways and courtyards here—lined in brick or cobblestone and dotted with restaurants and pubs—are worth a detour. On parallel roads, Union Street has become a proper culinary destination in the last few years thanks to spots like Union and Perle, as has Green Street, a tree tunnel of a road home to Agnes and Copa Vida. You’ll find a bunch of museums on the district’s periphery: the excellent Norton Simon, with its impressive collection of Old Masters and French impressionists; a centuries-spanning mix of traditional and contemporary works at the Pacific Asia Museum; and, about a mile outside of the area, the Arts and Crafts masterpiece Gamble House. Make sure to pass by the Moorish-meets-Victorian Castle Green and walk underneath the massive dome of Pasadena City Hall.