How to Get to the Rose Bowl for GO Tour: Parking, Shuttles, Metro, and Uber

Getting to the Rose Bowl is the easy part of GO Tour. Getting home is where you lose your evening.

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In this guide 8 sections

The stadium sits in a quiet corner of Pasadena, and Rose Bowl parking is limited on event days. Most trainers stay in Santa Monica, about 26 miles away, or in Downtown LA. In 2025, 48,000 people came to GO Tour in Los Angeles, and 77% of them traveled in from outside the city.⁴ That's a lot of people heading into one park, and out of it again at 5 p.m.

Cream and I have been to two GO Tours at the Rose Bowl, Sinnoh in 2024 and Unova in 2025, and both years a friend who was going too drove us there (a different friend each time). The ride in was fine. The ride home is the part I'd do differently.

Rose Bowl Parking, Uber, or Metro? My Quick Answer

• Driving: Rose Bowl parking for GO Tour had to be bought ahead. It was $34 online or $40 on arrival in 2026, and spaces were limited.
• Uber or Lyft: the easiest way without a car. Drop-off was the southeast corner of Lot H in 2026.
• Metro: the A Line to Memorial Park Station costs $1.75. Then it's a 1.5-mile walk, a weekend bus, or a short Uber.
• From Santa Monica: about 26 miles. Around 40 minutes by car with no traffic, or about 1 hour 25 minutes on two trains plus the last mile.
• Our tip: don't leave at 5 p.m. Raid in downtown Pasadena until 8 p.m., then head back.

Haven't booked yet? Pick your base first, since it decides your ride.

The Rose Bowl hosted GO Tour Los Angeles in 2024, 2025, and 2026. GO Tour Alola is set for February 19 to 21, 2027, in Los Angeles, but the venue hasn't been announced yet (as of October 2026). Everything below comes from the last three Rose Bowl events. I'll update it when the 2027 plan-your-trip page goes up.

Driving and Rose Bowl Parking for GO Tour

This is how we did it. Both years, a friend drove us and parked in the stadium lots. We got there about an hour before the start, and traffic on the way in wasn't bad. That hour early is worth it, because the GO Tour park day starts with a line at the gate.

What you need to know before you drive:

• Buy parking ahead. At the 2026 GO Tour, parking was sold through JustPark, one pass per day: $34 before you arrived, $40 if you paid at the lot.¹
• Spaces are limited. The official page said so, and it asked trainers to look at rideshare and transit first. Book your pass the day the link goes up, and only for your park day.
• The address is Rose Bowl Stadium, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena.
• No overnight RV parking at the Rose Bowl.

Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, CA

This map comes from Google Maps.

Open in Google Maps

A lot of trainers rent a car for the whole trip, so they can explore the area on the other days too. If that's you, compare rental cars at LAX before you book your parking. Driving yourself is the only way you decide exactly when you leave and where you play on the way home.

Uber and Lyft to the Rose Bowl

Rideshare is the easiest way in without a car. At the 2026 GO Tour, Uber, Lyft, and taxis dropped off at the southeast corner of Lot H, and accessible drop-off and pick-up was at the northeast corner of Lot I. The page didn't name a pick-up spot for everyone else, so check the 2027 page before you go.

Getting a ride home is the hard part. Gameplay at the park stops at 5 p.m., and thousands of trainers open the same apps at the same time. Expect surge prices and a wait, which is one more reason to hang around Pasadena until later (more on that below).

Flying in from abroad? You'll need data for Uber, Lyft, and maps the moment you land, and for the game. Get an Airalo eSIM for the USA before you fly, so your phone works the second you're off the plane.

Taking the Metro to the Rose Bowl

You can get to the Rose Bowl without a car, but no train goes all the way, so you'll cover the last 1.5 miles another way. In Tokyo, we took the train to GO Fest Japan and all over the city to our favorite Tokyo Pokémon GO spots. LA's trains work too. They just stop short of the stadium.

The trip has three steps:

1. Ride the A Line to Memorial Park Station in Pasadena. You can catch it in downtown LA at Pico, 7th St/Metro Center, Grand Ave Arts/Bunker Hill, Historic Broadway, or Little Tokyo/Arts District.
2. Pay $1.75 by tapping in. A credit or debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a TAP card all work at the gates.² Transfers are free for two hours, so a trip with one change is one fare. The daily cap is $5.
3. Cover the last 1.5 miles. Pick one of the options below.

From Memorial Park Station to the Rose Bowl

• Walk. It's about 1.5 miles through the Arroyo Seco, roughly 30 to 40 minutes. Easy in the cool morning, less fun at 5 p.m. after a full park day.
• Pasadena Transit routes 51 and 52 (weekends only). On Saturdays and Sundays, they run from Memorial Park (Raymond Avenue and Holly Street) to Seco Street and Arroyo Boulevard by the Rose Bowl in about 11 minutes, every 20 to 30 minutes, for 75 cents.³ There's no Rose Bowl service on weekdays, so a Friday park day means walking or a rideshare. The timetable warns the buses can detour on big event days.
• The free Rose Bowl shuttle. Metro lists a free Foothill Transit shuttle from Parsons Parking Lot B, two blocks from the station, but it only runs for select events. The 2026 GO Tour page didn't list one. If the 2027 page does, it's the best no-car option.
• A short Uber or Lyft. It's about 2 miles from the station.

Metro's own advice for big Rose Bowl events is to reach Memorial Park Station at least 90 minutes before the start. Load your return fare ahead of time if you're using a TAP card, so you skip the machines after the event.

Santa Monica to Pasadena by Metro

Ride the E Line from Downtown Santa Monica station, a few blocks from the pier, toward downtown LA. The E and A Lines share four stations in downtown LA (7th St/Metro Center, Grand Ave Arts/Bunker Hill, Historic Broadway, and Little Tokyo/Arts District), so change to an A Line train at any of them, heading toward Pasadena and Pomona.

On Metro's fall 2026 timetable, Santa Monica to 7th St/Metro Center takes 45 minutes, and 7th St/Metro Center to Memorial Park takes another 33. With the change, plan on about 1 hour 25 minutes on trains, one $1.75 fare, then the last mile. Trains run about every 10 minutes during the day on weekends.

Little Tokyo to Pasadena by Metro

This is the easiest no-car trip of any GO Tour base. The A Line runs straight from Little Tokyo/Arts District station to Memorial Park in about 28 minutes, with no change. From Union Station, it's about 24 minutes. We stayed in Little Tokyo for GO Tour Sinnoh and went by car with a friend. If you're staying there without a ride, the train is the simplest way in.

How Far Is the Rose Bowl From Santa Monica, Downtown LA, and LAX?

Road distances in the table are approximate, and drive times assume no traffic, which you won't get at 5 p.m.

From	Distance by road	Drive, no traffic	By Metro
Santa Monica Pier	About 26 miles	About 40 min	E Line + A Line to Memorial Park, about 1 hr 25 min
Little Tokyo / Downtown LA	About 13 miles	About 20 min	A Line to Memorial Park, 28 min
Old Pasadena	About 2 miles	About 5 to 10 min	Walk 1.5 miles from Memorial Park
Hollywood	About 16 miles	About 25 min	B Line to Union Station, then the A Line
LAX	About 28 miles	50 to 60 min (official estimate)	Not the easy way with luggage
Hollywood Burbank Airport	About 16 miles	About 25 min (official estimate)	Not the easy way with luggage

The airport times are GO Tour's own estimates, and its guide adds "expect traffic and plan accordingly."

Leaving the Rose Bowl: Don't Lose Your Raid Hours in Traffic

This is the mistake we made.

Park play ends at 5 p.m. Both years, we stayed to the very end and left with almost everyone else. In 2024 we were staying in Little Tokyo, and I don't remember that drive being bad. In 2025 we were living in Santa Monica, and it was really bad. The drive back took almost all of the playable time we had left. Spawns wind down around 5 or 6 p.m., but on GO Tour days we keep raiding until 8 p.m. You can't really catch or raid on the interstate. We missed the evening of the event, sitting in a car.

Next time, we'll hang around downtown Pasadena raiding until 8 p.m. and only then go back to Santa Monica. Our plan for next time:

• Raid in Old Pasadena. It's Pasadena's old downtown along Colorado Boulevard, about 2 miles from the stadium. Play there into the evening, eat dinner, and leave once the rush is over. Start with the Pasadena gyms and routes players use.
• Keep your hotel. If you're in LA for the whole weekend, this isn't a reason to book a night in Pasadena. The park is one day of it, and switching hotels isn't worth it. Just come back later. That's why where to stay for GO Tour LA picks one base for the whole weekend. If the park day is the only part of GO Tour you're attending, though, stay in Pasadena and skip the drive completely. See hotel prices in Old Pasadena, about 2 miles from the stadium.
• On the Metro, the late trains help. On Metro's fall 2026 Saturday timetable, an A Line train from Memorial Park at 8:31 p.m. still gets you to Downtown Santa Monica just after 10 p.m., and the last connection leaves Pasadena just before midnight.

Leaving later fixes rideshare too. The surge at 5 p.m. is the same crowd as the traffic.

Getting to GO Tour With Kids, a Stroller, or Accessibility Needs

Families come to GO Tour, and plenty of them had older kids with them when we were there. A few things make the trip easier:

• Strollers are allowed inside the event. Bikes, scooters, and skateboards aren't, though you're welcome to ride a bike there.¹
• Kids under 6 ride the Metro free with a fare-paying adult.² On Pasadena Transit, up to two kids aged 5 and under ride free with each paying adult.³
• Car seats: if your kids still need one, driving yourself or the Metro is simpler than rideshare.
• Accessible parking: every Rose Bowl lot had ADA spaces at the same price as general parking in 2026, and out-of-state placards were honored. Accessible drop-off and pick-up was at the northeast corner of Lot I.

Which Way We'd Pick

If we go to GO Tour Alola, we'll stay in Santa Monica again, because that's where the best city play is, and it's where most trainers stay.

For the park day, I'd honestly take an Uber next time, or rent a car. Any of these ways gets you there. The ride home is what we'd change: we'd stay and raid in Pasadena until 8 p.m. and miss the rush.

Next Steps for Your GO Tour Trip

• New to GO Tour LA? Our full GO Tour Los Angeles plan covers tickets, costs, and how we split the weekend between the park and the city.
• Still picking a base? Santa Monica wins for us, and the GO Tour LA hotel guide weighs it against Little Tokyo and Pasadena.
• Once you're through the gates, the Rose Bowl park day, hour by hour shows where the habitats and the shade are.
• Planning a GO Fest too? GO Fest Japan is the one we'd pick every time.
• Heading to Japan? No city beats Tokyo for the game. Start with where to play Pokémon GO around Tokyo.