Travel in time at Hearst Castle

I did the Grand Rooms Tour, Upstairs Suites Tour and Designing The Dream Tour. The Grand Rooms Tour can have up to 52 people on the tour. I chose a weekday at 9am, the first tour of the day, and there was less than 20 people on this tour. If you go on a weekend and in the middle of the day expect to have closer to 50 people on your tour. For the other tours you can have up to 14 people on the tour. There was 13 people on the Upstairs Suites Tour. My Designing The Dream Tour was at 1pm and I got very lucky as I was the only person on the tour. So I got a private tour for the price of a normal tour. Since it was only me, the tour was going quicker than if there was a group. So to fill in all that extra time, the tour guide showed me extra rooms that weren't on that tour. I have read a bunch of the 1 star reviews and here is my take on them. People complained that they can't touch anything like the furniture or the statues. It's because people have dirty hands. If they allowed it, people would complain about how dirty everything is. People complained that they can't eat or chew gum. What happens when people eat? They drop food or crumbs everywhere and also are the first ones to not pick up after themselves. As far as the gum, they would be the first ones to stick their gum on a statue. I don't want to see their chewed gum. People complained that they weren't given any time to take pictures. That is completely false. You are in every room for around 5-10 minutes. You have plenty of time to take pictures. Yes you are herded like sheep from room to room. They are on a timeframe for the next tour group. If you don't like that then book a private tour. Yes you can't touch anything and have to stay on the carpet pathway. They care more about having everything in pristine condition for everyone than the few entitled people that think they should be able to touch everything with their dirty hands. You are given more than enough time to take pictures. Yes there will be people in your shots. If you think every one of your pictures must have zero people in your shots then take a private tour.

I have wanted to visit Hearst Castle for decades but never seemed to find the right opportunity while visiting the central coast. I am glad I made the time, though, because the entire experience of it is amazing. I attended a main rooms tour and absolutely would go back to see the bedrooms. There is so much wonderful American history from the golden age of our nation that is preserved in the charm of the ranch, along with an art collection that span centuries. It's absolutely worth making a visit a priority if you're in the area.

beautiful place! interesting excursion. impressive size of the castle and territory. interesting history and biography of the owner of the castle and his family. it's a pity that there was not enough time to stay in this place longer. I recommend buying an excursion not for 35 dollars, but more expensive. since you will be limited in time and in visiting the number of rooms. be sure to visit this place.

Hearst castle is awesome! Very easy to get to. We booked on a Monday, drove 3 hours and had breakfast at Linn’s in Cambria before going to the castle.. our tour was at 11.. we got there early and they let us go on the 10:42 tour.. the bus takes you up the hill to the castle.. the tour lasted a little over an hour. Really amazing place! To be honest, I can’t wait to go again!

I loved my visit to Hearst Castle. We did the main tour and fully plan on going back to do additional tours. Our tour was great for a first time visit, but I wish we would have been able to see more for $70. It's $35 per tour and there's a large amount of tours to choose from. Unfortunately it would take multiple visits and hundreds of dollars to experience all of it.