I am a local to the Hearst Castle area but have never gotten around to visiting. I finally decided I needed to check it out myself and booked the “Upstairs Rooms” tour at 10 a.m. When we arrived, we found we were the only two in line for the bus. We got a bus ride of just us to the top of the hill (about 15 mins) and a private tour. I’m sure this is a rare occurrence but so incredible being in the rooms without crowds and not feeling rushed. Our guide was fantastic and very passionate. A couple tips to have an experience like ours: 1) highly recommend the “upstairs tour”, the other Grand Rooms tour had a full bus while it was just us two for our tour. The upstairs tour has a max of 12 people while the Grand Rooms has a max of 52. 2) if possible, book a morning tour. Our guide told us the afternoon tours get filled up fast 3) consider visiting in the off season, summer tours will be super crowded regardless of time Overall, such a fantastic experience. The architecture, artwork, pools, etc. were incredible, highly recommend.

Visiting Hearst Castle was an amazing experience! The visitor center has lots of info and a huge gift shop, where you can spend a lot of time browsing. The castle itself is an art/architecture lovers dream. The design of the property and house is absolutely beautiful and the art is a reflection of what Hearst loved as a kid travelling around Europe. I took the Grand Rooms tour (reccommended for newbies). I can't wait to go back to do some of the other tours.

We had been on grand rooms tour on our first visit with our kids many years ago. As return visitors the upstairs suites tour was a real treat. Amazing to see Hearst’s opulent guest rooms, library, his office, etc. & hear all the interesting stories, facts from our tour guide. The tour was an amazing experience due to our very knowledgeable, experienced & friendly tour guide Jeanette. To top if off we had the extraordinary luck of a private tour due to likely coming late in the day and on a weekday in December before the holidays.

We did the ADA Grand Tour in the morning with Donnelle as our tour guide. She was awesome. She shared so much information and stories and her timing was perfect. We never went into a room that still had a regular tour in it. Unfortunately our ADA Holiday Twilight tour guide's timing was off as sometimes we would go into a room that had a regular tour in it. Our guide didn't tell us much about the room although she was able to answer any questions we had. I am glad we took the ADA Grand tour; otherwise we would have been disappointed. My daughter took the upstairs tour and loved it. While she was doing that I got food from the cafe and sat at a table to eat, read and people watch. The bus ride up the hill was enjoyable. Everyone we interacted with was friendly and helpful. We enjoyed our visit very much and have recommended it to others.

Bay Area Weekend | Hearst Castle reopened after two years Hearst Castle was closed when the pandemic hit and finally reopened recently! I've never been here before, and I'm looking forward to it even more! Be sure not to be late, we are a few minutes late and they will not let us participate in the tour we originally booked🙃 It may be that the machine cannot be swiped, or the staff may not be flexible Hearst Castle was built from Roaring Twenties and has a luxurious feel. Some people may think that there are too many elements inside and too messy, but I think this kind of building has a "California" characteristic. The flowers in the garden are blooming well, and the buildings are mostly Spanish/Italian style, unlike European castles, which are more traditional. Overall, it is still recommended! One thing to say, their swimming pool is so beautiful both indoors and outdoors!

After two years of trying to visit the Hearst Castle (closed in 2020 due to Covid and then landslides in 2021), we finally made it today (1/7/23). We lucked out and only had 5 people on our Grand Rooms Tour (all tours are timed entry - the group before us had at least 30+ people). Tickets are $30 per person for a tour of one level of the home (four rooms and the two pools). This includes a shuttle ride up from the Visitors Center to the castle. Having toured the Biltmore in North Carolina, the Hearst Castle fell short. Our tour guide was informative and entertaining. The castle, however, did not have the opulence that the Biltmore exhibited. At the Biltmore, you can tour the entire home at your leisure. The Biltmore has extensive gardens, conservatory, impressive architecture, etc. On the Hearst Castle tour, you must purchase multiple tours in order to see the entire estate. There is no offering to see the entire castle. This would be a great addition to their offering considering that the castle is quite far from any major city. We had also read that you would have unlimited time to explore the grounds. Apparently, this must be the area near the visitors center near Hwy. 1 - not anything surrounding the castle itself. The tour itself felt a bit rushed, and at the end, you are whisked back into the shuttle back down to the Visitors Center. The views from the castle grounds are stunning, but there aren't many viewpoints or time to actually appreciate them.

I agree with “wanderingwulfs” review. We just did the $30 tour yesterday and we had a similar experience. We felt rushed during the tour which would not be so bad if you were allowed to go back to some favorite spots and soak in the view, the art, the landscape, take leisurely photos, etc. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and friendly but talked very fast and garbled. Often, none of us could understand what was said. Fortunately, we had an extremely small group. Any bigger and at least with this particular tour guide, it would have been even more frustrating and disappointing. On a positive note, it was a spectacular day weather wise. The views going up and down the hill on the bus and up at the estate were breathtaking. It doesn’t hurt that California has turned a velvet green these last few weeks after the holiday storms. This was my third trip to HC and definitely the least enjoyable. I would still recommend going but with a lot of caveats about the way things are done now compared to pre-pandemic. I hope things will improve and would certainly need to before I go back.

We were totally thrilled with our experience at the Hearst Castle! Spending some time in the museum before the tour was very helpful and gave me.a greater appreciation for the castle and its history. The bathrooms were totally functional when we were there….portapotties still available but no reason to use. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable, approachable and fun. Just amazing depth of information!! Did the Great Rooms tour and plan to go back for the Upstairs Tour now that we know how interesting this place is. Of course it “is no Biltmore” (per the prior review) but this is fantastic in its own right, particularly when you get a feel for the history. So amazing how functional this house was from early on. And the gorgeous drive!! So spectacular at setting the scene.

Great tour with very energetic tour guide. Great castle copied after many European castles. Great coastal views over California hills and Pacific Ocean. Interesting rooms. Would have loved to see more rooms. As such I’ll be back. Tour a little pricey.

The actual property was spectacular and our guide was knowledgeable. However, our guide, Paul, was a bit rude in my opinion. He would not wait for the entire group to enter a room before he started to speak. One woman asked a question once she got in the room and he said, "I already answered that question." She WASN'T in the room to hear it the first time. Maybe he was just having a bad day. Also, they show a movie at the end so we went to see it. When we came out, the gift shop was closed for our entire group. Someone should of said something. We get an ornament everywhere we go for our travel tree, but was not able to here. Also, I tried to order online from their gift shop with no luck. With all of that said, I suggest you go and read his bibliography before you go.