Description: Hearst Castle was built in the 1920s, commissioned by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst and designed by architect Julia Morgan. It combines a variety of styles and has been altered and expanded over two decades. The main building, which looks like a castle, has 167 rooms on three floors. In 1957, it was made available to California State Parks and has served tourist purposes ever since. It has been a National Historic Landmark since 1976. 

There are several tours that leave every 10 minutes from the Welcome Center. You go up to the Castle in buses for about 15 minutes. For those who have never been here before, the Grand Room Tour is recommended. This takes you through the first floor of the main house to learn the basic things about Hearst Castle. The group consists of a maximum of 54 people.  After the house tour, you are free to roam outside and stay as long as you like. 

The tours cost from 25$/person. If you reserve the tickets online, you have to pay another 8$. Even though this is a relatively high fee, it is recommended to make a reservation if you want to take the tour at a certain time. Especially on weekends it can get crowded here.

Our rating: We went to see Hearst Castle during our first vacation to the USA in 1992. It was quite nice. Those who are interested in the beautiful and rich people of the USA will certainly have fun here. 

During our tour in early September 2019, we visited Hearst Castle once again. We chose the Grand Room Tour. Everything is very professionally organized. However, since every 10-15 minutes a new group comes after you, it is sometimes very rushed. Ones outside it is no longer a problem, because there you can look around on your own, but inside the house it was very difficult to get usable photos without any people on them. 

Nevertheless, we liked it here very much. It is impressive what Mr. Hearst has created here. We were surprised that it was a good 50°F warmer on the mountain near the house than down by the ocean.