Things to do nearHearst Castle

Construction at Hearst Castle began in 1919 and continued for nearly three decades, resulting in a 165-room main house, three guesthouses, and 127 acres of gardens and terraces. Hearst and Morgan drew on Spanish, Moorish, and Italian architectural traditions, blending them into a cohesive vision unlike anything else on the California coast.

Visitors today explore rooms lined with medieval tapestries, Renaissance ceilings, and ancient Greek pottery. The twin Neptune Pool, framed by marble colonnades and a Roman temple facade, remains the estate's most photographed feature. The indoor Roman Pool, tiled in gold and blue Venetian glass, offers an equally striking contrast to the sunlit exterior.

California State Parks manages the property and offers several guided tour options covering different wings and features of the estate. Evening tours, offered seasonally, add a theatrical dimension as the rooms are lit as they appeared during Hearst's famous weekend gatherings of Hollywood celebrities and world leaders.

Hearst Castle sits along Highway 1 near the coastal town of San Simeon, making it a natural centerpiece for a Central Coast road trip. Few places in California so vividly illustrate the ambitions of the early twentieth century, and the setting alone, overlooking the Pacific from its hilltop perch, makes the journey worthwhile.