Hearst Castle Discount Tickets Aaa (2024)

FAQs

How much does it cost to tour the Hearst Castle? ›

Plan to be at Hearst Castle for a minimum of three hours. The guided portion of the tour is indoors and lasts about 60 minutes. The Bus ride up and down the hill is about 30 minutes each way and the movie is 40 minutes. With a one hour tour, our total visit was 3 hours, 45 minutes.

You have the chance to go behind the scenes and swim in the San Simeon, California, pool. But it'll cost you. First, you have to be a member of the Foundation at Hearst Castle, which costs $500 annually. After that, you can book a reservation for $1,000, which gives you access to the iconic Neptune pool.

Brilliant, well worth a visit. A must see. Driving along you would never imagine a place like that would exists in the middle of no where.

Parking is plentiful and free for guests during their stay. Continental Breakfast is also free every morning.

In order to ensure visitor safety and to protect the historic estate, framed backpacks are not permitted. In addition, items such as skateboards, roller shoes and bicycles are not permitted.

Grand Rooms Tour

Recommended for first-time visitors, this tour also has the fewest stairs to climb.

Only bottled water may be brought on tour. Please call the district office at Hearst Castle at (805) 927-2065 to arrange for this unique and personalized tour experience of Hearst Castle.

Personal Photography

Photography for personal enjoyment is encouraged. However, due to operational impacts, photography related to birthdays, engagements, weddings, graduations, etc. is prohibited. Tripods are not allowed either inside the buildings or on the grounds, but monopods are in both locations.

In the past, William Randolph Hearst and his family did live in Hearst Castle. He eventually donated his castle to the state of California. As of right now, none of the descendants of William Hearst don't live in the castle and the castle is a current tourist attraction.

How deep is the Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle? ›

It is 3.5 feet deep at the west end, 10 feet at the drains, and holds 345,000 gallons of water. Other notable aspects of the Neptune Pool include the oil-burning heating system, the Vermont marble that lines the basin, gutters, and alcove, and four Italian relief sculptures on the sides of the colonnades.

You can't stay overnight at Hearst Castle, but you can bunk down at Hearst's Hacienda near King City and the tiny town of Jolon. That's a bit of a drive from the castle.

Nestled in the hills above the village of San Simeon, the Castle sits halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles and is approximately a four hour drive from either of these metropolitan areas.

Hearst Castle must employ a literal army of state employees to docent, drive buses, sell tickets and gifts, run food kiosks, landscape, art preserve/restore, pool clean, feed the menagerie of animals, and provide security. A general admission hour-long tour will set you back $30 (Sept 2022).

Four distinct guided Hearst Castle Tours are offered throughout the day. Each one explores a different part of this luxurious estate comprised of 165 rooms and more than 125 sprawling acres of gardens, terraces, pools and walkways.

The world-renowned house museum will reopen to the public on May 11, after being closed for two years following the COVID-19 pandemic and severe rainstorms that damaged the access road to the castle in early 2021.