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The Hearst Castle® Visitors Center is a hop, skip and jump from San Simeon, California...Previous Visitor Information Page | Home | San Simeon Gallery Thumb Index | Next San Simeon Visitor Information Page |
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 Click to enlarge this photograph of the road sign that points the way to Hearst Castle Visitors Center. |
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Hearst Castle® California State Historical Monument; a place everybody should visit at least once…
The sign above is located on Hearst Castle® Road just across the Pacific Coast Highway from San Simeon, it marks the way to the Hearst Castle® Visitors center. If you have already been to Hearst Castle ®; now might be a good time to visit again; all the tours have changed (and California needs your money). Like most California State Parks they are feeling the budget crunch and they are now attempting to continue tours with fewer employees. It sad that this puts people out of work but it has resulted in having to give castle visitors more freedom, after each guided tour visitors are allowed to roam the grounds and sightsee at their leisure.
When you visit the Castle be sure to budget some extra time to hang out and explore around the visitor center complex; it’s just a fun exciting place to be and these days there are many things to do and taste there, make it part of your Hearst Castle® experience. One of the newest things there is the Hearst Ranch kiosk, you can learn about their meats and wines. Always pleasant and increasingly important are the Friends of Hearst Castle, they are to answer questions and are a wealth of information and Hearst Castle® area vacation ideas. You can see from these pictures that no matter which way you are looking, from San Simeon up to Hearst Castle® or from Hearst Castle® down to San Simeon it’s a good distance; it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to drive between the Visitors Center and the Castle, a drive I have enjoyed many times. Unless you are as lucky and privileged as I have been you won’t be able to spend the night on the Enchanted Hill® or even in San Simeon; there are many wonderful lodging options though. You can enjoy a unique stay 15 miles north at the gateway to the Big Sur Coast, the Ragged Point Inn, or stay about 6 miles south of San Simeon in one of the motels of San Simeon acres, even infront of Pico Beach at the Best Western Cavalier Oceanfront Resort; if you would like more lodging options it is just a little further south to the hotels and motels of Cambria by the sea. If you long for adventure and should you have some time and want to taste some more of the historic Hearst flavor there is a lodging on the other side of the hill also designed by Hearst favored Architect Julia Morgan like the castle and once the eastern ranch headquarters or called Hearst’s own “Hunting Lodge,” the Hacienda Guest Lodge.
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