Hearst Castle Discount Tickets Aaa (2025)

FAQs

How much does Hearst Castle cost now? ›

Purchasing tickets in advance is always strongly recommended. However, you can also purchase tour tickets—which are required in order to visit the Castle—at the Visitor Center when you arrive.

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.

It really depends on how you want to spend your time. An afternoon is definitely enough time to drive through Big Sur and to stop and see the scenery. If you want to spend time hiking or exploring, then a whole day is better. Hearst Castle is excellent and definitely worth the time.

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).

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.

Free parking - Hearst Castle.

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. Items such as paint, crayons, chalk and sketch charcoal are also not permitted on the hilltop.

Although advance reservations are strongly recommended as there are times when tours sell out, you can purchase tickets to Hearst Castle at the Visitor Center, grab a bite to eat, explore the gift shops, learn about the history of the Castle, and watch the exclusive movie “Hearst Castle – Building the Dream” on a giant ...

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.

How long is the bus ride to Hearst Castle? ›

To start the tour, visitors board a bus at the Visitor Center that takes them to the Castle at the top of the hill. Tours depart from the Visitor Center by bus at the time printed on the ticket. An audio presentation provides background information during the 15 minute, 5-mile trip to the Castle.

Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film Spartacus used the castle to stand in as Crassus' villa, and in 2014, Lady Gaga's music video for "G.U.Y." was filmed at the Neptune and Roman Pools.

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.

If you're short on time, the Grand Rooms Tour is the perfect way to see the best of Hearst Castle. It includes a visit to the castle's gardens, pool, and grandest rooms, including the Banquet Hall and Roman Pool. The Grand Tour is the most comprehensive option and includes access to all of the castle's public rooms.

A stunning showplace for Hearst's unrivaled art and antiques collection, the castle is home to centuries-old sculptures, paintings, tapestries—even an ancient Roman sarcophagus dating back to about 320 A.D.! (Actually there is more than one sarcophagus at HC) Discover dazzling gold leaf ceilings dating back centuries, ...

Auction of legendary Hearst Estate in L.A. ends with final price of $63.1 million. The auction of Hearst Estate, one of the most legendary homes in Los Angeles, has closed with a final sale price of $63.1 million, according to a representative of Amalfi Estates real estate firm.

In today's money, it would cost about 700 million dollars to build the castle.

A media empire, a castle in California, and one of the most recognizable last names in America. Thanks to patriarch William Randolph, the Hearst family can claim all of the above. According to Forbes, the fam's fortune comes in at around $21 billion. Not bad, though there are dozens of descendants to split it between.

The castle currently has an estimated $60 million in deferred maintenance costs. Putting a new roof on the north wing alone is expected to cost the state $1.8 million, the report says. William Randolph Hearst's family deeded his 115-room hilltop castle to the state in 1958.