Hearst Castle
 

We will be touring after the 14th of Sept. Is it required to make a booking to see the Hearst Castle or can we take out chances then and just drive up. Looking at the forum it seems tour #1 and #2 are the most popular. Would it be worth while to stay in the area and do more than one of the tours. We do have an entire week and we are planning on just working our way up the coast and then bullet back down to fly out of LA. Many thanks. Wendy

Of course you can take your chances -- but how lucky are you? I'd personally never arrive at San Simeon w/o reservations. It is just too far and too disappointing if there are tour openings.

This is high season travel time, so I would definitely book ahead.

You can often get in without reservations, especially on weekdays, though you might end up with several hours wait. I've never made reservations when visiting HC, but then it is never the primary purpose of our trip, so if we stop in and find there are no tours open conveniently soon (which has happened once or twice), we just shrug our shoulders and continue on. People with tightly planned schedules, going from Monterey to Big Sur to HC to LA in one day, definitely should have reservations for the HC part.

I never made reservations but as a "one" I was always able to get in right away. As a "two", absolutely make reservations. It is very popular no matter when!

If you want to be flexible, you can book the intro tour ahead, and then determine if you wish to see more behind the scenes rooms. However, I would certainly book your first tour ahead of time. It's a long way to go without a lot to do if you find you have to wait a length of time to go through.

oops - just noticed a missing "no" in my post - but I'm sure you got the idea . . .

&lt;&lt; It is just too far and too disappointing if there are <b>no</b> tour openings.&gt;&gt;

Many thanks for all the replies. I will try and figure out when we will be there and book a tour. I did not realize that it would be so busy at this time of year. Looking at the post above I can see that any exploring on your own is not an option but I would hate to get there and not see at least some of it. Wendy

No one responded to the multiple tours idea. I love Hearst Castle and we always do more than one - it's all so interesting and beautiful. Just so you know, the visitors center (parking/tickets, etc) is at the bottom of the hill by the highway. Your &quot;group&quot; for your time slot will ride a bus up to the castle for the tour. When it's over, back you go down the hill. So if you were to do a second tour you would start the whole thing over.

I'd take #1 for a good overview, then one of the others to see the kitchens, Hearst bedroom, whatever. There will be some overlap, but it's neat to hear what the different guides have to say.

The nearby town of Cambria is very cute with lots of dining and shopping. Plus there is a beach where all the seals hang out, not sure of the season for that.

Agree with getting HC tix ahead of time.