Hearst Castle San Simeon

Het zou een drukke dag worden, dus om 07.30 aan het ontbijt! Het continental breakfast bestaat hier voornamelijk uit toast, muffins of donuts met een jusje erbij! Als je er eenmaal aan gewend bent, best te doen!

We wilden al vroeg bij Hearst Castle zijn en we waren daar om 08.10 en konden met de tour van 08.40 mee.

Dit kasteel …

Slept through the rain like babies, but woke up to the sound of jackhammers and other pleasant construction noises. Made some coffee, let the tent dry a little and then took off for Big Sur.

We headed up Highway 1, driving through little oceanside farm towns surrounded by green hills. It felt like we were in Ireland. Once the farm towns …

After a buffet breakfast at the Lodge, we continued north on Rt. 1 to the Hearst Castle at San Simeon. This was the weekend ranch retreat of publisher William Randolph Hearst. He called his San Simeon residence La Cuesta Encantada (The Enchanted Hill) and opened its art-filled halls and guest houses to many of the famous, influential, and creative …

After driving down Hwy 1 through Big Sur we visited Hearst Castle. Next we head toward Yosemite …

Arrgghh slept in but it only meant we'll have to get our National Park tickets another day so nothing lost. Two things on today's itinerary Melody Ranch and Hearst Castle.

If you are a fan of Westerns you will more than likely have seen Melody Ranch Studio. Its purpose built Old West town has been used for more than 750 "B" grade westerns …

Couldn't leave this morning without having a little walk on the beach even though we had a long drive ahead and had to be in San Fran by 4:30 to return the rental car. So glad we did! Dearly wish we had been staying for a couple of days. The coast here is wild and rocky. There is a great boardwalk which goes for 2km along the beach but we only had …

Entry containing 4 photos titled: Neptune Pool @ Hearst Castle, Casa Grande @ Hearst Castle, Mission San Carlos Borroméo del río Carmelo, Winchester Mystery House

... we were in the middle of nowhere.  But one call put us back on our way, we had found our way into the "old" San Simeon - three old & beautiful houses - but not hotel :)  Just a mile or so further we finally arrived at  The Orchid ...

... . Views to the coast and surrounding hills are uninterrupted, except by the Hearst cattle and the winding road to the castle. No wonder San Simeon and surrounding area is a top tourist spot.  As we searched for our next overnight stop, we ...

I went to Hearst Castle as a kid; I have no idea what the date was. I remember going up the scary, curvy hillside to get there. The place itself is very memorable though. It's grand and opulent--just what one might expect. I think when I went there ...

... which looks as though during Summer it would be extremely busy. It was fairly busy even now with quite a few surfers.  Hearst Castle is very palatial and extravagant, absolutely no comparison to Paronella Park in Australia! It was nice to go around ...

... that it would be cool if a shark would come up and hit it. We then stopped at the San Simeon Beach to take a few photos. Tomorrow we made reservations to tour the Hearst Castle. We are in a pub to get some internet access enjoying the ...

... fun in some of the corners as it gets a little loose.  But we took our time and still got down towards Heast Castle (San Simeone) by lunchtime.  We had a tour booked for tomorrow morning but decided to drop into the Castle visitor center and ...

... Hearst worked together with a woman Julia Morgan (who was the first woman architect of her time) to build the castle. Hearst Castle featured 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis ...

We left the seal beach and headed about 3 miles down the road where we swung into the grounds for Hearst Castle (or San Simeon National Monument as it's also known). We'd booked a tour of the main house from the Hearst Castle website before leaving the ...

... elephant seals on a beach just before we arrived at San Simeon.  We were staying in San Simeon because we wanted to visit Hearst Castle, the opulent and wildly extravagant folly of the newspaper magnet William Randolph Hearst, built largely during ...

Sunday morning we headed back down South a bit to visit the famed "Hearst Castle" built by media mogul William Randolph Hearst. In order to actually visit the castle, which sits a good 15-minute drive from the visitor's center, you need to purchase a ...