San Simeon, United States Travel Blogs

San Simeon - Big Sur, Eleph. seals & Hearst Castle
Sep 17, 2007 (95 photos)

... 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 ...

Hearst Castle (US&C)
Apr 25, 2008

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 ...

Sanlinas - San Simeon
Mar 4, 2006 (17 photos)

... that they had recently taken over because it had its own restaurant and bar (which none of the other Motel 6's have had). San Simeon looked like a tiny seaside town, which was obviously jam packed in Summer, but looked equally dead in Winter. As there ...

Driving to the Pacific Coast
Apr 12, 2007 (11 photos)

... where that was located as it was not marked (Kevin said he felt the earth move but I just said it was gas). We arrived in San Simeon on the coast around 4 pm. We unpacked the car at the hotel and started driving up the coast on Hwy 1. Driving down Hwy 1 ...

Kingdom on a Hill - Hearst Castle
Sep 19, 2008 (11 photos)

We left Morro Bay and headed a shortish distance towards Hearst Castle.   We were a little early for our tour, so thought we would stop at Point Piedras Blancas  - California's largest elephant seal colony.  This is not a Kelly ...

US1 and Hearst Castle
Nov 12, 2008 (15 photos)

... .  With the sun going down we finished the tour and headed the 3 miles south to the Hotel Area ... which is about all San Simeone is .. 10 hotels 2 restaurants and a beach!  But we had spotted that the Courtesy Inn, as well as being cheap ($49 ...

San Simeon - Hearst Castle
Oct 28, 2008 (10 photos)

Hearst Castle - San Simeon Our next port of call was San Simeon where William Randolph Hearst built his hill-top holiday home, the inaccurately named "Hearst Castle". Hearst was the newspaper magnate grandfather of the famous Patty Hearst (who?). ...

San Simeon
Mar 5, 2006

For once the Motel 6 maids weren't on duty at the crack of dawn, so we were able to sleep off any potential hangovers that we probably more than deserved from our drinking exploits the previous night. Sadly though Lynne woke up feeling really unwell ...

Big Sur
Dec 24, 2008 (18 photos)

... of road, we ended up at a beach where a bunch of elephant seals had just given birth! We arrived at our hotel at San Simeon around 5 and went to a local grocery store to buy our all american christmas food. This consisted of turkey hotdogs, potato chips, ...

17 Mile Drive & California Route 1
Jun 7, 2008 (25 photos)

... are having a great time. We were lucky enough to see some seals released, and have a video of that which I have posted.  San Simeon, is best described as in trouble.  Perhaps a route 66 place in the making,  we did walk around last night ...

Driving the Big Sur
Sep 14, 2009 (12 photos)

... night.  It was a wonderful day capped off with a sighting of 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 ...

Castle By The Sea
Jul 5, 2009 (33 photos)

... in 1919 he began designing, with architect Julia Morgan, a ranch home overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the small town of San Simeon, CA.  As a child traveling in Europe with his mother, Hearst had gained a real appreciation for art and architecture.& ...

Castle and wine
Oct 31, 2006 (28 photos)

... streets, but gas is really the priority, so not finding a station head back to Morro Bay. The coastal drive takes us to San Simeon. The Visitors Center is where we pick up our pre-confirmed tour tickets ($20 per person)  then we head into the ...

The Drive home to Southern California - Part 2
Jun 15, 2007 (17 photos)

... of historic bridges; and we definitely pulled over when we came across the chance to observe Elephant Seals.  It was in San Simeon, a beach where Elephant Seals come to breed, molt, and give birth.  At that time, the seals were molting; they ...

Rosebud...
Sep 14, 2007 (25 photos)

... in a bit in our hotel room after our long day of hiking, but by 11:00, we packed up the Jeep and headed to San Simeon to see the Hearst Castle. The drive there was beautiful. We followed the coast of California to the Hearst State Park Welcome center. We ...

Back to roughing it!
Aug 21, 2007 (4 photos)

Got to the state park at San Simeon just in time to see sunset on the beach.

I said, I'm fine to drive...
Feb 18, 2006 (5 photos)

... .) It's funny how a tastings at a multitude of vineyards and really curvy roads mix so well!! We did manage to make it to San Simeon in time for sunset on the beach amongst lots of retirees and some open pit fires and had a cozy dinner at the Sow's ...

Hearst Castle & the Big Sur
Nov 20, 2008 (44 photos)

The next morning we decided to take in one of the local tourist attractions and headed to San Simeon the home of the famous Hearst Castle.  It was built by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s, finally completed in the 1940s. Hearst was a billionaire ...

One Castle or many Elephant Seals?
Jan 15, 2009 (11 photos)

... 2 hours (including 40 min video), we bailed and went to watch seals instead. The elephant seals hang out on a patch of sand in San Simeon from December to February each year.  The males turn up first in December and fight for a bit of beach, then ...

The California Drive - day 1
Aug 26, 2005 (4 photos)

We take a few hours out from site seeing and partake in some window shopping in downtown SF before driving South along the Californian coast. The highlight of todays driving was "The 17 Mile Drive at Pebble Beach, Monterey". The crown jewel of the ...

South thru Big Sir and the Hearst Castle
Apr 14, 2009

The fabulous Hearst Castle.

Hearst Castle
Oct 10, 2009 (2 photos)

... to find his fortune, by discovering silver and trekking it all the way (on foot and horses) across the Sierra Nevada to San Francisco to get it verified. I also had a certain respect for William Hearst himself, that his own fortune was self-made through ...

Jaded out of Big Sur
Oct 9, 2009 (7 photos)

... do make really rude noises though! Hahahahahahahahahaa!! We then passed by a row of motels and inns before arriving at the Hearst San Simeon State Park. Yeeeaaayyy!! They had loads of availability, but it costs $35 per night! I thought it was rather steep, ...

San Simeon
May 5, 2008

San Simeon

Hearst Castle
Jul 2, 2004 (3 photos)

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San Simeon, Piedras Blancas
Apr 16, 2007

trip with mark

Hearst Castle and the Madonna Inn
Feb 8, 2007 (25 photos)

... and actually had a fantastic dinner at there restaurant. I also got my fill of Pink. The next day we continued up to San Simeon to check out the second most popular tourist site in California with Disneyland being the first. We took Tour 2 of the ...

Highway 1 Baby!!
Nov 25, 2007

... it as the view out to the Pacific from the beach was amazing, the colours as the sun was setting were lovely. Then onto San Simeon which was another interesting town but managed to find a motel for $60 which was a bargain, room was huge and everything ...

Conspicuous consumption
Oct 29, 2008 (1 photos)

I had to do it. Less than 5 miles up the road is Hearst Castle. So I rode up this morning and knew I was close to the entrance by the small herd of zebras. Parked the bike, stripped down to essentials and found a locker to put all my bike gear in and ...

Hearst Castle
Aug 31, 2003 (3 photos)

Today we took a trip to Hearst Castle. We stopped a little outside of San Simeon to eat lunch at this place called the Main Street Grill. It was pretty good. I forget which tour we took, but I don't think it was the general one for first timers. The ...