At the south end of Big Sur, the mountains flatten out and turn inland, and the coastline becomes rolling, open-range ranch land. High on a hill above Hwy-1 stands the coast’s one totally unique attraction, Hearst Castle. Located 65 miles south of Big Sur village and 43 miles northwest of San Luis Obispo, Hearst Castle is the sort of place that you really have to see to believe, though simple numbers—144 rooms, including 36 bedrooms—do give a sense of its scale.
Even if Hearst’s taste in interior design (or his megalomania, which by all accounts was understated by his fictional portrayal in Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane) doesn’t appeal, Hearst Castle cries out to be seen. One of this century’s most powerful and influential Americans (the Rupert Murdoch of his day), Hearst inherited the land, and most of his fortune, from his father George Hearst, a mining mogul, and began work on his castle following the death of his mother in 1919. With the help of the great California architect Julia Morgan, who designed the complex to look like a Mediterranean hill town with Hearst’s house as the cathedral at its center, Hearst spent 25 years working on his “castle,” building, rebuilding, and filling room after room with furniture, all the while entertaining the great and powerful of the era, from Charlie Chaplin to Winston Churchill.
A small museum (daily; free) in the visitors center, next to where you board the trams that carry you up to the house, details Hearst’s life and times. If you want to go on a tour, the Introductory Tour (Tour 1, which costs around $20) gives the best first-time overview, taking in the main house and the two swimming pools, plus a 45-minute movie giving the background on Hearst and his house-building. Other tours (2, 3, and 4) specialize in different aspects of the house and gardens; each one costs $12 and takes around two hours. Advance reservations (800/444-4445) are all but essential, especially in summer.
Since Hearst Castle is rather isolated, it’s a good idea to stay the night before or after a visit at nearby San Simeon, which has grown into a massive strip of motels. One of the nicest ones here is the San Simeon Lodge ($40–140; 805/927-4601) at 9520 Castillo Drive.
