WR Hearst threw parties, entertained movie stars and politicians here, and lived in this wonderful estate six months each year. It has been left intact and much like it was in Hearst's day. You can feel what it must have been like to be one of the honored weekend guests at this estate.

The tours are well run. The estate is SO large that it requires four tours to see the entire estate. These tours run all day long and you can book via the castle's own website at HearstCastle.com. Four tours are offered plus an evening tour. Tour number 1 is where to start. If time only allows you one tour, this is the one you will want to purchase. This tour includes a film, the main house (first floor) plus the pool area. The other three tours include the pools, gardens, guesthouses, second floor, wine cellar, and kitchen. Each tour overlaps a bit.

The main house is called Casa Grande and looks more like a church than a home. Hearst built it that way on purpose. It was suppose to be the centerpiece of this hilltop village and that is always a church. The main house is awesome, but I enjoyed the small cottages and guesthouse most of all. I love Casa del Mar.

You start at the base of the hill at the visitors’ center and take a five-minute bus ride up the hill. Each tour requires that your return to the base of the hill to the visitors center and back up again for the next tour. It's a long ride on a curvy road and if you get motion sickness it's not fun to have to go up and down all day. We had three different guides this day and each one was outstanding and really knew their facts. They are full of cute and interesting stories and facts.

The visitors’ center has a snack bar and a gift shop. The snack bar is a basic hamburger and hot dog counter and not very interesting. There are tables to eat at outside. Things can get chilly if you pick a day with lots of fog.

This place is very well run, very organized, and worth a detour off Hwy 101 for a visit.

That said, Hearst Castle is lovely and impressive, both the different buildings and the grounds. The swimming pools are gorgeous and so very, very tempting.

If you have an interest in California Arts & Crafts/ Spanish furnishings and home architecture you're in for a treat as well. The small, tiled bathrooms in the guest rooms/houses were interesting in that they were that small, for such a grand showcase of a house.

Time spent in the museum before your tour is time well-spent as well.

Keep an eye out for zebras -- literally -- as you drive along Hwy 1.

We did two tours that day. A tour of the second floor and Hearsts personal rooms and then a tour of the gardens and Casa del Mar where the Hearst Family had first lived while the castle was being built. My interest in this attraction started with a book by Patty Hearst, titled "Murder at San Simeon." Although no reference was made of this book, it did not take away from the breathtaking structure of Hearst Castle.

The focus is on the architect Julia Morgan through out the tours, of which I had known little up until now, added extra insight into Hearst himself, the era and the buildings. I would skip the big screen movie that is offered as it was not informative and the majority of the information was received during the tour.

I loved the pools and dreamed what it would be like to change in the changing rooms and go for a swim in the Neptune pool while breathing in fresh mountain air. On the tour we where informed that no one really swam in these pools and I could not imagine that it was so. The indoor pool with gold leaf tiles on the bottom was worth the trip alone. A 10 foot pool all around with a mezzanine to use as a diving board. Simply amazing!