A Day in San Simeon to visit Hearst Castle and Elephant Seals
Posted by SanLuisObispoMom.com on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 Under: Hearst Castle
Located in San Luis Obispo County, San Simeon is what I call a slice of heaven. It is not densely populated, located right at the California coast, and full of amazing scenery. Notably, this is where you can find the famous Hearst Castle!
HEARST CASTLE
After moving here, we decided to take our first tour of Hearst Castle. To start the tour, we had to climb on a bus to get a bus ride up. My boys, 2 and 5 years old, really loved this ride towards the castle. As we rode up higher and higher, the more exciting it gets! Once at the top, we got separated into different groups according to the particular tour that we booked for. We picked the kitchen and cottages tour but before we got to see those, we got to walk by Hearst Castle's magnificent outdoor pool.
When we were greeted by our tour guide, we were given a set of strict rules like: don't touch anything, stay within the gray carpet inside the area and no flash photography allowed inside. They spent a lot of effort preserving this wonderful estate for all visitors to enjoy for years to come but as visitors, we also play a big part in ensuring nothing gets destroyed.
The cottages that we saw were amazing and I loved hearing the history of how iconic people of America came here to celebrate and party at the Castle in the past, but what I enjoyed most were the views I saw from up high. Looking down, I felt like royalty.
When we visited, kids under 5 years old got to visit for free. They considered every child under 5 as a lap child on the seat of the bus. After we got off the bus, I quickly realized that chasing my little ones and making sure they didn't touch anything were huge tasks so I didn't really get to take in all the beauty as I had liked, so be forewarned! We purchased our tickets online, but if you know that a certain session is not going to be sold out, you could probably just show up at the visitors center and buy your tickets there 30 minutes before and skip the extra online fees. But of course, there's no guarantee. We booked the 12:20PM slot and our bus ride up was not even halfway full. Address of Hearst Castle: 750 Hearst Castle Rd, San Simeon, CA 93452
ELEPHANT SEALS
After our Hearst Castle tour, we decided to visit the elephant seals nearby. About 9 minutes drive away from Hearst Castle is the natural habitat of many elephant seals in San Simeon. You could utilize the designated boardwalk and viewing areas to see them better, if you'd like. There's no parking fee nor entry fee as you're watching them in their natural home so this is definitely a cool and unique thing to do in San Simeon. However, there were no public restrooms either.
(All photos of Hearst Castle and elephant seals were taken by SanLuisObispoMom.com.)
Address of Friends of the elephant seals: 250 San Simeon Ave, San Simeon, CA 93452.
More About Elephant Seals in San Simeon
During the month of May, you'll see hundreds and hundreds of female elephant seals with their pups but no males. The Pinterest image directly below (Photograph by SanLuisObispoMom.com) was taken during May.During mating season, you'll see the big male ones too. The males are significantly bigger than the female elephant seals.
Reading Suggestions:
- See upcoming family-friendly events and things to do in San Luis Obispo County.
- Read about my staycations at the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.
- I've visited over 50 wine tasting rooms in San Luis Obispo County, which includes the Edna Valley and Paso Robles wine countries. See my top 10 favorite wine tasting rooms as a local of San Luis Obispo (SLO) County.
Popular Things To Do with Kids in San Luis Obispo County:
- Charles Paddock Zoo -- Read my blog review
- Hearst Castle -- Read my blog review
- The Ravine Waterpark -- Read my blog review (only open for Summer)
- Mustang Waterpark -- Read my blog review (only open for Summer)
- San Luis Obispo Children's Museum -- Read my blog review
- Central Coast Aquarium -- Read my blog review
- San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum -- Learn more
- Paso Robles Children's Museum -- Read my blog review
- Exploration Discovery Center -- Read my blog review
- Museum of Natural History -- Learn more
- Avila Valley Barn -- Read my blog review
In : Hearst Castle
Tags: hearst castle san simeon elephant seals pictures of castle
Originally from San Diego, California, I'm a San Diego State University alumna, veteran's wife and mom of two kids who were born two years apart. After living on the East Coast for 6 years, we now reside in San Luis Obispo County and here, the exploration continues.
@sanluisobispomom