Tour Guide Training
The art of giving a great tour is in the guide's ability to reveal hidden meanings and open doors of understanding on a variety of complex topics. Visitors who leave with an understanding of Mr. Hearst's estate are in the best position to protect and preserve it.

Each guide at Hearst Castle receives comprehensive training sessions on the social history of the Castle, its architecture, design precedents, construction, landscaping, Mr. Hearst's considerable art collection and courses on public safety and emergency response procedures. Castle guides take special pride in creating their own tours rather than working from a memorized script. Individual approaches to historic interpretation produce tours that are fresh and original. Since a vast amount of information is available to guides, the result is no repeat visitor hears the same tour twice - even when given by the same guide!

The guide training course is a compressed, study-intensive experience that no guide trainee soon forgets. Trainees research and absorb mountains of information, practice their presentations and, in the process, form lasting relationships with their trainers and other classmates.

Training usually begins in midwinter and concludes in early June, in time for the busy season - but that's not where learning stops. During their workday, guides who have completed training have opportunities to spend time in the Staff Library to learn more. Guides can also receive additional training on how to give tours to physically challenged visitors, school groups and family groups with young children. Those who develop expertise in a particular field may be invited to return to the training program to educate new guides.

Much of the training takes place after the public leaves the hilltop for the day, but some of it takes place during operating hours. In April visitors to the Castle might see trainees taking notes or memorizing the names of plants in the historic gardens or walking the tour routes while they practice their presentation.

On the job training is also conducted at the Castle. After a guide has worked for at least one season they are trained to give Evening Tours. These tours focus on the social history of the 1930's, when Mr. Hearst entertained here frequently. Veteran guides who want to sharpen their skills may take refresher courses in historic interpretation at William Penn Mott Training Center, California State Park training headquarters, located in Pacific Grove. Here, at our statewide training facility, they meet guides from other State Parks to compare guiding techniques.

The Hearst Castle training program is continually facing new challenges - responding to requests for special tours, expanding its relationship to other cultural sites and providing tours for a growing and more diverse population - all in an effort to refine the art of the guided tour and give visitors an informative, entertaining experience.