School Tours | The Hearst Castle, San Simeon

Hearst Castle® will accept reservations for our California Educational Standards Hearst Castle® tours beginning September 3, 2007. These tours are offered in November and February through early June.

This tour focuses on Greek, Roman and Egyptian pieces in the Hearst Castle collection. We trained guides using the Sixth Grade Educational Standards, but the tour is suitable for other grades interested in the ancient world. Teacher and student resource packets are soon to be available on our website to provide pre- and post-visit material.

The tour lasts about an hour and forty-five minutes including the bus trip up and down the hill. Tours are available twice daily; one at 10:40 am and one at 12:40 p.m. These will be available:

Wednesdays and Thursdays during November, excluding November 22nd
Tuesday through Thursday during February and March, Excluding February 5th - 7th
Monday through Thursday during April, May, and the first two weeks of June

Reservations and payment must be made in advance. We can accommodate groups of 12 to 53 (including adults) on each tour. One guide will be provided for each 15-18 students. One adult per group up to three per bus will receive special school tour pricing. Chaperones should be prepared to assist guides to make your visit a success for students. Enclosed is a copy of our chaperone information sheet to help ensure chaperones are as prepared as students. Should any individual in your group have special needs, please let us know when you make your reservations.

School prices are $7 for adults (one to three, depending on group size) and $4 for students. Additional adults are welcome to join the tour up to the maximum number of 53 people, but they will be charged the group discount rate of $18 per ticket. Since this tour focuses on ancient art, general tour information will not be covered in detail. Please ask all adults to refrain from asking questions of this nature, as this tour is geared toward information to meet educational standards requirements.

Your visit includes the large format film Hearst Castle: Building the Dream. The 40-minute film shows every 45 minutes in the National Geographic Theater adjacent to the Hearst Castle Visitor Center. Shown on a 70 x 52 foot screen, it depicts vignettes from the life of William Randolph Hearst, including many of the European locations that served as inspiration for the design of the Castle.

Other interesting things to do nearby are:
Hearst exhibits (in Visitor Center by National Geographic Theater)
Temporary exhibits in N.G. Theater lobby
Elephant seals (4 miles north up Highway 1)
Coastal Discovery Center (at Hearst State Beach across Highway 1 from Visitor Center - a great place to picnic. Call (805) 927-2145 to schedule a visit)

IMPORTANT
Allow ample travel time. These special educational tours are only available at the scheduled times. Late arrivals forfeit the special focus tour, and we cannot guarantee room for the entire group nor an ancient art focus on one of the later tours.

Reservations can be made by contacting:
Lee Putnam
National Geographic Theater
100 Hearst Castle Road
San Simeon, CA 93452
(805) 927-6811 Ext. 17

Fax: (805) 927-6701
E-mail: lputnum@ngtheater.com

Food and beverage concessionaire Aramark offers a menu of lunch items for school tours at our Visitor Center. Please see the enclosed order information to make arrangements for lunches on site. Contact them at least a week in advance.

This tour is a valuable teaching tool. We hope you will consider this special opportunity as you plan your off-campus activities. If you have any questions concerning scheduling, please contact the National Geographic Theater. Questions concerning study materials should be directed to Mr. John Fixler with the California State Parks at (805) 927-2067. We look forward to seeing you during the upcoming school year.