Our highest rated website to date, and a great place to visit.

Hearst Castle, one of the most magnificent architectural landmarks in California offers detailed information about its guided tours on hearstcastle.com. What makes this site worthy of a website review is that it provides users with the classic experience of exploring a well designed website and the added surprise of an elegantly simple to use virtual tour feature that truly showcases the beauty of this historic landmark.

The simple and elegant website design serves as an effective backdrop in visually communicating the essence of this historic house museum, one of the largest in the United States. The content is efficiently organized and provides visitors with pertinent information about main tour attractions, the castle’s history, and recent news and events.

The “History and Art” section provides engagingly written descriptions of the castle’s art collection, restoration projects, architecture and other facts. In-depth profiles of key figures from William Randolph Hearst (publishing magnate and owner of the castle) to Marion Davies (actress and Hearst’s companion) are written with accuracy and respect. Although the focus of the website is information for tourists interested in touring Hearst Castle, the site effectively presents a very engaging and intriguing account of the castle and its significance in California history.

Navigation is fairly standard and simple. Visitors can easily click on any of the main categories and a drop down menu will appear to show the sub-categories. However, visitors will have to use their browser back button because the site does not provide hyperlinks to previous pages visited. The “Tours” category receives a positive website review for providing informative descriptions of the various tours. Online booking is also available for registered users.

Since the guided tours require a lot of walking, the “Tour Requirements” section provides suggestions for proper attire and details on the amount of physical activity (walking time and number of steps to climb) involved. The “Virtual Tours” with an optional full screen mode provides a wonderful glimpse of notable areas of Hearst Castle. Users can click on the tool bar to zoom in and out as well pan the image to enjoy the glorious architecture and design of selected rooms and outer surroundings of the castle. Sophisticated yet easy to use, the navigation of the “Virtual Tours” allows visitors to explore eight areas of the castle. This feature gives visitors an up close and personal view of what they can expect when they see the real thing and this is perhaps a big selling point for attracting tourists to the castle.

Hearstcastle.com receives high marks in this website review for effectively creating a virtual world that blends history and tourism to celebrate the beauty and the story of Hearst Castle. This site is highly recommended to tourists or to those interested in learning more about the castle’s history.