Better things to do?
The Pros: Driving up or down the coast on Route 1 was beautiful, but at times hairy driving on the edge of a cliff as you approach Hearst Castle. Plenty of Vistas to pull over for and take a few photos. Perfect photo opt at the entrance of Hearst Castle. Plenty of Free Parking. Very good S-Shop with your normal items: books, videos, postcards, playing cards, shirts, sweaters for resonable prices. Tour times are all scheduled so if you miss one you may have to take it the following day depending on your flexibility. Recomend getting there early 8-9 AM-ish. Lines are not bad 10-20 minutes and all the windows have an employee. So, it does move. Groups range 20-25. Bus ride up to Hearst Castle is nice, but no photo opts. For at least the basic tour we did see some wonderful spots: Pool, Garden(s), grounds, indoor lounge, billiards rooms, main dining hall, bedrooms etc. Plenty of camera shots even without the flash. Wonderful layout of areas. You are in awe on how grand it truely is to see. In house Photo memory with Hearst castle and pool as your background. 8x10 $22.
The Cons: You are guarded as you move along the tour. I understand the value of what we are seeing, but at times it was annoying. You're in this fine "museum", but by the time you turn your head you're being ushered out. Be prepared to keep walking. If you are lucky with your guides snap away as you won't be able to go back. Pricey ticket cost for what you really see and time allowed. Very controled atmosphere.
OK: Hearst Castle intro video is entertaining, informative and worthwhile to see, but not a keeper. (You probably can get more just googling Hearst anyway ). Employees vary from marginally helpful to short tempered. I guess be prepared with your questions. Two guides accomany all groups one to inform the group and the other to watch you so you don't stray. The two we had were top notch. Informative and not overbarring to moving along. They allowed our group the time to take photos without rushing.
Finally: Overall I wish we had more time and money to spend taking all the tours. Maybe in the future we'll go back and check out the other tours, but its not a must do and instead more of if you get the chance kind of visit. We enjoyed it.