There has been a little talk of this company. Looking for opinions good or bad.

Thanks, gang!

R

Hi Robert,

Todd and I have done 2 Tauck tours: Ireland and Africa. They do a terrific job. The only problem is: are you a tour group person, or not? For a tour group trip, they are terrific. But, you are still with a large group and are subject to all the good and bad things that come with it.

We came away feeling that we would definitely use them for a "3rd World" area tour. I would never have done Africa on our own. For a place like Ireland though, I'd go on my own rather than do a tour again.

You would probably find yourself among the youngest members of the tour. Most of our fellow travellers were retired.

Kathy

Robert,

I don't have first-hand experience like Kathy, but everything I have heard and read about Tauck is top-notch. I have friends who have traveled with Tauck and loved it. As Kathy says, the issue is probably whether the group tour environment is what you want. If that works for whatever you are planning, Tauck is probably a very good option.

Robert,

Tauck does not advertise, they rely on repeat guests and word of mouth. And I've met people on Tauck Tours that have been on 10 or more trips with them.

I have used Tauck 3 times and would definitely recommend them to anyone who wants to take an escorted tour. One of these trips was unique to Tauck and one other company, Canadian Mountain Holidays, - Heli-hiking in the Canadian Rockies.

All most all breakfasts and dinners are included and a good many lunches, depending on itinerary. In almost all cases, you have choice of menu for dinner. On our last tour with them, The Canadian Maritimes and Coastal Maine, one of the gentleman on the last nite stated that he had lobster every dinner. We had absolutely incredible food and deserts on the Gaspe tour. (the tour now offered is significantly different than the one we went on years ago). And on the Heli-Hiking tour, where we stayed in a ski lodge, the food was also incredible. Have you ever eaten anywhere where you were asked if you wanted another steak?

Keep in mind that there is structure to an escorted tour. The coach is gonna leave at a certain time so there is the need to be up and at 'em, sometimes earlier than I would prefer on vacation. The last trip I took with them in 2000, I was traveling with my then 84 year old mother. We specifically picked an itinerary that had short days and free time in the afternoons so that she could rest and wouldn't have a long ride. Another minus is a different hotel every nite. But if you find an itinerary that has 2 and 3 nite stays, it's not so bad. We have stayed in hotels such as the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec, the Westin in Calgary, Back Bay Hilton in Boston, Barrington Delta in Halifax, the Alogonquin in St.Andrews, NB. In some more remote places, there will not be the same quality but the "best available"

My experience with 2 of the trips is that you find people similiar to those on Radisson. Most will be retirees who are generally well travelled with a mix of some younger people, more likely to be singles. Both of these two trips were 14 days, which generally has the same effect on the age as a longer cruise. Tauck has also now started with specific dates on itineraries for families.

Tauck is more expensive than middle range escorted tour companies. And the service is also better. A small example: As you are coming to your final stop for the day, the tour director will go down the aisle of the coach and hand down your carry ons to you. When you get off the coach (they hate the word "bus"), you will be given an envelope with your room key. No waiting to register.

The tour director can make a difference on your tour. The 1st trip we went on to the Gaspe, our tour director was very serious with no sense of humor, sticking strickly to the historical and "serious" facts about the area. The 2nd and 3rd trips, I had great tour directors, both with great senses of humor and sense of fun. The first one didn't mix with the guests, the 2nd and 3rd ones made a point of talking to everyone each day individually and telling great stories.

The Heli-Hiking trip was so amazing. This was a really varied group of people, with most being in 30's and 40's, altho there were some in their 70's and two families. One family was from Japan. Another group of 3 sisters having their summer holiday together, 1 lived in France, 1 in Germany, and 1 in Japan. Everyone got together in the main room in the evenings and partied. On the last nite of the trip, in Calgary, the tour director hosted a farewell cocktail party that lasted until about midnight and to whom security was sent 3 times. (there was a family with a baby in the room next to us).

Sorry for such a long answer.

Thanks for the replies! I think I could deal with the group thing. There seems to be enough leisure time built in to be able to wander off on our own while still hitting the major attractions.

Are the groups huge or smaller?

V - Hele-ski and hike sounds amazing...

Thanks, ladies - anyone else? PLease chime in.

Robert:

My problem with group tours is that they often have what I'd term early mornings, and often do not offer a good choice of food. So these are things I would check out with Tauk.

Thanks,
Richard :)

Robert:

My problem with group tours is that they often have what I'd term early mornings, and often do not offer a good choice of food. So these are things I would check out with Tauk.

Thanks,
Richard :) :)

Our experience with this kind of travel is limited to A&K and Travcoa. I know many folks who have used Tauck - uniformly positive feedback. Only negative - groups too large.

Uh Oh...large groups would be a problem for me...bad food would also be an issue....I am up early anyway so that's cool.

Keep the opinons coming...

:)

R

In over 30 dinners, I can only remember three meals that I would call marginal on a Tauck tour. My mother ordered Lamb that was tough, and the restaurant cheerfully brought her something else when I told them about it. One where my steak was overdone, I sent it back. The third was in Liscomb NS, don't order a steak in Eastern Canada. They have no concept of what a sirloin steak should be. :mecry: However, the planked salmon at the same restaurant was to die for. We had a bad experience (but great food) at the Alogonquin the first time we were there, the kitchen help quit en mass. We had early dining so luckily we were done with our meal but the dessert service got sorta screwed up and the late diners had some problems. But that can happen at any restaurant and was not the fault of Tauck. Even in the Gaspe, which is not a normal tourist destination, we had some fabulous meals, like poached salmon in a champagne sauce, medallions of beef in a Cabernet reduction sauce. I have had rack of lamb, breast of duck, (my mother ordered duck one place and got an entire half of a duck!), whole lobster more than once. I feel that my dining experiences with Tauck have been very similiar with what I had on the Navigator. When lunches are included they usually, but not always, are buffet. Again, some fabulous and others "just" good. This may be the one area that is the most likely to be less than special.

The group size on the tours I have been on has been between 35 - 40. You won't be herded around by a tour director carring an umbrella or a sign.

editing to add: only 1 dinner were we limited as to the choices and that was one night in the Chateau Frontenac main restaurant, because of the price, we had a choice of 3 entrees. Every other dinner and breakfast, we could choose anything on the menu.

Vicki,
We have been considering Tauck for land tours (except that Radisson keeps calling our name!). The heli-hiking tour is first on my "want to go" list. Can you tell me more about it?

Also, are there any tour companies out there at the level of Tauck service but with smaller sized groups - like about 20 or less? I'm sure somebody on this board will know of one!

Hi Donna
Are you enjoying our wonderful AZ weather? Heli-hiking in the cool Canadian Rockies definitely sounds good right about now.

On the tauck web site, they are only listing two heli-hiking tours right now. If I could still hike, I would take the Lodge to Lodge. The one I took (not offered any more by Tauck but maybe Canadian Mountain Holidays has it) was a 5 day, 3 days hiking in the Purcells, staying at the Bobbie Burns Lodge. We started in Calgary and the 1st nite stayed at the Emerald Lake Lodge. The next day we were driven to the helicopter pick up site and taken by helicopter to the lodge. (elevation about 3500 ft) They supplied hiking boots if you didn't have your own, rain gear, and a back pack. We were divided into groups of about 7 people, depending on level of hiking activity we requested (I'll admit I was in the lowest, slowest group, more a walk, saunter, than a strenuous hike) They have a Swiss trained Mountain guide with each group. The first afternoon at the lodge, we had one drop off, hike and pick up. The next 2 days were up in the morning, buffet breakfast, each group takes off separately to different place. The copter drops you at a hiking site and leaves you to walk with the guide to the pick up site. Picked up, taken to another site, hike a bit, eat lunch (sack lunch but not bad)picked up, taken to afternoon site, hike, picked up, return to lodge. Drops were at anywhere from 6500' to 9000' elevation.
On the last day, we had a bar-b-que on a glacier.
Afternoon snack (like fresh baked quiche) waiting for your arrival back at the lodge each afternoon.

Dinner was served family style and the lodge staff placed the food on the table and then joined the guests to eat. Very informal, and yet good service and great food (this is where we were asked if we wanted another NY strip steak) A white wine and a red wine were served with dinner (this is not usual on a Tauck tour. They had a great pastry chef also.

The rooms were quite small (cozy is a better word) but again, very nice. First place I ever had a duvet on the bed. Everyone usually congregated in the "living room". Huge fireplace, small bar, but well stocked as far as I could tell (bartender told me most of their skiing customers are/were from Europe and Japan so the bar is stocked with those tastes in mind). Couches and chairs, guests were encouraged to put their feet up. In fact, they prefered that you walk around in the main lodge area in slippers or stocking feet. Jeans and polo top standard attire at nite. After the first drink the bartender remembered your name and what you drank. There was an area where you could play board games if you wanted and a small selection of books. Small gift shop. Like a cruise, drinks and gift shop purchases went on account and you settled on the last day with cash or a credit card.

When I went, there were no phones, and no TV. The only way in or out was by helicopter or a 4 hour trip down a logging road.

We saw evidence of a grizzly, but didn't see as much wildlife as I expected. Lots of birds, tho, around the lodge. The mountains sure look different up there than how the appear from the road. I loved this trip.

Robert, I travel alot, often by myself. If I am traveling alone, or in third world countries or want to do extensive travel inland, I do an organized tour or I plan my own itinerey and have one guide/driver thru the country. I have done 3 Tauck tours, they are excellent? I am looking into China with Tauck for April. If I knew where you wanted to go with them I might be able to give you better advice. Macy

Sorry, right, Macy - should have mentioned. I'm looking at London and Paris.

We toured New England a few years ago, with Tauck and had an excellent experience with this company. The hotel properties were high end and the dining selections were first rate. There is also quite a substantial amount of "time on your own," which we really liked, too.

The only negative for us - and this is not a Tauck issue - was the packing and unpacking.

We would tour again with Tauck in a minute and may plan to do so when we are ready to visit Australia and New Zealand and Great Britain, both of which we would prefer to see via land tours.

We received a Tauck brochure yesterday, and several of their tours now include cruise and land tours, which is a real plus for those who like to cruise, as well as take a land tour. A very good option.

Robert,
are you looking at "A Week in..." or the Personal Discovery London & Paris tour? I noticed that there are a couple of dates for "A Week in.." where you don't have to pay a single supplement (assuming you're traveling as a single, other wise it doesn't matter)

There is a tour company called Maupintours that has a program for women called Gutsy Women Travel. They say their groups will never exceed 20.

We did the Tauck helihiking tour in the Canadian Rockies. We started in Calgary. We not only stayed in the best hotels but also had the best rooms.As an example looking out of our window at Lake Louise was really a sight.We always had a choice of anything on the menu in the fine hotels and lodges.I don't think that there is a better tour company if a tour is what you want.

Thanks everyone.

Vickie, I appreciate your details of the heli-hiking trip (you too, Bette). We took our vacation in January this year (our South American cruise) so maybe Alan and I can do this in a year or two.

By the way, Vickie, our weather in Tucson today was a cool 86. Just when I'm going away for a few days! I'm sure the 100's will be here on my return.

Also, thanks for the info on Gutsy Women Travel but Alan wants to go too!

Denise, our Tauck info on Australia/New Zealand arrived yesterday, too. The 20 day trip with a 4 day stop in Fiji is my favorite. Well, a girl can dream, right! Seriously, we would like to take this trip in the next couple of years. Have to use our open booking cruise first.

There are just too many places to see in this world :)

Robert I really think that England and France are very easy to travel thru on your own. If you are traveling alone I would go with tauck.When I go with Ben or just a girlfriend I pick a country and then get a tour brochure from Tauck and A&K a map and start circling towns that interests us. I map out everything,planning is half the fun! Macy

As I indicated earlier, our group experience has been limited to A&K and Travcoa. We have used A&K for more remote areas (India, Southeast Asia, Africa, Amazon etc.) and Travcoa for more "civilized" regions ( China, Italy, Danube etc.). The group size ranged fro 5 to 16. In terms of food, Travcoa allows clients to dine wherever they wish - room service, hotel dining room, or outside restaurant. There were some exclusions (caviar, Foie Gras). The major negative in group touring is the unavoidable regimentation and schedules. The obvious plus is not having to deal with most of the hassle and execution of complex itineraries.

Robert and all:

First, I want to make it clear that I've never toured with Tauk, and any comment/question I may have comes from my experience with other land tour companies.

When I referred to limited choice of food, I was not meaning quality. Just that some land tours offer only two or three choices, at best. And some have fixed menues.

Here's some other things I'd check out with ANY land tour company.

You are going to London and Paris. Some will say that air conditioning isn't needed in those places. They are lying. Make sure that all hotels have AC.

There has been a sad trend for tour busses in Europe not to have a restroom, or to have it locked, or for it to be designated "for emergencies only." (What does that mean?) Make sure all your busses are restroom equipped, and that guests are free to use them.

Some tour companies are a little shy on porterage, even though they claim they have it. I'd make very sure that my luggage would be taken from to bus all the way to my hotel room ---- period.

Again, none of these questions/comments are directed at Tauk ---- but at land tours in general.

Thanks,
Richard :) :) :)

Thanks all...I think I have come to my conclusion. Use a good TA for air/hotel/transfers, etc., do a city tour with a local company day one and then go back to the places we were particularly interested in and explore on our own the rest of the time.

The dislike I have for being told when/where/how far outweighs having someone take care of all the little details for me.

I appreciate all of your thoughts and opinions. One day I hope to give back so much that I have taken away from this board.

R

We've traveled. IMHO it takes 3 weeks independant weeks to cover what takes 2 weeks on an organized tour. When independent we hit the AmEx office or something similar with Eng. speaking guides and book a comprehensive overview. Then you know what you want to see more of and can return. Next week in Istanbul we have booked a guide (recom. by friends who have recent first hand experience with him) for 2 days. After that we shall do what appeals. At the end of that week we board the Diamond and have prebooked excursions. We have experience in Venice and will simply let the spirit move us. Should be fun. And the unexpected is sometimes the most fun.
Babs

Independent vs. Guided bus tours.

The relative advantages depend on the itinerary. If I were interested mainly in London, for example, and places that could be reached in a day's ride from there, I would go independent. From your hotel in London, there are bus tours available to places like Bath and Stonehenge, for examples. Then, for London touring, I would arrange with a limo service like we did in Rome, and saw more in 9 hours that we would have seen in several days relying on a guided bus tour. Ditto for Paris.

If however, I wanted primarily a tour of the English and French countryside, a guided tour company might be more efficient. But it would still be more regimented. On our last (possibly REALLY our last) guided bus tour, we were in England and spent part of a day and night in Grassmere in the Lake district. Beautiful. Could have stayed several more days, BUT had to move along with the tour. And the next couple of stops were pretty near worthless. And in this regard, it is a poorly kept secret that many tour companies and tour guides select certain stops based more on compensation paid to the companies/guides by the merchants there than anything else. Tauck probably does not do this, but many do. As proof, I have been asked for my "bus number" when making purchases in a number of such places.

Thanks,
Richard

Robert - we loved our Tauck Tour and we are usually the kind that wants someone to handle the details but are not big on the group stuff. It was very upscale and you could be with others or be off by yourselves and no one was offended. A very well travelled friend of mine took the England/Scotland Tauck and had never done a tour before and was majorly impressed. Often times they have ways of getting you to the head of the line and making the most of your time. Where you'd be wandering around trying to figure out which way to go they'd be taking you. Pick one of the tours with lots of free time - they have both. I've yet to meet anyone who did not like the Tauck experience.

Sounds like Tauck Tours is a cut above what we've been on. Here are some qualifying questions I have before ever taking another bus tour.

How full is the bus --- how large is the group?

Does the bus have unrestricted restroom facilities?

Is full porterage provided from bus to hotel room, and reverse?

Are all hotels air conditioned?

At each provided dinner, are there a choice of at least four entres?

Are there any wake up calls before 7:30 AM?

How does Tauck do on this test?

Thanks,
Richard :) :) :)

Richard,

Yes to all of your questions, except for you generally order off of the menu anything you want - choice of entree, non-alcoholic beverage, appetizer and dessert. Including we ordered lobster in New Hampshire. The check was over $75 per person. There was one dinner that was a good bye dinner and there was a choice of three entrees

The 7:30 question, for us we never had to leave before 8 or 8:30 in the morning. We left our bags in the room, went to breakfast, they were picked up while we ate and showed up in the next locale in the room. They'd get to the next city, take you somewhere for say an hour and you'd get your key right from the bus and your luggage would be in the room when you got into it.

There was a brand new bus with a max of 24 - 28 passengers and the bus sat 45. They have a seat rotation system too so everyone gets to sit up front at least several times and right to left. The bathroom was available whenever you needed it, but they made plenty of stops in pre-planned places so you could go as well as stretch. They had drinks on board as well - you could help yourself and there was a variety.

We will probably do another one after PIP since we have a few cruises planned.