Any recommendations, preferences or perspective on choosing Ultimate Alps & Dolomites vs Switzerland - Crown Jewel?
I haven't been on the Switzerland, tour but will offer these observations about the UA&D.
We took the old UA&D when it still went to Neuschwanstein. It is touristic and not really that old, but is was impressive just the same and I think the tour is lessened without it. On the other hand the old tour stopped in Davos (how quaint and typically Swiss can a town be if it hosts the G-8 summit?!?! It is not quaint!) and the tiny nearby village of Monstein and its tiny single vat brewery before going through the mountains for a brief stop in Lichtenstein on the way to Badworishofen, Germany- all just ho-hum to me. In fact, the tour which had been really great up to that point, seemed to be fizzling out at the end. It was saved in a big way, however, with the visit to Neuschwanstein on the last full day- a real exclamation point at the end of the tour!
The new tour spends an extra day in Cortina d'Ampezzo and includes a side trip to the battle torn area of the Dolomites which is a much needed improvement. The Dolomites are actually more impressive and majestic than the Bavarian and Austrian Alps. While it no longer visits Neuschwanstein and it still goes to Davos, the UA&D adds two days in Switzwerland- Lucerne, Mt. Titlis, etc. so in my opinion is a much better tour than the previous one which was pretty darn good!!
The Crown Jewel covers less territory- stays in Switzerland and Italy, and is two days shorter, but you really get into the high Swiss Alps. I would like to see that part of the Swiss Alps, but am not much of a fan of Switzerland. To be fair, I prefer Germany/Bavaria, Austria and Italy over Switzerland.
Thank you Alan. Do you have a list of "top Tauck trips?"
The top 10 of the ones we have taken or my impression of Tauck's 10 most popular?
In the first case, there a number bunched at or near the top of our list. In the second- I use an unscientific method- I just look at the number of departures per year, how quickly they fill, etc. I think many of the ones I mentioned in my response to your post in the Salzburg thread qualify.
People often consider their first Tauck tour their best (kinda like their first boy/girl friend, car, etc. For some it is always their most recently completed tour. Of course everyone has different things they like- some really like cruises, some assign a lot of weight to the hotels and food, some, like me put more weight on what we see.
It's amazing how many people put the hotel experience at the top of their list, but I'm like Alan, it's what I see.
Someone else's top 10 is meaningless unless they tell you what they like. For instance, you woulsd have to pay me a lot to take a cruise on a massive cruise ship.
I did both of the Switzerland tours a couple of years ago and loved them both. I found that on the Ultimate Alps & Dolomites the road left me feeling that I could almost reach out and touch the Alps in the process it was that close. Loved it. :-)
I did both of the Switzerland tours a couple of years ago and loved them both. I found that on the Ultimate Alps & Dolomites the road left me feeling that I could almost reach out and touch the Alps in the process it was that close. Loved it. :-)
The top 10 of the ones we have taken or my impression of Tauck's 10 most popular?
In the first case, there a number bunched at or near the top of our list. In the second- I use an unscientific method- I just look at the number of departures per year, how quickly they fill, etc. I think many of the ones I mentioned in my response to your post in the Salzburg thread qualify.
People often consider their first Tauck tour their best (kinda like their first boy/girl friend, car, etc. For some it is always their most recently completed tour. Of course everyone has different things they like- some really like cruises, some assign a lot of weight to the hotels and food, some, like me put more weight on what we see.
Alan- Like you, it is all about what we see and what we experience. Our favorite trips have been the Exotics - Kenya & Tanzania, Galapagos (both because of the animals - photographing and interacting in the case of the Galapagos), Israel & Jordan (unbelievable to be where Jesus was and to better understand Jerusalem and Israel; also enjoyed Petra). So my favorites are unique places and seeing animals in the wild. So, my interest is in YOUR favorite trips of the ones you have taken and why they are your favorite.
It's amazing how many people put the hotel experience at the top of their list, but I'm like Alan, it's what I see.
Someone else's top 10 is meaningless unless they tell you what they like. For instance, you woulsd have to pay me a lot to take a cruise on a massive cruise ship.
British - I agree it is about what you see and what you experience (see my comments to Alan S). I know you have done a lot of Tauck trips and I see you are about to do Patagonia. Like I said on another thread, I want to hear your detailed review of that trip. Mr. Cat is now debating Patagonia vs UA&D. Since I picked the last trip, he gets to pick this one! I'm also interested in your favorite trips and why, if you care to share. Thank you.
Alan- Like you, it is all about what we see and what we experience. Our favorite trips have been the Exotics - Kenya & Tanzania, Galapagos (both because of the animals - photographing and interacting in the case of the Galapagos), Israel & Jordan (unbelievable to be where Jesus was and to better understand Jerusalem and Israel; also enjoyed Petra). So my favorites are unique places and seeing animals in the wild. So, my interest is in YOUR favorite trips of the ones you have taken and why they are your favorite.
That is a big task! We have only taken 11 trips, probably less than a third of what British has taken, and my wife and I aren't in full agreement, but my top tours, not in any particular order (I rate all a 10+) are: K&T, Classic Italy (SG), England/Scotland/Wales, Ultimate Alps & Dolomites, Peru & Galapagos.
I will add a few other factors to consider-
First, except for one trip in the US and others where it was not offered, we usually choose small group departures, for a whole host of reasons I've put in a post on that topic. British will give the opposing view. I consider K&T which averages 30 people which is a bit closer to a small group size than a normal group size tour of 44, to be a small group since much of the time is spent in safari vehicles which hold only 6 people.
Second, I do a lot of research and pre-planning for fun, fill the time in the months before, and to learn before we go. While some like to be surprised (Tauck does that anyway) I would rather have a reasonable idea of what is in store for us, so I can plan alternatives and additional things to do during free time. I usually don't research daytime meals, so don't like it when we have "lunch on our own." Unless we take the TD's recommendation and sometimes even if we do, we end up wasting too much touring time hunting for a place to eat and sometimes eating lunch. Some tours have little free time, but others like Classic Italy have a significant amount, however with more optional things to do than time available. Prior planning allowed us to optimize that time without stress or feeling rushed. We did things as simple as mapping out a route between the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and our hotel before we left the US, to more involved planning like arranging cars, drivers, and guides and buying tickets months in advance so we would see Herculaneum, the National Archeological Museum in Naples, the Flavian Amphitheater in Pozzuoli one day and Capri another day before the start of the tour. We also saw all attractions in the Duomo complex including climbing Brunelleschi's dome during on-tour free time in Florence, took a Segway tour, and had a car and driver take us to Pisa where we the toured the Piazza Miracoli and climbed the leaning tower. We have come back from some tours wishing we had been able to spend more time in a particular place. Sure we can always go back someday, but by really examining the available free time and planning options and alternatives, we are able to get the most from a trip. It also heightens the anticipation- and so far, we have not been let down.
That is a big task! We have only taken 11 trips, probably less than a third of what British has taken, and my wife and I aren't in full agreement, but my top tours, not in any particular order (I rate all a 10+) are: K&T, Classic Italy (SG), England/Scotland/Wales, Ultimate Alps & Dolomites, Peru & Galapagos.
I will add a few other factors to consider-
First, except for one trip in the US and others where it was not offered, we usually choose small group departures, for a whole host of reasons I've put in a post on that topic. British will give the opposing view. I consider K&T which averages 30 people which is a bit closer to a small group size than a normal group size tour of 44, to be a small group since much of the time is spent in safari vehicles which hold only 6 people.
Second, I do a lot of research and pre-planning for fun, fill the time in the months before, and to learn before we go. While some like to be surprised (Tauck does that anyway) I would rather have a reasonable idea of what is in store for us, so I can plan alternatives and additional things to do during free time. I usually don't research daytime meals, so don't like it when we have "lunch on our own." Unless we take the TD's recommendation and sometimes even if we do, we end up wasting too much touring time hunting for a place to eat and sometimes eating lunch. Some tours have little free time, but others like Classic Italy have a significant amount, however with more optional things to do than time available. Prior planning allowed us to optimize that time without stress or feeling rushed. We did things as simple as mapping out a route between the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and our hotel before we left the US, to more involved planning like arranging cars, drivers, and guides and buying tickets months in advance so we would see Herculaneum, the National Archeological Museum in Naples, the Flavian Amphitheater in Pozzuoli one day and Capri another day before the start of the tour. We also saw all attractions in the Duomo complex including climbing Brunelleschi's dome during on-tour free time in Florence, took a Segway tour, and had a car and driver take us to Pisa where we the toured the Piazza Miracoli and climbed the leaning tower. We have come back from some tours wishing we had been able to spend more time in a particular place. Sure we can always go back someday, but by really examining the available free time and planning options and alternatives, we are able to get the most from a trip. It also heightens the anticipation- and so far, we have not been let down.
Alan S - Not surprisingly, 3 of your top 5 are also my favorites. We haven't yet done UA&D nor Eng/Scot/Wales. I totally agree with your pre-planning comment. Your Italy trip sounds superb. We definitely improved our Grand Australia & New Zealand tour by adding in so many additional tours during the free time. Nice to see UA & D made your top 5. Care to share the other 6 that didn't make the list? Are there any you would say just weren't worth the money or should really be low priority vs all the wonderful options there are for travel? Thank you so much. I always enjoy reading your posts.
And we have a winner - we have booked Ultimate Alps and Dolomites. A big thank you to everyone who gave their input on this.
I think you and your husband will both enjoy it. Have fun. Don't forget to report back.
I'm not sure which stretch it was, but we had a number of early departures, so many folks quickly dozed off. But if you can stay awake you'll be rewarded with some great vistas and even a few castles. I posted about this quite awhile ago. Many castles along the way were never pointed out or identified- the TD was being quiet so people could doze. It took awhile and a bit of research after we got home to find out what they were. I looked at my photos (taken through the bus window) and figured out where we were along the way. Sometimes I would use Google and Google Maps/street view, to find out what I had seen and photographed. I eventually identified all the interesting castles, towns, etc. in my photos. It would have been a lot easier if my camera had GPS or I had remembered to check my iPad! They all had a story - Here are just three- On the way to Salzgurg on the opposite side of a valley, on a hilltop above a small town was Burg Freundsberg Castle. It is now a museum of the history of the nearby city of Schwaz and the silver mining industry; on the way to Balzano we passed Castel Trostburg which dates back to the 12th century. It is now home to the South Tyrolean Castles Museum and offers an interesting permanent exhibition with true-to-scale models of castles of this region- no time to stop! After leaving Balzano and while winding our way through narrow mountain valleys on the way to the Flüelapass Vereina tunnel, we passed the substantial ruin of Montechiarro/Lichtenberg Castle which is perched high above the town of Montechiaro/Lichtenberg near Prato/Prad at the Passo dello Stelvio/ Stilfserjoch Pass. It dates back to the 13th Century and was once the old stronghold for the Counts of Tyrol against the bishops of Chur (city near Davos, Switzerland). Today it is only a ruin, but the high walls of the palace and the well-preserved turret can still be seen.
As I mentioned in another post, I just love old castles! I would post a few photos but my hosting service is having problems. I'll try once it comes up, but here are some from Google.
I know this started with two possible destinations, but since we got down to top tens, I thought I would add mine. We have only done six Tauck tours, but here they come in my ‘top six’.
1. K&T (the second trip)
2. Zambia, Botswana, and SA
3. K&T (the first trip)
4. Baltic and St. Petersburg
5. The Blue Danube
6. Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park
We have three more bookings in chronological order.
Panama Canal (Eastbound)
Treasures of Spain and Portugal (Eastbound)
Treasures of the Mediteranean (Southbound)
We tend to do things we like more than once. We have done the Galapagos with Celebrity’s Xpedition three times, and both of us travelled extensively in our work, so we had already made short visits to most of the planet before we started travelling for fun.
The Africa trips are on top by a wide margin, and my wife has informed me that we are not yet done with Africa.
We are ‘large’ on animals. And I have a ‘new’ 13 week old puppy sitting beside me that is a spectacular addition to our family. Her name is “Buffy” (the Vampire Slayer), and she is ‘supposed to be’ a small standard Cockapoo. (She is gaining more than 2/3 of a pound per week)
Sealord,
We did K/T and we both loved it. I am hoping to do Botswana/Zambia/SA in the next couple of years. It looks amazing, yet different enough vs K/T. Tell me why you enjoyed it so much. Also, which tours are in your bottom 4 (equally as helpful as top tours).
We did the Baltic and St. Petersburg with Princess and enjoyed it. We also did Blue Danube with Tauck and had THE WORST LUCK with weather - rained every single day. Peru & Galapagos with Tauck was terrific. We made need to look into Canadian Rockies. Seems like you wouldn't need a guided tour to do that one since it is just Canada, but I know Tauck does everything first class. Please write about the Panama Canal and Spain/Portugal trips after you do them.
Sealord,
We did K/T and we both loved it. I am hoping to do Botswana/Zambia/SA in the next couple of years. It looks amazing, yet different enough vs K/T. Tell me why you enjoyed it so much. Also, which tours are in your bottom 4 (equally as helpful as top tours).
We did the Baltic and St. Petersburg with Princess and enjoyed it. We also did Blue Danube with Tauck and had THE WORST LUCK with weather - rained every single day. Peru & Galapagos with Tauck was terrific. We made need to look into Canadian Rockies. Seems like you wouldn't need a guided tour to do that one since it is just Canada, but I know Tauck does everything first class. Please write about the Panama Canal and Spain/Portugal trips after you do them.
Thanks for your input.
B,Z, and SA is about half safari and half other touring. It is an interesting trip. Victoria Falls at full flood stage, the Royal Livingston, all the camps in Botswana were great, Camp Kalahari is a bit ‘rustic’, but the others are amazing. The Eagle Island camp is particularly amazing. And the tour from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope is very interesting. We only decided to do K&T a second time instead of SA because we did not feel we needed to do the land touring a second time. The animals are always different, so it is not really a repeat. Our second K&T was far better than the first which was during a drought. The second was soon after a flood., and we saw far more animals.
Comments
I haven't been on the Switzerland, tour but will offer these observations about the UA&D.
We took the old UA&D when it still went to Neuschwanstein. It is touristic and not really that old, but is was impressive just the same and I think the tour is lessened without it. On the other hand the old tour stopped in Davos (how quaint and typically Swiss can a town be if it hosts the G-8 summit?!?! It is not quaint!) and the tiny nearby village of Monstein and its tiny single vat brewery before going through the mountains for a brief stop in Lichtenstein on the way to Badworishofen, Germany- all just ho-hum to me. In fact, the tour which had been really great up to that point, seemed to be fizzling out at the end. It was saved in a big way, however, with the visit to Neuschwanstein on the last full day- a real exclamation point at the end of the tour!
The new tour spends an extra day in Cortina d'Ampezzo and includes a side trip to the battle torn area of the Dolomites which is a much needed improvement. The Dolomites are actually more impressive and majestic than the Bavarian and Austrian Alps. While it no longer visits Neuschwanstein and it still goes to Davos, the UA&D adds two days in Switzwerland- Lucerne, Mt. Titlis, etc. so in my opinion is a much better tour than the previous one which was pretty darn good!!
The Crown Jewel covers less territory- stays in Switzerland and Italy, and is two days shorter, but you really get into the high Swiss Alps. I would like to see that part of the Swiss Alps, but am not much of a fan of Switzerland. To be fair, I prefer Germany/Bavaria, Austria and Italy over Switzerland.
The top 10 of the ones we have taken or my impression of Tauck's 10 most popular?
In the first case, there a number bunched at or near the top of our list. In the second- I use an unscientific method- I just look at the number of departures per year, how quickly they fill, etc. I think many of the ones I mentioned in my response to your post in the Salzburg thread qualify.
People often consider their first Tauck tour their best (kinda like their first boy/girl friend, car, etc. For some it is always their most recently completed tour. Of course everyone has different things they like- some really like cruises, some assign a lot of weight to the hotels and food, some, like me put more weight on what we see.
Someone else's top 10 is meaningless unless they tell you what they like. For instance, you woulsd have to pay me a lot to take a cruise on a massive cruise ship.
Alan- Like you, it is all about what we see and what we experience. Our favorite trips have been the Exotics - Kenya & Tanzania, Galapagos (both because of the animals - photographing and interacting in the case of the Galapagos), Israel & Jordan (unbelievable to be where Jesus was and to better understand Jerusalem and Israel; also enjoyed Petra). So my favorites are unique places and seeing animals in the wild. So, my interest is in YOUR favorite trips of the ones you have taken and why they are your favorite.
British - I agree it is about what you see and what you experience (see my comments to Alan S). I know you have done a lot of Tauck trips and I see you are about to do Patagonia. Like I said on another thread, I want to hear your detailed review of that trip. Mr. Cat is now debating Patagonia vs UA&D. Since I picked the last trip, he gets to pick this one! I'm also interested in your favorite trips and why, if you care to share. Thank you.
That is a big task! We have only taken 11 trips, probably less than a third of what British has taken, and my wife and I aren't in full agreement, but my top tours, not in any particular order (I rate all a 10+) are: K&T, Classic Italy (SG), England/Scotland/Wales, Ultimate Alps & Dolomites, Peru & Galapagos.
I will add a few other factors to consider-
First, except for one trip in the US and others where it was not offered, we usually choose small group departures, for a whole host of reasons I've put in a post on that topic. British will give the opposing view. I consider K&T which averages 30 people which is a bit closer to a small group size than a normal group size tour of 44, to be a small group since much of the time is spent in safari vehicles which hold only 6 people.
Second, I do a lot of research and pre-planning for fun, fill the time in the months before, and to learn before we go. While some like to be surprised (Tauck does that anyway) I would rather have a reasonable idea of what is in store for us, so I can plan alternatives and additional things to do during free time. I usually don't research daytime meals, so don't like it when we have "lunch on our own." Unless we take the TD's recommendation and sometimes even if we do, we end up wasting too much touring time hunting for a place to eat and sometimes eating lunch. Some tours have little free time, but others like Classic Italy have a significant amount, however with more optional things to do than time available. Prior planning allowed us to optimize that time without stress or feeling rushed. We did things as simple as mapping out a route between the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and our hotel before we left the US, to more involved planning like arranging cars, drivers, and guides and buying tickets months in advance so we would see Herculaneum, the National Archeological Museum in Naples, the Flavian Amphitheater in Pozzuoli one day and Capri another day before the start of the tour. We also saw all attractions in the Duomo complex including climbing Brunelleschi's dome during on-tour free time in Florence, took a Segway tour, and had a car and driver take us to Pisa where we the toured the Piazza Miracoli and climbed the leaning tower. We have come back from some tours wishing we had been able to spend more time in a particular place. Sure we can always go back someday, but by really examining the available free time and planning options and alternatives, we are able to get the most from a trip. It also heightens the anticipation- and so far, we have not been let down.
Alan S - Not surprisingly, 3 of your top 5 are also my favorites. We haven't yet done UA&D nor Eng/Scot/Wales. I totally agree with your pre-planning comment. Your Italy trip sounds superb. We definitely improved our Grand Australia & New Zealand tour by adding in so many additional tours during the free time. Nice to see UA & D made your top 5. Care to share the other 6 that didn't make the list? Are there any you would say just weren't worth the money or should really be low priority vs all the wonderful options there are for travel? Thank you so much. I always enjoy reading your posts.
I think you and your husband will both enjoy it. Have fun. Don't forget to report back.
I'm not sure which stretch it was, but we had a number of early departures, so many folks quickly dozed off. But if you can stay awake you'll be rewarded with some great vistas and even a few castles. I posted about this quite awhile ago. Many castles along the way were never pointed out or identified- the TD was being quiet so people could doze. It took awhile and a bit of research after we got home to find out what they were. I looked at my photos (taken through the bus window) and figured out where we were along the way. Sometimes I would use Google and Google Maps/street view, to find out what I had seen and photographed. I eventually identified all the interesting castles, towns, etc. in my photos. It would have been a lot easier if my camera had GPS or I had remembered to check my iPad! They all had a story - Here are just three- On the way to Salzgurg on the opposite side of a valley, on a hilltop above a small town was Burg Freundsberg Castle. It is now a museum of the history of the nearby city of Schwaz and the silver mining industry; on the way to Balzano we passed Castel Trostburg which dates back to the 12th century. It is now home to the South Tyrolean Castles Museum and offers an interesting permanent exhibition with true-to-scale models of castles of this region- no time to stop! After leaving Balzano and while winding our way through narrow mountain valleys on the way to the Flüelapass Vereina tunnel, we passed the substantial ruin of Montechiarro/Lichtenberg Castle which is perched high above the town of Montechiaro/Lichtenberg near Prato/Prad at the Passo dello Stelvio/ Stilfserjoch Pass. It dates back to the 13th Century and was once the old stronghold for the Counts of Tyrol against the bishops of Chur (city near Davos, Switzerland). Today it is only a ruin, but the high walls of the palace and the well-preserved turret can still be seen.
As I mentioned in another post, I just love old castles! I would post a few photos but my hosting service is having problems. I'll try once it comes up, but here are some from Google.
Burg Freundsberg Castle
Castel Trostburg:
Here is Montechiarro/Lichtenberg Castle:
1. K&T (the second trip)
2. Zambia, Botswana, and SA
3. K&T (the first trip)
4. Baltic and St. Petersburg
5. The Blue Danube
6. Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park
We have three more bookings in chronological order.
Panama Canal (Eastbound)
Treasures of Spain and Portugal (Eastbound)
Treasures of the Mediteranean (Southbound)
We tend to do things we like more than once. We have done the Galapagos with Celebrity’s Xpedition three times, and both of us travelled extensively in our work, so we had already made short visits to most of the planet before we started travelling for fun.
The Africa trips are on top by a wide margin, and my wife has informed me that we are not yet done with Africa.
We are ‘large’ on animals. And I have a ‘new’ 13 week old puppy sitting beside me that is a spectacular addition to our family. Her name is “Buffy” (the Vampire Slayer), and she is ‘supposed to be’ a small standard Cockapoo. (She is gaining more than 2/3 of a pound per week)
We did K/T and we both loved it. I am hoping to do Botswana/Zambia/SA in the next couple of years. It looks amazing, yet different enough vs K/T. Tell me why you enjoyed it so much. Also, which tours are in your bottom 4 (equally as helpful as top tours).
We did the Baltic and St. Petersburg with Princess and enjoyed it. We also did Blue Danube with Tauck and had THE WORST LUCK with weather - rained every single day. Peru & Galapagos with Tauck was terrific. We made need to look into Canadian Rockies. Seems like you wouldn't need a guided tour to do that one since it is just Canada, but I know Tauck does everything first class. Please write about the Panama Canal and Spain/Portugal trips after you do them.
Thanks for your input.
B,Z, and SA is about half safari and half other touring. It is an interesting trip. Victoria Falls at full flood stage, the Royal Livingston, all the camps in Botswana were great, Camp Kalahari is a bit ‘rustic’, but the others are amazing. The Eagle Island camp is particularly amazing. And the tour from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope is very interesting. We only decided to do K&T a second time instead of SA because we did not feel we needed to do the land touring a second time. The animals are always different, so it is not really a repeat. Our second K&T was far better than the first which was during a drought. The second was soon after a flood., and we saw far more animals.