We're taking the same tour but not until later in the fall. I hope you check back in after your trip and let everyone know how wonderful it was. I'm particularly interested in the amount of free time available and if Tauck offers any kind of optional tours.
This will be our 17th tour with Tauck and wanted to let you know that Tauck does NOT offer optional tours. They will suggest or you can have the Concierge suggest what else you should see with any free time. We are going in two days before to London and will be staying over in Paris an additional day to see anything we wouldn't want to miss. I will certainly post here and let you know any details. We are looking forward to returning to London and Paris and showing our granddaughter the sights.
I will certainly post here when we return and let you know what extras we did. I really haven't given the itinerary a good look since we have been busy traveling in the U.S. It's our granddaughter's first time in London and Paris. When we repeat a city, we always try to see something we missed. I'm glad Tauck is including a London show as well as Versailles and Montmartre. We had to do those on our own with her sister four years ago when we did the week in France with Tauck. I suggest you go to Tripadvisor.com and look at the highlights of London and Paris and then compare what the Tauck tour covers. In Paris, the D'Orsay is a must see museum and there must be some other museums that you would like to go to. Are you going in earlier or staying later?
I went on the first tour this year (started April 17), which was the week before the Royal Wedding. It didn't affect us too much, but we did have a day when Westminster Abbey was unexpectedly closed to groups and so our tour director had to scramble and move things around to be sure we got to see everything we were supposed to. That meant our free time changed a lot. It also was Easter week, which meant that everywhere we went (like Versailles, etc.) was extra crowded.
I went into London two days early and still felt like I missed a lot. I went out to Hampton Court one of my two days, and while I thought it was worth it because I am very interested in Tudor history, it really is an all-day trip. I took the underground from Marble Arch (the nearest station to the hotel) to the Waterloo station (a lot like Grand Central station in NYC) and then the train to Hampton Court. It was very easy. If you are going to be there early and want to take public transportation, I would suggest getting an Oyster card. You put funds on it and you can ride the red double-deck buses, the underground and some of the trains using just one card. There is also a discount if you use the card. I didn't buy mine until a few days into the trip and ended up spending money on cabs instead. If I go again, it's the first thing I'll buy!
On my other free day, I went to the Royal Mews, which is where most of the carriages are stored when not in use. I saw the HUGE gold coach that's used for coronations and the Glass Coach that Princess Diana used to go to St. Paul's for her wedding. I also went to the Queen's Gallery that's right next door. It houses changing art from the Queen's art collection. Both of these are outbuildings of Buckingham Palace. You can buy a combo pass and find out more about them at http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/. I also went to Covent Garden to see the Royal Ballet the same day.
There is a most wonderful small museum called the Wallace Collection about four blocks from the hotel in a London townhouse. If you have time and are interested in this sort of thing, it is well worth the walk over. Everyone on my tour who went really liked it. I went late on one of the afternoons we had free on the tour. Their website is www.wallacecollection.org
They also offered to drop us off at Harrod's one afternoon, which a number of us did. We then made our way back to the hotel on our own.
In Paris, the local guide offered us the chance to take the bus over to Notre Dame and then walk back with her to the hotel on our free afternoon, which I did. It was about an hour and a half walk, and was very tough on my bad knees, but I was glad I did it. She also offered a short walking tour of Montmarte when we were there, which I also did. A lot of people just went off on their own, but she was very good and I was more interested in learning about the area from someone who knew it well. I would have tried to go the the Musee d'Orsay but in San Francisco, we recently had a huge exhibit from there while they were undergoing rennovation, so I didn't feel like I had to go. I really wanted to go to the Tuilleries Gardens, but the heat and all the walking did me in, so I didn't get there either.
Unlike the other Tauck tours I've been on, the Tauck tour director doesn't guide you around London or Paris. Both cities require using local guides. However, you tip the Tauck director (or at least we did on our tour) because she tips the local guides, so it's not a confusing as it seemed. However, you probably will have two bus different drivers since they take you to the Eurostar train and load your luggage onto the train and a different bus picks you up with a French driver at the other end. So be prepared to tip each driver separately.
I was shocked that it was 75 - 80 degrees every day I was there and neither hotel had good air conditioning. I live in San Francisco for a reason...anything over 65 is too hot for me, so I was pretty miserable. Luckily I had taken a pair of shorts and a couple of sleeveless t-shirts since I ended up living in them. I didn't even wear all of the nicer clothes I brought for the dinners because it was too hot.
The only thing I would say is that this is the first tour I've done with Tauck where I really felt I missed a lot...even in London where I spent two extra days. And Paris...there is just SO much to see and it wasn't enough time, especially since I didn't stay an extra day. Now I have to figure out a way to go back!
I hope you enjoy...I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you so much for your helpful tips. So sorry you hit a heat wave in April -- hopefully, it won't be very hot for us in July. Last July when we were in Germany and Switzerland, it was 95 degrees (which was terrible).
Luckily, we have been to London and Paris before. It's our granddaughter's first time and, hopefully, she will be able to return. As far as missing much on this tour, it would be impossible to see everything in one visit. My husband said I should add that we have been to London five times and Paris three times. I really hope you will get an opportunity to go back and see more of each city. They are two of our favorites and I'm glad our granddaughter picked them.
I want to thank you for the mention of the Oyster card, the Royal Mews, the Queen's Gallery and the Wallace Collection. We have not seen them. I will put this info on my list to do.
We are going in two days before to London and will stay over one day to see as much as we can that day. We have found the bus system in Paris is wonderful as we can see so much from the windows instead of using the Metro.
Thanks for posting. If I think of anything else, I will certainly be back with more questions. I can't believe we are leaving in several weeks.
I actually didn't take a computer so I'm not 100% sure about the wi-fi, although it seemed like they had it. There was a a keyboard in front of the TV in both hotels and I think I saw something on the TV screen as I scrolled through about internet access, movies, etc. for a flat fee of 27 pounds a day (!) in London and 35 Euros a day (!) in Paris.
I had questions before I left and I contacted each hotel and they were very quick to respond. These are the email addresses I used for each:
London: concierge.hrlondon@hyatt.com
Paris Intercontinental: legrand@ihg.com (they forwarded my question to the right department since I couldn't find an email specifically for the concierge)
Hope they can answer your question. I really would love to go back to both cities. It was my first visit to each.
I am interested in hearing about your trip with your granddaughter....I am planning this trip for next June with my husband and two teens (17, 15) . I am curious if you enjoyed?? And what helpful hints you have
Email me at scorpiosheila at yahoo dot com and I will answer any of your questions. Put Tauck London/Paris in the subject line. We had a great trip and are so very happy that we were in London before all the recent problems.
Comments
This will be our 17th tour with Tauck and wanted to let you know that Tauck does NOT offer optional tours. They will suggest or you can have the Concierge suggest what else you should see with any free time. We are going in two days before to London and will be staying over in Paris an additional day to see anything we wouldn't want to miss. I will certainly post here and let you know any details. We are looking forward to returning to London and Paris and showing our granddaughter the sights.
Sheila
Thanks so much for the update. Any suggestions for "must sees" that aren't included on the tour?
Cindy
I will certainly post here when we return and let you know what extras we did. I really haven't given the itinerary a good look since we have been busy traveling in the U.S. It's our granddaughter's first time in London and Paris. When we repeat a city, we always try to see something we missed. I'm glad Tauck is including a London show as well as Versailles and Montmartre. We had to do those on our own with her sister four years ago when we did the week in France with Tauck. I suggest you go to Tripadvisor.com and look at the highlights of London and Paris and then compare what the Tauck tour covers. In Paris, the D'Orsay is a must see museum and there must be some other museums that you would like to go to. Are you going in earlier or staying later?
Sheila
I went on the first tour this year (started April 17), which was the week before the Royal Wedding. It didn't affect us too much, but we did have a day when Westminster Abbey was unexpectedly closed to groups and so our tour director had to scramble and move things around to be sure we got to see everything we were supposed to. That meant our free time changed a lot. It also was Easter week, which meant that everywhere we went (like Versailles, etc.) was extra crowded.
I went into London two days early and still felt like I missed a lot. I went out to Hampton Court one of my two days, and while I thought it was worth it because I am very interested in Tudor history, it really is an all-day trip. I took the underground from Marble Arch (the nearest station to the hotel) to the Waterloo station (a lot like Grand Central station in NYC) and then the train to Hampton Court. It was very easy. If you are going to be there early and want to take public transportation, I would suggest getting an Oyster card. You put funds on it and you can ride the red double-deck buses, the underground and some of the trains using just one card. There is also a discount if you use the card. I didn't buy mine until a few days into the trip and ended up spending money on cabs instead. If I go again, it's the first thing I'll buy!
On my other free day, I went to the Royal Mews, which is where most of the carriages are stored when not in use. I saw the HUGE gold coach that's used for coronations and the Glass Coach that Princess Diana used to go to St. Paul's for her wedding. I also went to the Queen's Gallery that's right next door. It houses changing art from the Queen's art collection. Both of these are outbuildings of Buckingham Palace. You can buy a combo pass and find out more about them at http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/. I also went to Covent Garden to see the Royal Ballet the same day.
There is a most wonderful small museum called the Wallace Collection about four blocks from the hotel in a London townhouse. If you have time and are interested in this sort of thing, it is well worth the walk over. Everyone on my tour who went really liked it. I went late on one of the afternoons we had free on the tour. Their website is www.wallacecollection.org
They also offered to drop us off at Harrod's one afternoon, which a number of us did. We then made our way back to the hotel on our own.
In Paris, the local guide offered us the chance to take the bus over to Notre Dame and then walk back with her to the hotel on our free afternoon, which I did. It was about an hour and a half walk, and was very tough on my bad knees, but I was glad I did it. She also offered a short walking tour of Montmarte when we were there, which I also did. A lot of people just went off on their own, but she was very good and I was more interested in learning about the area from someone who knew it well. I would have tried to go the the Musee d'Orsay but in San Francisco, we recently had a huge exhibit from there while they were undergoing rennovation, so I didn't feel like I had to go. I really wanted to go to the Tuilleries Gardens, but the heat and all the walking did me in, so I didn't get there either.
Unlike the other Tauck tours I've been on, the Tauck tour director doesn't guide you around London or Paris. Both cities require using local guides. However, you tip the Tauck director (or at least we did on our tour) because she tips the local guides, so it's not a confusing as it seemed. However, you probably will have two bus different drivers since they take you to the Eurostar train and load your luggage onto the train and a different bus picks you up with a French driver at the other end. So be prepared to tip each driver separately.
I was shocked that it was 75 - 80 degrees every day I was there and neither hotel had good air conditioning. I live in San Francisco for a reason...anything over 65 is too hot for me, so I was pretty miserable. Luckily I had taken a pair of shorts and a couple of sleeveless t-shirts since I ended up living in them. I didn't even wear all of the nicer clothes I brought for the dinners because it was too hot.
The only thing I would say is that this is the first tour I've done with Tauck where I really felt I missed a lot...even in London where I spent two extra days. And Paris...there is just SO much to see and it wasn't enough time, especially since I didn't stay an extra day. Now I have to figure out a way to go back!
I hope you enjoy...I'm happy to answer any questions.
Jan
Thank you so much for your helpful tips. So sorry you hit a heat wave in April -- hopefully, it won't be very hot for us in July. Last July when we were in Germany and Switzerland, it was 95 degrees (which was terrible).
Luckily, we have been to London and Paris before. It's our granddaughter's first time and, hopefully, she will be able to return. As far as missing much on this tour, it would be impossible to see everything in one visit. My husband said I should add that we have been to London five times and Paris three times. I really hope you will get an opportunity to go back and see more of each city. They are two of our favorites and I'm glad our granddaughter picked them.
I want to thank you for the mention of the Oyster card, the Royal Mews, the Queen's Gallery and the Wallace Collection. We have not seen them. I will put this info on my list to do.
We are going in two days before to London and will stay over one day to see as much as we can that day. We have found the bus system in Paris is wonderful as we can see so much from the windows instead of using the Metro.
Thanks for posting. If I think of anything else, I will certainly be back with more questions. I can't believe we are leaving in several weeks.
Sheila
Did you use your own computer at the hotels? If so, was there wi-fi and was there a charge for it.
Sheila
I actually didn't take a computer so I'm not 100% sure about the wi-fi, although it seemed like they had it. There was a a keyboard in front of the TV in both hotels and I think I saw something on the TV screen as I scrolled through about internet access, movies, etc. for a flat fee of 27 pounds a day (!) in London and 35 Euros a day (!) in Paris.
I had questions before I left and I contacted each hotel and they were very quick to respond. These are the email addresses I used for each:
London: concierge.hrlondon@hyatt.com
Paris Intercontinental: legrand@ihg.com (they forwarded my question to the right department since I couldn't find an email specifically for the concierge)
Hope they can answer your question. I really would love to go back to both cities. It was my first visit to each.
Jan
I am interested in hearing about your trip with your granddaughter....I am planning this trip for next June with my husband and two teens (17, 15) . I am curious if you enjoyed?? And what helpful hints you have
Thanks,
Joanne
Email me at scorpiosheila at yahoo dot com and I will answer any of your questions. Put Tauck London/Paris in the subject line. We had a great trip and are so very happy that we were in London before all the recent problems.
Sheila