June 4, 2025 French Escapade Excursion Changes
My wife and I along with two sisters are booked on the June 4, 2025, French Escapade: Paris to the Riviera River Cruise. We received a letter from Tauck last September informing us that the accommodations for days 12 and 13 were being changed from Hotel Martinez in Cannes to the Fairmont Monte Carlo. Tauck actually provided a modest refund due to the change. After learning of the change, I asked Tauck if there would be any other changes to the itinerary or excursions and received a response indicating nothing else would be changed.
Based on feedback from the Tauck Forum and Facebook groups we were really looking forward to the Grasse and St. Paul de Vence excursion on day 13. We decided to spend an extra night in Monte Carlo at the Fairmont to give us a day to explore Monaco and Monte Carlo on our own. On February 25th we received a letter from Tauck informing us that instead of the planned visit to Aix en Provence on day 12 we would be taking a guided walking tour of Nice’s “Vieux Nice” (Old Town); and on day 13 the excursion to Grasse and St. Paul de Vence would not be offered and instead there would be a full day of sightseeing in Monaco and Monte Carlo. Needless to say, we are very disappointed that the Grasse and St. Paul de Vence excursion is no longer an option. Through our travel agent at Pavlus, I have requested that Tauck provide an option for that excursion for those guests who were looking forward to taking it. It has been over a week and I have not received a response.
If you are on the June 4th French Escapade and desire to take the Grasse and St. Paul de Vence excursion on day 13, please reach out to Tauck and ask them to make that excursion an option for those who wish to take it as an alternative to sightseeing in Monaco and Monte Carlo. Yes, an excursion from Monte Carlo to Grasse and St. Paul de Vence will require about 2-1/2 hours of round-trip time on the coach (very scenic), but that is only 45 minutes more than it would have been taking the excursion from Cannes. I expect a good portion of the guests on this tour would opt for this excursion. Hopefully, if Tauck receives enough feedback expressing interest in the Grasse and St. Paul de Vence excursion they will decide to offer it.
Comments
Oh dear, what a shame. Tauck state that they do their best to keep to the published schedule, so I can only assume that there is a good reason for the changes. There must be a reason, Maybe there is a big event going on in the area and they can’t get the hotel rooms or something like that You could try googling about the area, say for instance going to a website that is a local tourist one. Maybe it is only the date for your tour that is affected, So you could call Tauck and ask and maybe change the date of your tour if it is the case, but I guess you may have gotten your flights by now.
Only a small percentage of people read the forum, so I doubt that will help. I know Pavlus does huge business with Tauck, so I’m surprised they have not heard back from Tauck. You could try calling Tauck yourself rather than waiting for a third party to do that too.
I hope it all works out for you.
Ah, just a quick google reveals a large international conferences in the area in June and a music festival. Maybe it is not doable for that reason.
British, thanks for your reply. The reason for the move from Cannes to Monte Carlo is a citywide conference in Cannes. It apparently only impacts the June 4th tour. But I doubt that would preclude an excursion to Grasse and St. Paul de Vence. If Tauck doesn't accommodate us we can arrange a private tour on our extra day in Monte Carlo but prefer to be exploring Monaco and Monte Carlo on our own that day.
If the journey was cancelled by Tauck because of congestion and crowding, booking a private car would most likely work better. Can travel other roads not suitable for your buses, won’t have parking issues, if they felt the need to change it, it must have a good reason.
Although unfortunate, I have found the very few times Tauck has needed to change an itinerary—always through no fault of their own—the alternate has always been rewarding. As they always say, "expect the unexpected."
I would start looking for tours there now. When I tagged along with my husband on some of his conferences, there were often organized tours for spouses to go on while their partners were at the conference. Even finding private car service to take you could be tricky without doing it well in advance.
The tour for the spouses may be in French. Since the city is so busy, the private tour companies may be completely overwhlemed. Traffic everywhere. It is easier to cancel this date and see if there are other Tauck openings.
I received a detailed reply today from Tauck through our Pavlus travel agent which I appreciate. As expected, the decision to change the excursions was well reasoned. Here is the bulk of their reply. I only wish they had included this explanation in the letter informing us of the change.
"The decision was made with the guest’s best interest in mind. Over the years this excursion has received feedback that it is not up to Tauck’s standard and not worth the drive from Cannes and/or Nice. The majority of our guests do not select this option, or opt out once on tour. We have already completely removed this from all itineraries in 2026, and will for future itineraries, in order to enhance the program.
Now that we have upgraded the hotel to the beautiful, completely renovated Fairmont Monte Carlo, we know this excursion will definitely not be a Tauck Standard experience. It is already 8 hours long including the mountain driving, touring, and necessary free time, plus with the additional driving time added to and from Monte Carlo, we cannot guarantee this excursion would get back before our farewell reception. As this falls on Day 13 of the tour, we know from past guest feedback they would enjoy a less extensive day in order to enjoy and rest at the end of their tour."
Since we will be seeing the sights around Monaco and Monte Carlo with Tauck on day 13 we will consider a private tour of other attractions in the surrounding area on our extra day in Monte Carlo.
I looked at the itinerary for this tour for 2026 and the last two nights are now spent at the Fairmont Monte Carlo and the day 13 activities include the tour of Monaco and Monte Carlo.
That's a lot of change! If omitting Aix-en-Provence means more time in Nice I think that's a good thing. We took this trip last year and all they did in Nice was to go to the market and have a potty break.. While I think Nice is the most convenient place to stay on the Riviera, Cannes seemed out of the way and isn't as interesting as other places. You might be happier in Monte Carlo.
If you really want to go to St Paul de Vence look into hiring a driver for the day and include a couple of other places you would like to see. There are lots of interesting towns. If a DIY, then it's only about 20 min by train to get from Monaco to Nice. From there you can take a taxi or uber to St Paul de Vence, about 25 to 30 min away. Some places you really need a car or driver. We've done both but one day we used a combination of train, bus, Uber, and taxi. It's doable.
Enjoy your time there.