First River Cruise
Looking for advice on what essentials to bring , wear, and specific recommendations for this trip.It will be our first river cruise and first trip with Tauck! We will be traveling 8/31/2025-9/14/2025! Thanks
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Looking for advice on what essentials to bring , wear, and specific recommendations for this trip.It will be our first river cruise and first trip with Tauck! We will be traveling 8/31/2025-9/14/2025! Thanks
Comments
It might be warm still in southern France, so I recommend layering to stay comfortable no matter what the elements are. Comfortable shoes with sturdy soles and support are imperative.
Enjoy your first Tauck tour. I doubt it will be your last!
The what to wear question is the single most asked question on the forum so if you use the search function you'll get a ton of info and opinion. It's worth reading thru all the old posts - even for other river cruises - as you'll learn a ton of other info you might not have even thought of.
All tours have a recommended packing list (available on the website page for your tour and in your final documents). Here's the basic advice
"During evenings aboard the riverboat, dress is resort casual. Items such as slacks and collared shirts are appropriate for men. For women, slacks, a dress or a skirt and blouse are suitable. For dinner and throughout the evening, guests should refrain from wearing shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops or sneakers. Your journey also includes one or two special occasion dinners, where a sport coat and tie for gentlemen and a dress/pantsuit for ladies are suggested." Suggested means optional.
Europe can be very warm on the dates you've chosen. AC is great on the river cruise ship but some sights or hotels may or may not. If you tend to get hot, be sure to bring a small folding fan, a sun hat, etc. I actually have a small rechargeable electric fan that can be hand held or set on a night stand.
The ship and hotels provide hair dryers but other heated hair appliances are discouraged on board the ship for safety reason. Even it it's dual voltage, check with the staff on board before using.
We have just returned from this cruise and it was wonderful. It was one beautiful little town after another. I just want to expand on what Claudia Sails posted. The most important item is a well broken into pair of tennis/walking shoes as there is a lot of walking and many stairs. Yes, no jeans, shorts or tennis shoes in the main dining room, Compass Rose, at night. You can wear whatever you want in the other restaurant, Arthurs. We probably had 1/3 of our lunches & dinners at Arthurs. Most people just wear a nice pair of pants and dressy top for the welcome, Chef’s and farewell dinners. Everyone did dress up for the dinner at Duchy of Uzes but do not wear heels. The ground is pea gravel so a pair of flat or chunky heel pumps would work well. If you choose to do the MIDI in Charmonix be sure to pack layers and a pair of thin gloves as it is chilly up there. Bring your backpack so you can shed the layers when you get off of the cable car. Welcome to Tauck! You have picked a great trip for your first Tauck experience.
Having been to the Uzes dinner on another cruise, it is a dressy event as mentioned by TNVFL.. A blazer for men is appropriate. Take a light rain shell particularly if you are going to Chamonix and a light puffer jacket such as a Patagonia Nano or other variation more for the latter part of the trip. It will be warm in the south of France most likely in the 70s and low 80s. Scarves come in handy and always dress up the look and can be used when going into churches, although the cover your shoulder thing is less of an issue in France. The Rhone river valley is unusually windy and sunny so a hat or scarf for your head would be helpful. If you are planning on biking, no special gear is required. Other items to consider would be: A water bottle sling(Tauck usually provides reusable water bottles in your cabin), small amount of laundry soap(we always was some of our clothes such as underwear and tops, there is a laundry line in the shower. The ship sinks do have a stopper but hotels are variable so we bring a small flat sink stopper. We have only sent clothes out once in seven trips), electrical adapters(there are a couple of US plugs in the cabin, but you will need something else as well. We usually carry a combination of adapters but never a convertor. We typically bring couple of simple type C, a type C with a US plug and a couple of USB ports and one Type E adapter just in case the outlet is a little loose-typically in the hotel. Some places such as the hotels and buses may have USB ports for charging but they tend to be USB A rather than USB C types), the weather will be great for sitting on the sundeck during the day and evenings and there is a small hot tub so you may want a suit. Have a great trip.