Thoughts on A Week in Switzerland tour/Switzerland: Europe's Crown Jewel tour?
Hello! My parents (late 70s) and my sister and I (early 50s/late 40s) are planning to go on a Tauck tour next summer, and the Week in Switzerland is one of the options we're looking at. I think it looks delightful; my sister thinks it looks "meh." We've done Tauck tours before (my parents have been on many) so generally know how things work, but I'd like to know what people have experienced with this tour - or the Crown Jewel tour, which looks similar but slightly longer. If you've done either of these, would you say it was an experience you couldn't have had on your own? Were the excursions special and unique or kind of "same-old"? I'm all-in for the views, but I have to convince my sister the trip will be memorable and worthwhile, not just a series of fancy hotels and some pretty vistas along the way. 
Comments
What in your opinion makes a trip memorable and worthwhile? I took the Crown Jewel tour in July and thought it was terrific. It is a well balanced mix of charming towns, gorgeous alpine scenery, lovely lakes and various modes of transportation - boat, cogwheel train, funicular, rail and gondola. Not to mention the fabulous cheese and chocolate!
Have the Tauck tours you’ve done before all been European tours? If so, then I believe this one will be comparable. If you’re previous tours have been Exotic tours (outside of Europe per Tauck’s definition) then this tour could be like your sister says be “meh”.
I took my daughter (when she was in her late 40s) on the Crown Jewels tour, and she enjoyed it, as did I. That said, I think that your parents should make the decision. Your sister has many more years to travel than they do.
I went on the Crown Jewels tour in 2019 and it was wonderful. It covers a lot more of Switzerland, including Lugano and Lake Como, and you get to enjoy the private party inside the ice palace on the Jungfrau excursion.
I have booked the Week in Switzerland tour for next year because I love the country and the dates work perfectly to make this a back to back trip with a French river cruise. Although the week in Switzerland goes to some of the same places, the excursions are not the same.
Having said all of that - I would definitely choose the Crown Jewels tour if this is your first trip to Switzerland.
All that traveling across the pond for just a week! By the time you’ll arrive, the time will go by incredibly fast that you’ll turn around and it’s time to fly home. Understand that a week is not necessarily a week. It includes the day of flying and the day of flying home so just 5 days in Switzerland. I would go on The Crown Jewels which I have been on and we really enjoyed it. It’s a spectacular trip.
We did the Crown Jewels back in 2021. It is mostly focused on scenery. Lots of train rides and a few boat trips. For us it was a nice change after several European tours with lots of castles, cathedrals and big museums. There's only 2 castles/estates to visit - Chillon and Isola Bella. Chillon was ok but Isola Bella was very different and worth visiting. No big museums or amazing cathedrals. Lots of unique places. Favorites were Lausanne where we enjoyed our Gift of Time day to see more of it, Lucerne is always wonderful, the dinner and view at Harder Kulm, etc. Could you see all this on your own? Yes of course but would take a lot of planning. Our only disappointment was some of the food but it was just barely past covid so hopefully things improved after that.
I know some people don't have the ability to take a tour longer than a week, but I agree with the comments that it's just too short for the cost of the airfare and the jet lag. If you really want the one week Switzerland tour you might consider whether there is another "Week in" tour that Tauck offers or short river cruise that you could add as a back to back tour. One advantage is Tauck will only charge one Guest Protection fee that covers both. There are several one week tours in Italy and river cruises that start in Basel. Both would be geographically convenient to a Switzerland tour.
We went on the Crown Jewel with friends in July and posted a short review. Overall it was an excellent trip. Our TD was terrific as well as most of the local guides. We don't believe we could have seen and learned so much about Switzerland by doing a shorter trip or planning on our own. In addition to the many stops throughout Switzerland the Crown Jewel also goes to Lakes Como and Maggiore which we enjoyed. There was a significant rockslide when we were there. We lucked out that the road was passable when we reached the site, but we heard that the one week tour might be affected. My point being that the longer tour provides more options in case of an unexpected issue. Claudia, overall the food was good to very good, especially at the hotels where we were able to order anything off the menu. Bottom line, this was a very busy tour and I would have been wanting to see more with the shorter trip.