August 10th 2014 Tour - A Review
I was initially going to do a detailed review of our recent England, Scotland and Wales tour that kicked off on the 10th August 2014 but halfway through I realised that most of the review was moot because the itinerary for the 2015 tour, for whatever reason, has been changed quite considerably. After some drastic editing this is what remains and I guess it’s still pretty long so please bear with me.
I’m a big fan and supporter of Tauck holidays but nothing is perfect for everyone so I’ll start this review with my two negatives. I truly believe that for the extra money paid upfront that 26 people is too large to be called a “small group” tour. If the average tour here is around 40 then a small group, I believe, should be around 20 customers. My second disappointment was the stop at Hadrian’s Wall. With an historic wall that covers over 70 miles, has 16 garrison ruins and a watchtower ruin about every mile we arrived at a little car park and was shown a wall that that was not unlike the dry rock walls 100 yards from it. That was Hadrian’s Wall. I thought and I expressed this on the end of tour report that any other choice of a stop at the wall would have been much, much better.
Now let’s get on to the positive parts. This is a very good tour designed for Americans to learn about British history and like all tours lives or dies with the TD. Our TD was the 8th wonder of the Words. Kori the Canadian was like the never ending fizz of a good bottle of Champagne. Even when she suffered a painful back injury she soldiered on with that BIG smile of hers and her infectious style of telling a story. She finally had to take a few hours off to get a shot from a local hospital for the back pain but that was only a small stumble for this amazing woman.
Our itinerary included the Edinburgh Tattoo, my absolute number one tour highlight and our seats were first class. Kori insured we each got a programme. This is just a small sample of what Tauck provides above and beyond normal expectations. Each tour stop was covered by outstanding local guides who were not only knowledgeable but also knew how to convey that knowledge in a light and interesting way. We were the only two Aussies in the group but our guide in Bath took time to show us where Captain Arthur Phillip lived in Bath. Now that’s first class service.
In Scotland we covered all the sights of Edinburgh, sat through the amazing Tattoo, got to see Stirling Castle and although our local driver got lost we also got to have lunch and cruise on Loch Lomond.
In Wales we visited Caernarfon Castle and the beautiful hills and dales of the Snowdonia National Park with stops at Conway where there is another castle and a great local market. During our Welsh visit Tauck takes you the Bodnant Gardens food centre where we got to try some great wines and how they would pair with our dinner that evening. The Chef, Dai Chef, is a local and national TV star who was off to Las Vegas to do a series of cooking shows over there. He and his 9 year old daughter assistant entertained us royally. The dinner was outstanding and a real highlight of this tour.
In England the tour with the help of Kori’s commentary takes you through British history of its Kings and Queens, its poets and playwrights and all the wars that covered over 1000 years of its history. Whether it be walking through Wordsworth’s or Shakespeare’s house, visiting all of Liz’s houses/palaces, seeing some of the castles you’ve only read about, being up close with stones that are thousands of years old at Stonehenge, seeing the Roman Baths at Bath or standing in awe in Westminster Abbey this tour has something for everyone. As an Australian who had English History pumped into our brains at school I thoughly enjoyed Kori’s interpretations. Our short stay in London was non-stop trying to fit 25 hours into a day and even with an extra day and a half we only scratched the surface. It would be fair to say that the dinner in the Tower was splendid in its design with the ceremony of the keys to follow but the meal was only average.
The accommodations on this tour are first class with every hotel providing warm beds and great food. The Langdale is no exception but it does pose a small problem when it’s raining as the rooms are about 150 metres away from the eating and drinking area and there is no cover. It’s put up your umbrella and run situation. Our drive Joe was not only a superb driver he was a conversationalist as well and his contribution to the tour was unmeasurable.
Except for the two points I mentioned at the start and they were truly personal observations this is a great tour even with the inclement weather we encountered and one that I would recommend to everyone. Tauck obviously have their reasons for the many changes in itinerary for 2015 but I would have no hesitation in recommending this itinerary to anyone who asks my advice on a holiday in Great Britain.
As always I’ll try and answer any questions you may have.
Rod
I’m a big fan and supporter of Tauck holidays but nothing is perfect for everyone so I’ll start this review with my two negatives. I truly believe that for the extra money paid upfront that 26 people is too large to be called a “small group” tour. If the average tour here is around 40 then a small group, I believe, should be around 20 customers. My second disappointment was the stop at Hadrian’s Wall. With an historic wall that covers over 70 miles, has 16 garrison ruins and a watchtower ruin about every mile we arrived at a little car park and was shown a wall that that was not unlike the dry rock walls 100 yards from it. That was Hadrian’s Wall. I thought and I expressed this on the end of tour report that any other choice of a stop at the wall would have been much, much better.
Now let’s get on to the positive parts. This is a very good tour designed for Americans to learn about British history and like all tours lives or dies with the TD. Our TD was the 8th wonder of the Words. Kori the Canadian was like the never ending fizz of a good bottle of Champagne. Even when she suffered a painful back injury she soldiered on with that BIG smile of hers and her infectious style of telling a story. She finally had to take a few hours off to get a shot from a local hospital for the back pain but that was only a small stumble for this amazing woman.
Our itinerary included the Edinburgh Tattoo, my absolute number one tour highlight and our seats were first class. Kori insured we each got a programme. This is just a small sample of what Tauck provides above and beyond normal expectations. Each tour stop was covered by outstanding local guides who were not only knowledgeable but also knew how to convey that knowledge in a light and interesting way. We were the only two Aussies in the group but our guide in Bath took time to show us where Captain Arthur Phillip lived in Bath. Now that’s first class service.
In Scotland we covered all the sights of Edinburgh, sat through the amazing Tattoo, got to see Stirling Castle and although our local driver got lost we also got to have lunch and cruise on Loch Lomond.
In Wales we visited Caernarfon Castle and the beautiful hills and dales of the Snowdonia National Park with stops at Conway where there is another castle and a great local market. During our Welsh visit Tauck takes you the Bodnant Gardens food centre where we got to try some great wines and how they would pair with our dinner that evening. The Chef, Dai Chef, is a local and national TV star who was off to Las Vegas to do a series of cooking shows over there. He and his 9 year old daughter assistant entertained us royally. The dinner was outstanding and a real highlight of this tour.
In England the tour with the help of Kori’s commentary takes you through British history of its Kings and Queens, its poets and playwrights and all the wars that covered over 1000 years of its history. Whether it be walking through Wordsworth’s or Shakespeare’s house, visiting all of Liz’s houses/palaces, seeing some of the castles you’ve only read about, being up close with stones that are thousands of years old at Stonehenge, seeing the Roman Baths at Bath or standing in awe in Westminster Abbey this tour has something for everyone. As an Australian who had English History pumped into our brains at school I thoughly enjoyed Kori’s interpretations. Our short stay in London was non-stop trying to fit 25 hours into a day and even with an extra day and a half we only scratched the surface. It would be fair to say that the dinner in the Tower was splendid in its design with the ceremony of the keys to follow but the meal was only average.
The accommodations on this tour are first class with every hotel providing warm beds and great food. The Langdale is no exception but it does pose a small problem when it’s raining as the rooms are about 150 metres away from the eating and drinking area and there is no cover. It’s put up your umbrella and run situation. Our drive Joe was not only a superb driver he was a conversationalist as well and his contribution to the tour was unmeasurable.
Except for the two points I mentioned at the start and they were truly personal observations this is a great tour even with the inclement weather we encountered and one that I would recommend to everyone. Tauck obviously have their reasons for the many changes in itinerary for 2015 but I would have no hesitation in recommending this itinerary to anyone who asks my advice on a holiday in Great Britain.
As always I’ll try and answer any questions you may have.
Rod
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Comments
I did wonder how you'd find the tour design (no need to explain why I wondered) so I'm really interested to read your review. And I'm so glad you enjoyed it! So much to see … so little time. Sigh. Like you, I would have been dreadfully upset with the Hadrian's Wall stop. There would have been weeping and gnashing of teeth for the rest of the trip if I'd been in your shoes. You were a very brave and stoic pair to suffer such a disappointment and still carry on. (No, I'm not quite joking.) I wonder why Tauck would opt for the Dummy's Guide when the there are so many other, and better, options. I guess those things are down to the vagaries of tour design and TD's having to think on their feet. Maybe something was going on with the real Hadrian's Wall stop that day?
Tauck do always have excellent local guides. I've noticed that they rise to the occasion, too, when they have someone really interested in a particular thing in their group. It's a lovely touch and very professional.
I know you said you edited your post with regard to the changed 2015 itinerary, but I bet there are others out in cyber space (like me) who would still enjoy the unexpurgated version. 2016 might see some of your stops reinstated.
I await your next review with interest. Reminds me to get to work myself!
Cheers,
Jan
Hadrian's Wall--- I am ashamed to say that I have never visited Hadrian's wall, it is a ruin, which is how it is described in the Tauck notes. I just looked up some more info in case I was under the wrong impression and as I said, it is 2000 year old ruin, yes just bits of stone wall everywhere. The turrets and watchtowers are just remains that were dug up but are at ground level. If someone could clarify if I am right or wrong please let everyone know. I have friends in England who have walked along large portions of the wall, so I will ask them next time we speak. Having said this, it does not diminish the skill involved at building such a wall! You will see beautiful dry stone walls all over Britain, I have a friend who can build them and like I say, it's quite a skill even now to build a wall without anything like cement and have it still standing centuries later.
We had fantastic trip as well last summer. Our guide Ron was great as well.
Even though we stopped at two places along Hadrian's wall, I too was a bit disappointed.
Our first wall stop was at Housesteads where there were annotated remains (footings, stub walls, etc.) of one of the Roman forts. The ruins included remains of the ever-present Roman bath (Roman soldiers must have loved their baths!) and a very nicely done, but very small, museum containing some really interesting architectural and other pieces that were unearthed there or brought in from other sites. Until my research and this trip, I did not have an appreciation for extent and duration of the Roman occupation of Britain!
Our second stop, just a few km down the road, was much like your description- a stone wall near a car park. The view of the remains of the wall as it followed the hills and nearby cliffs was picturesque but left me wanting more. This was especially true since I had done some significant research about the wall before we left the States. I was using Google Earth to find and look at the old USAF/NATO bomber base at Upper Hereford (shooting location used in a few Inspector Morse shows) when I noticed a feature that appeared to be the remains of a very long, meandering wall. What I discovered is that the actual remains of Hadrian's Wall or the berms used to increase its height can be followed on Google Earth for much of its 70 miles across England! You have to realize, however, until the the government and UNESCO stepped in, much of the stones had been removed and used by local farmers for walls and foundations. That being said, there are better preserved/reconstructed segments of the wall and supporting forts than either of us saw on our tours. Of course, unlike many I suppose, I could look at ruins and castles all day long! I was equally disappointed on our Alps tour this summer when we didn't stop at Roman Ruins of Aguntum that was literally next to the road as we left the small, family-run Kuenz Orchard and Distillery in Lienz, in the South T i r o l region of Austria.
I think I would have preferred to have a full tour of the Tower of London before the farewell dinner instead of observing The Ceremony of the Keys afterwards, even though it was interesting and historically significant to the story of the Tower.
I guess you didn't get a chance to stay at Portmeirion in Wales. Though a bit quirky, maybe not up to the standards of the other hotels, and more in tune with 20th century cultural history (The Prisoner, the Beatles, Noël Coward, etc.), we thought it was charming and enjoyed our stay there. It must be a permanent change since it is also not on the 2015 schedule.
From the point of view of a lady traveller
As to Hadrian's Wall, it is unique, if debilitated. With a little lateral thought, you can understand that without the Roman settlement of Britain, it is unlikely we would have anything like the Britain we have today … either in the historical or contemporary context … for foreigners or scholars to see and appreciate. And yes, I have heard of pre-Roman conquest Britain, too. It's not about the skill, although really awesome, of building walls that's important about Hadrian's Wall. It's about what that wall represents … then and now. It's about power and control and the ability of an imperial regime to direct and define world affairs in AD122. I suspect that a Tauck tour of Scotland and England is designed for their principal demographic and the footprints of past shock and awe just don't rate. And that's really sad, because history does repeat itself.
Cheers,
Jan
. . . . and from literally the farthest reaches of the empire, so far from Rome!
Off to watch some more of the Aussie "gladiators".
Cheers,
Jan
As for the "small group" tours I'm pretty sure that even though you get more space on the bus if 26 is the mean average for a small group then I think I've been on my last small group tour. The extra cost didn't seem warranted to me.
Time for me to put together our "French Escapade" cruise review.
Rod
We just read your review of the England, Scotland, and Wales tour. Although my wife and I haven't taken that tour, we noticed you are from Australia and we're thinking of the Tauck tour to Australia and New Zealand. We would like your opinion of the tour before we sign up. Thanks.
Brad & Jan Perkinson
Franklin, Tennessee
cbperk1@comcast.net
Hi Brad & Jan,
Can I suggest you re-post your question in one of the Australian forums? You might have better luck with a response from a prior foreign traveller. As Australians, we would mostly say that the trip is far too short to give more than a fleeting glance of Australia ... a land and nation so vast that the lower 48 fit inside our continent. But the trip, however rushed and superficial it necessarily is, is a great teaser for a later, in-depth visit. We have one regular poster to the Forum who has recently completed the second half of the trip ... New Zealand ... having previously completed the Australian portion. That's certainly a very good way of dealing with the climatic & geographical fluctuations, while allowing for extensions of stay at either end of the trip.
By way of comparison, I've been travelling regularly to the States for the past 10 years or so. I stay for about 4-6 weeks at a time. While I have seen a lot, I certainly ain't seen nothing, yet! The land is vast and the country requires careful attention!
Cheers,
Jan
Rod
I always wonder if these out-of-place posts ever get a response. Glad you noticed it.
Cheers,
Jan