March Trips: Savoring France: Paris, Lyon & Provence OR Exploring the Douro, plus Madrid & Lisbon
Hi Everyone! I'm trying to decide between 2 Tauck tours for March, 2026. The 2 tours are: Savoring France: Paris, Lyon & Provence - March 26 OR Exploring the Douro, plus Madrid & Lisbon - March 18. Due to availability and schedule, also I'm a solo traveler, I was wondering if anyone has done either tour in March and how the weather was for you. I do know there are no guarantees with weather but was hoping to hear from people who have gone during this time. Thanks so much!
(I am cross posting this on the Tauck Travel Group Facebook page, too)
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While I have not been on the tours, I know you will better going n the Douro, Madrid and Lisbon tour as it’s too hot for much of the year in those areas. France can be quite chilly at that time of year, although Paris will be a little less crowded. If Versailles is part of the tour you will miss the garden at it’s best.
Thanks! Versailles is not part of the Savoring France tour, but I visited Versailles on the land London to Paris tour I did in 2016.
Kathy0529 ~
Both of these are on our list - hopefully for 2027 & 2028 (as we are booked with trips till then).
We are looking at April/May for France and October for Douro (or maybe switched, but I hear Oct/Nov is great on the Douro as the colors are pretty). I'll be curious as to what you decide. Both tours look magnificent.
We have done both of these tours. The Douro in May and Savoring France in late September. I’m afraid I can’t say anything about March. These are both ‘wine’ tours. On the Douro trip you will taste a lot of Port. On the Savoring France you will taste a variety of French red wines. We enjoyed both tours a lot, but if we had to pick a winner it was probably Savoring France. We had good weather on both tours … not too hot. I can appreciate the ‘availability’ issue. When you try to do a riverboat or even a small ship cruise less than a year in advance the pickings get slim. We normally get on the ‘wait list’ before the trip is even offered for sale. I was a bit late on our 2026 choices and the room choices were ‘limited’.
Thanks Sealord! I almost booked the Blue Danube, but then checked my calendar for the timeframe and had too many things scheduled. That's a possibility for 2027. I'm a bit late as I was contemplating Greece for May, but not w/Tauck so I was apprehensive about trying a new tour company on my own so I shifted back to Tauck to start looking at other river cruises.
I have taken both the Savoring France and the Douro tours; the former in Apr/May and latter in Nov. Weather was perfect both times.
Terrilynn, we did the Douro in late Oct/early Nov. We did avoid heat in places like Lisbon and Spain and the colors were lovely. But we had rainy days on the river, very little chance to enjoy the newly designed sun deck and our welcome dinner at the Queluz Palace started after dark so we didn't see the garden. If I was planning it again I'd opt for a week or 2 earlier in Oct.
We have been on both tours and they are fabulous! We did the Douro in October and the weather was perfect. We did the Savoring France in July and it was hot. Earlier this year we were in Italy in April and it was chilly and rainy.