England, & The West Country
Looking at this new tour for 2025 and I notice it has a pace and activity level of 4. Reading the day by day itinerary I’m trying to figure out how they determined this. It doesn’t seem like it should be rated that way,
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Looking at this new tour for 2025 and I notice it has a pace and activity level of 4. Reading the day by day itinerary I’m trying to figure out how they determined this. It doesn’t seem like it should be rated that way,
Comments
Wow. St Michaels Mt, Tintagel (castle ruins) and Port Isaac would be some serious walking. The rest doesn't seem that ambitious. The 4 for pace is hard to see from the itinerary without knowing morning start times, etc. Looks interesting though.
NJcolleen,
I took a cursory look at the website and noticed that Tauck has a cautionary statement about the extent of walking and on very steep terrain at times. However, I also noticed there are times where hotel stays are for three nights (which I always relish).
I'm sure if you call Tauck they can give you additional insight. If you do learn more information please report back. Thanks.
I was scheduled for a week-long art tour to Cornwall last year w/UK based ACE Cultural Tours, but the King's Coronation led them to radically change dates & I couldn't do original brilliant plan, back-to-back with a Tauck tour to France. Anyway, ACE has dropped their visit to St. Michael's Mount & offered me this explanation, so heads-up:
"I spoke with a tour manager who went there with a group and the reason it was taken off the itinerary was that the group found it too arduous a trek. It seems like a wonderful day out and very much worth seeing; the consensus is you have to be quite fit to get the most out of it. They say: ancient and rugged, some parts of the island and castle can be very tricky to navigate, especially if you have limited mobility. Paths around the island are steep, cobbled and uneven with no handrails in some places. There are unguarded edges and steep drops."
Thanks, MarketArt, for the additional insight.
Hello from NJ,
Perhaps I can help, as my wife and I have scheduled this tour for Thursday, May 29, 2025. It is our first Tauck tour and our first non-business travel to the UK.
Tauck has revised our itinerary to start with (4) nights at the Gainsborough Bath Spa, followed by (3) nights at Fowey Hall Hotel and (2) nights at Bovey Castle. The final night is the Fairmont Windsor Park.
This possibly means some additional time on the tour bus, but we are promised to visit all the sites/attactions as advertised. Frankly, four nights in Bath sounds wonderful, as we enjoy cities and dining out and a glass or more of beverage.
We were initially concerned as described above about the arduous adventures at St. Michael and Tintagel. Our solution has been to step up our fitness level, lose some weight and get decent shoes. I'll report back in June whether we were successful in enjoying all the attractions.
Cheers!
Please do report back. It is a lovely part of the country, i have not been to Cornwall and Devon for over forty years, but Bath maybe twenty years ago, I love it there. I’m even contemplating booking the tour in the next couple of years. It’s new, so I assume they are still ironing out the kinks which can happen on new tours. Being on a bus in the UK, you pass the most beautiful countryside so I would have no problem on a longer ride. Yes, you need to get fit.
Yes, please report back. This trip sounds amazing.
I am also flying into London and spending a handful of days in the Coswolds and then flying to Florence to connect with A Week in Tuscany and then taking a train to connect with A Week in Puglia.
Sounds wonderful! Enjoy.
We had a day trip from London to the Cotswolds last year. A friend organised a trip to Highclere castle ( Downton Abbey) and another village featured in the series. It was fun, the guide on the bus there had worked on the set and told us lots of secrets about the cast. You drive past areas used in the movie industry too
Oradellian- I am scheduled to go on the May 29 trip as well. Look forward to meeting yourself and your wife
I am scheduled for this trip in June. Note that for those who choose not to climb St, Michael's Mount, it is possible to stay in the area below where the tour planner states there are "an array of attractions." So I wouldn't let concern about this one day's attraction frighten anyone away from this tour.
Thanks BiggieReid. Looking forward also. Are you perhaps flying out of EWR? We are seeing reports of chronic flight delays and cancellations.
Looking forward to you feedback. When we booked this trip through Tauck for 2026 we were told several times by the agent that this is a very active trip that involves uneven ground, hills, stairs, no rails and considerable walking not just on the Mount day including from the bus to the site.. On previous tours that we have taken, there have been options around some of these obstacles but on this tour those options see limited.
Oradellian….we are not scheduled out of EWR but rather from Charlotte, NC. We are heading over a day early & spend the day in London. Good luck in your travels.
Hello BiggieReid and Fellow Companions!
We are back home after a few days in London. What an excellent tour of Cornwall and Devon! Even the weather was beautiful.
Folks, this was our first Tauck tour but it was special and well worth the fare. Kudos to our Tauck Tour Director, who was fabulous.
Here's a few items:
1) Bring your hiking boots for Mount St. Michael and Tintagel, otherwise you will be well advised to stay near the bottom.
2) Pace and Activity Levels of 4 are correct. You will be tired at night yet you will be up early the next morning.
3) There is a lot of time spent on the bus, moderated by scenic views, sheep views, guide lectures, cow views, music, naps, etc.
4) The hotels and meals are excellent, and be prepared for surprises!
Here are a few items to note:
1) Chavenage House was closed, unfortunately, sorry Poldark fans.
2) The Bath "dine-around" couldn't be scheduled, perhaps because of crowds in Bath due to a spring break? The TD provided $cash so that we could schedule dinner at one of the many places to eat nearby.
I can help answer any questions. BTW all of our fellow travelers were from North America. Cheers!
Glad to hear about the tour, we may take it in the future, that area of the country is beautiful. However, I never heard of the phenomena of Spring breakers in the UK. Do you mean they were American Spring breakers?
My misunderstanding perhaps.... is there a break in the school semester during the last week of May? Saturday evening, 31 May, Bath seemed to be exceptionally busy with young people. I've edited my comment above as I meant no disrespect. We dined al fresco and enjoyed the crowds and fashion choices.
There are two ‘Bank holidays’ in May, one near the beginning and one near the end. So it’s essentially a long weekend with Monday off for everyone. However, May and June are the best times to visiting Englander in my opinion. I understand from friends that they have had some fantastic weather this Spring.
When I did the youth hostel tour of Britain many years ago, we ran into many school groups at the hostels. It seems that a number of schools mark the end of school year with a class trip. Happens around the end of May or beginning of June.
Schools in Britain do not finish the year until at least mid July unless things have changed since I lived there. School trips usually occur during the school year, I remember chaperoning a trip to York with my son’s class, we were armed with buckets in case they felt sick on the bus, I was exhausted when we got home.
I just googled. As usaul, there are answers to everything. I googled ‘School holidays in England’ this is the first example that came up, it might be a little different in the other UK countries
In 2025, English school holidays include the Summer Half Term from May 27th to 30th, Summer Holidays from July 23rd to August 29th, October Half Term from October 27th to 31st, and Christmas Holidays from December 22nd to January 5th, 2026.
Detailed Breakdown:
Summer Half Term: May 27th to 30th, 2025.
Summer Holidays: July 23rd to August 29th, 2025.
October Half Term: October 27th to 31st, 2025.
Christmas Holidays: December 22nd, 2025 to January 5th, 2026.
Academic year 2024 to 2025 - Schools - Essex County Council
This is just one of the reasons I recommend the best time to visit the UK is May, June and early July.
I can tell you from my own kids experiences being schooled in the UK and the US, they are both vastly different experiences in every way, from the simplest thing like school start times to the length of a class.
One thing you quickly learn about visiting different countries is that every country is different and you can’t make assumptions based on your own country. One reason why we travel, to be open to new things and ideas before even considering the scenery.
Did you arrive early and stay on London and if so what time did you leave the hotel to go to Bath and by what type of vehicle?
Hello Ben, yes we arrived the day before the tour and stayed at the One Aldwych hotel. We departed the hotel at 09:00 the next day in two medium-size coaches, approximately half the group in each and plenty of room for suitcases and carry-ons. It's approximately 3 hours to Bath and the coach stopped midway for a rest stop / refreshments. A light lunch was available at the Gainsborough hotel and nearly everyone participated in the 2-hour guided walking tour of Bath, which was very interesting. Cheers
Thanks for the response. Wasn’t sure if they took the bags and you grab the train over to Bath which is 1.5 hours. On additional question at least for now: how much a lot of bus time?
There is a lot of time on the bus. For example, on Day-3 you travel from Bath to Malvern, which is about 4 hours round-trip. There are diversions along the way for rest and snacks, but it's still a long drive. BTW driving the Morgan cars was fantastic. Cheers
Questions:
Thanks in advance for your reply. Cheers!