I just looked at the itinerary. Were the hotels below your standards? The tour choices must have taken a lot of pre tour research. Anyway, now you have to tell us
I also enjoyed Budapest to the Black Sea. It was up there because of the history but I wouldnât say itâs my favorite. My favorite was be Africa, and Antarctica, and all the rest mingled in with other tour companies too. I do not have a a particular order of favorites of all the river cruises or ocean voyages or land trips.
I'm not exactly a veteran compared to many others, but for our 12 trips so far, here is our experience:
Tier One:
1) Classic Italy. If you want the caffeine jolt of Italy and have never been.
2) Morocco. A completely different, intriguing cultural experience. So many colors and warmth. If you do a stopover in Paris, do it before, otherwise Paris will look grey, grey, grey.
3) Patagonia. Stunning, majestic scenery, and interesting cities.
4) Grand Australia NZ. So many different activities, beautiful NZ scenery, and a relatively good value for what you get.
5) K and T Classic Safari. Fantastic trip with, mesmerizing animals, gorgeous hotels, exhausting early mornings and a firsthand experience with humbling resilience in the face of shocking poverty.
6) A Sicilian Odyssey. Stunning food, fascinating history, its own unique culture and scenic volcanic landscape
Tier 2:
7) Paradors of Northern Spain (has changed since we went). If your soul needs a reset. (We went to southern Spain with a different company, and would definitely choose Tauck for a Tier One experience there).
8) Adriatic Treasures. Beautiful coastline, culture and tragic history. Slovenia was the big surprise.
9) Puglia: Rural Italy AND the blue blue Adriatic.
10) Bellissima Northern Italy. A nice mix of city, country, food and art without the drama.
11) Tuscany and Umbria. Beautiful scenery and wine tasting. Local culture.
Tier 3:
12) Scandinavia. Glad we went. Excellent museums. Beautiful scenery, the main reason to go (but IMHO New Zealand and Patagonia matched, and a personal trip to the Dolomites surpassed.) The people are cool, calm and collected. My husband loved this trip.
I just saw this:
If something good happens, travel to celebrate.
If something bad happens, travel to forget.
If nothing happens, travel to make something happen.
I'm surprised not to see Tauck's Japan land tour on anyone's list, so let me give a shout out for it..
Top 5 trips: Japan, China, Turkey (don't know why Tauck doesn't go there), Portugal (not with Tauck), Paris, the Loire Valley, and Normandy.
Of the four riverboat cruises, we liked the Blue Danube best - probably because of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. As far as water trips go, the Adriatic and Malta (not Tauck) was great.
In addition to trips to Italy on our own, we've taken 3 Italy tours with Tauck. Bellisima Northern Italy was our favorite (it included lovely Mantua then).
For nostalgia: After college and having been working for only a year we talked our employers into letting us have 3 months off to go to Europe. It was life changing - seeing paintings come to life rather than seeing them in our art history textbooks, after growing up on Wonder Bread and 1950's food learning that the Europeans had a different way of cooking plus smelly cheeses and discovering baguettes in the boulangeries. Definitely our best trip even though our hotels were not Tauck hotels.
And, now memories are coming back of other trips - of the Jungfrau with Tauck, of an earlier time of staying on the Matterhorn and listening in the early morning to the goats going up to the meadows, of driving into Madrid when Franco was celebrating his birthday.
Thank you, Mary, for starting the discussion. We will be adding to our memories with an upcoming three week trip to France on our own.
Loved reading thru these posts. There is NO WAY I could list our favorite, as we have LOVED them all for different reasons. We love experiencing different areas, people, food - so they've all been special & great.
Here are the tours we've done --
Majestic Colorado (no longer a tour, but it was magnificent)
America's Canyonlands
Xmas Markets on the Danube River Cruise (2 times w/Tauck, once w/Uniworld & going again in Dec w/Tauck)
Xmas Markets on the Rhine River Cruise
Ultimate Alps & Dolomites (prob our favorite if we had to choose)
The Rhine, Swiss Alps, & Amsterdam River Cruise
Tuscany & Umbria
Rendezvous on the Seine River Cruise
Trips in the works
Xmas Markets on the Danube River Cruise
Belgium & Holland in the Spring
Savoring France River Cruise
The Douro w/Madrid & Lisbon
Thanks for all the great recommendations- our travel list is ever-growing.
Of the 42 Tauck Tours I was on (US/Canada/Europe), the "best experiences" I had were on "Tauck Events" (which Tauck no longer does except perhaps for the yearly "Rose Parade"); Chicago, NYC, San Francisco (Yosemite), Washington DC, Kentucky Derby Week, plus several others that do not immediately come to mind at the moment. :-) Several of those "Tauck Events" that I now regret not taken: Paris, Vienna, Rome, "Winter in Yellowstone" (which I had done on my own earlier). Sigh. :-)
We've done three tours so far and have our fourth set for this September.
Ranking:
1) A Week in Tuscany & Umbria
2) A Week in Amalfi Coast, Capri & Rome (this version isn't offered anymore)
3) Normandy, Brittany, Paris & the Loire Valley
The reason Normandy, et al ranks last isn't due to the tour itself. We had extremely entitled people on that tour that tried to talk over the tour guide as the wife spoke French. They often were late to show up and didn't care. We had another couple that spent the entire time on their cell phone dealing with work stuff and distracting. Same people were rude to us being younger as why would we do this tour. It's why we decided to skip longer tours for a while.
So sorry about your experience. I would like to think that the Tour director would tell people not to be on cell phones on the bus as it is a Tauck rule. We have only had one incident that I can remember someone being late for the start time, again, the tour director should have said something.
People on one tour were rude to us because they found out we had taken lots of tours.
Unfortunately as the years have gone by, there are more and more entitled people on the tours, in my experience itâs usually on the more expensive and more âexoticâ adventures.
Here is my suggestion, next time you take a tour, take the tour director Otto one side at the very start of the tour and tell them what you experienced and say you hope it will not happen again. If it does and nothing is said, then skip your tip, itâs not acceptable for people to be so inconsiderate.
It has been my experience that tour directors do announce the expectations for proper tour etiquette, especially avoiding cell phone use in public spaces. To even have to remind adults how to be adults is a sad commentary.
My pet peeve are the ones who wear their phones and cameras as an appendage and infringe upon my privacy by shoving their camera into my face because they want a picture of a complete stranger to add to their photo album, âblogâ or whatever.
For the most part though, we have had kind and considerate traveling companions, some of whom we keep in touch with.
MNNUTE - I think it is wonderful Tauck is adding a new demographic for their tours. Please report back if you take one of the ROAM tours. What a gorgeous dog you have!
My pet peeve are the ones who wear their phones and cameras as an appendage and infringe upon my privacy by shoving
their camera into my face because they want a picture of a complete stranger to add to their photo album, âblogâ or whatever.
ICE agents have started wearing masks to prevent their identity/location from being made known by random photographs in public places taken by the public. đ
Sometimes, with the crowds, at very popular places, eg. Trevi Fountain, if you had to wait for everyone to get out of your way so you could take a picture that didn't include them in your photo you might never get a photo.
I think, occasionally appearing in someone else's photos, while on tour, especially at these very popular locations will happen and I for one am accepting of this fact. I don't have any expectation of privacy when I visit these locations.
Photos can be an issue on tours and ships. I was once on a Silversea ship that had one area with community balconies, not private ones. We had one of those and we were out whale watching when I took a picture of my wife. I did not even notice until I saw the picture that the couple from next door was literally running for cover when I took the pictures ⊠I accidentally took a series of pictures which made it even more obvious that the couple may have been married, but not to each other.
Now that is hilarious. I remember a very long time ago, my husband accidently left a sportscoat in a hotel closet. The hotel wouldnât let us know that a nice sportscoat was left. I was told in a round about way, that he could have been traveling with his mistress instead of his wife! Hence, that is why they didnât inform me about it. I think travel companies have gotten into big trouble because of calling a home to see if a piece of clothing was left behind.
My number one trip of all time...regardless of the tour provider...is Tauck Botswana, South Africa , Zambia.
Number two trip of all time is Tauck Antarctica.
We have also done Tauck Amsterdam to Budapest and have recently booked Budapest to the Black sea for September 2027 to finish the Grand European cruise.
We have also done Northern India Nepal and Tauck French Escapade river cruise.
We are also booked on Tauck cruising the Galapagos for my birthday March 2027.
Tauck remains my number one tour company for many reasons.
Comments
Mike Henderson - sent you a PM
Come on Sam, tell us all!
Yeah Sam, inquiring minds want to know!
I just looked at the itinerary. Were the hotels below your standards? The tour choices must have taken a lot of pre tour research. Anyway, now you have to tell us
When we did Blue Danube, I thought the stretch of river between Bratislava and Budapest to be extremely boring.
BKMD, British - I pretty much said it in the Budapest to the Black Sea Forum thread when I returned from the trip.
I also enjoyed Budapest to the Black Sea. It was up there because of the history but I wouldnât say itâs my favorite. My favorite was be Africa, and Antarctica, and all the rest mingled in with other tour companies too. I do not have a a particular order of favorites of all the river cruises or ocean voyages or land trips.
Sorry, I don't see any message in my inbox.
Sam, much appreciated, I re -read JohnSâs review and wife Sue. Will miss Johnâs great reviews.
I'm not exactly a veteran compared to many others, but for our 12 trips so far, here is our experience:
Tier One:
1) Classic Italy. If you want the caffeine jolt of Italy and have never been.
2) Morocco. A completely different, intriguing cultural experience. So many colors and warmth. If you do a stopover in Paris, do it before, otherwise Paris will look grey, grey, grey.
3) Patagonia. Stunning, majestic scenery, and interesting cities.
4) Grand Australia NZ. So many different activities, beautiful NZ scenery, and a relatively good value for what you get.
5) K and T Classic Safari. Fantastic trip with, mesmerizing animals, gorgeous hotels, exhausting early mornings and a firsthand experience with humbling resilience in the face of shocking poverty.
6) A Sicilian Odyssey. Stunning food, fascinating history, its own unique culture and scenic volcanic landscape
Tier 2:
7) Paradors of Northern Spain (has changed since we went). If your soul needs a reset. (We went to southern Spain with a different company, and would definitely choose Tauck for a Tier One experience there).
8) Adriatic Treasures. Beautiful coastline, culture and tragic history. Slovenia was the big surprise.
9) Puglia: Rural Italy AND the blue blue Adriatic.
10) Bellissima Northern Italy. A nice mix of city, country, food and art without the drama.
11) Tuscany and Umbria. Beautiful scenery and wine tasting. Local culture.
Tier 3:
12) Scandinavia. Glad we went. Excellent museums. Beautiful scenery, the main reason to go (but IMHO New Zealand and Patagonia matched, and a personal trip to the Dolomites surpassed.) The people are cool, calm and collected. My husband loved this trip.
I just saw this:
If something good happens, travel to celebrate.
If something bad happens, travel to forget.
If nothing happens, travel to make something happen.
LOL, obviously created by a travel company
I'm surprised not to see Tauck's Japan land tour on anyone's list, so let me give a shout out for it..
Top 5 trips: Japan, China, Turkey (don't know why Tauck doesn't go there), Portugal (not with Tauck), Paris, the Loire Valley, and Normandy.
Of the four riverboat cruises, we liked the Blue Danube best - probably because of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. As far as water trips go, the Adriatic and Malta (not Tauck) was great.
In addition to trips to Italy on our own, we've taken 3 Italy tours with Tauck. Bellisima Northern Italy was our favorite (it included lovely Mantua then).
For nostalgia: After college and having been working for only a year we talked our employers into letting us have 3 months off to go to Europe. It was life changing - seeing paintings come to life rather than seeing them in our art history textbooks, after growing up on Wonder Bread and 1950's food learning that the Europeans had a different way of cooking plus smelly cheeses and discovering baguettes in the boulangeries. Definitely our best trip even though our hotels were not Tauck hotels.
And, now memories are coming back of other trips - of the Jungfrau with Tauck, of an earlier time of staying on the Matterhorn and listening in the early morning to the goats going up to the meadows, of driving into Madrid when Franco was celebrating his birthday.
Thank you, Mary, for starting the discussion. We will be adding to our memories with an upcoming three week trip to France on our own.
Hello Moores! See what traveling can do? You're a lovely prime example of opening your hearts and eyes to this awesome planet!
Loved reading thru these posts. There is NO WAY I could list our favorite, as we have LOVED them all for different reasons. We love experiencing different areas, people, food - so they've all been special & great.
Here are the tours we've done --
Majestic Colorado (no longer a tour, but it was magnificent)
America's Canyonlands
Xmas Markets on the Danube River Cruise (2 times w/Tauck, once w/Uniworld & going again in Dec w/Tauck)
Xmas Markets on the Rhine River Cruise
Ultimate Alps & Dolomites (prob our favorite if we had to choose)
The Rhine, Swiss Alps, & Amsterdam River Cruise
Tuscany & Umbria
Rendezvous on the Seine River Cruise
Trips in the works
Xmas Markets on the Danube River Cruise
Belgium & Holland in the Spring
Savoring France River Cruise
The Douro w/Madrid & Lisbon
Thanks for all the great recommendations- our travel list is ever-growing.
Of the 42 Tauck Tours I was on (US/Canada/Europe), the "best experiences" I had were on "Tauck Events" (which Tauck no longer does except perhaps for the yearly "Rose Parade"); Chicago, NYC, San Francisco (Yosemite), Washington DC, Kentucky Derby Week, plus several others that do not immediately come to mind at the moment. :-) Several of those "Tauck Events" that I now regret not taken: Paris, Vienna, Rome, "Winter in Yellowstone" (which I had done on my own earlier). Sigh. :-)
We've done three tours so far and have our fourth set for this September.
Ranking:
1) A Week in Tuscany & Umbria
2) A Week in Amalfi Coast, Capri & Rome (this version isn't offered anymore)
3) Normandy, Brittany, Paris & the Loire Valley
The reason Normandy, et al ranks last isn't due to the tour itself. We had extremely entitled people on that tour that tried to talk over the tour guide as the wife spoke French. They often were late to show up and didn't care. We had another couple that spent the entire time on their cell phone dealing with work stuff and distracting. Same people were rude to us being younger as why would we do this tour. It's why we decided to skip longer tours for a while.
So sorry about your experience. I would like to think that the Tour director would tell people not to be on cell phones on the bus as it is a Tauck rule. We have only had one incident that I can remember someone being late for the start time, again, the tour director should have said something.
People on one tour were rude to us because they found out we had taken lots of tours.
Unfortunately as the years have gone by, there are more and more entitled people on the tours, in my experience itâs usually on the more expensive and more âexoticâ adventures.
Here is my suggestion, next time you take a tour, take the tour director Otto one side at the very start of the tour and tell them what you experienced and say you hope it will not happen again. If it does and nothing is said, then skip your tip, itâs not acceptable for people to be so inconsiderate.
It has been my experience that tour directors do announce the expectations for proper tour etiquette, especially avoiding cell phone use in public spaces. To even have to remind adults how to be adults is a sad commentary.
My pet peeve are the ones who wear their phones and cameras as an appendage and infringe upon my privacy by shoving their camera into my face because they want a picture of a complete stranger to add to their photo album, âblogâ or whatever.
For the most part though, we have had kind and considerate traveling companions, some of whom we keep in touch with.
MNNUTE - I think it is wonderful Tauck is adding a new demographic for their tours. Please report back if you take one of the ROAM tours. What a gorgeous dog you have!
ICE agents have started wearing masks to prevent their identity/location from being made known by random photographs in public places taken by the public. đ
Sometimes, with the crowds, at very popular places, eg. Trevi Fountain, if you had to wait for everyone to get out of your way so you could take a picture that didn't include them in your photo you might never get a photo.
I think, occasionally appearing in someone else's photos, while on tour, especially at these very popular locations will happen and I for one am accepting of this fact. I don't have any expectation of privacy when I visit these locations.
Photos can be an issue on tours and ships. I was once on a Silversea ship that had one area with community balconies, not private ones. We had one of those and we were out whale watching when I took a picture of my wife. I did not even notice until I saw the picture that the couple from next door was literally running for cover when I took the pictures ⊠I accidentally took a series of pictures which made it even more obvious that the couple may have been married, but not to each other.
Now that is hilarious. I remember a very long time ago, my husband accidently left a sportscoat in a hotel closet. The hotel wouldnât let us know that a nice sportscoat was left. I was told in a round about way, that he could have been traveling with his mistress instead of his wife! Hence, that is why they didnât inform me about it. I think travel companies have gotten into big trouble because of calling a home to see if a piece of clothing was left behind.
My number one trip of all time...regardless of the tour provider...is Tauck Botswana, South Africa , Zambia.
Number two trip of all time is Tauck Antarctica.
We have also done Tauck Amsterdam to Budapest and have recently booked Budapest to the Black sea for September 2027 to finish the Grand European cruise.
We have also done Northern India Nepal and Tauck French Escapade river cruise.
We are also booked on Tauck cruising the Galapagos for my birthday March 2027.
Tauck remains my number one tour company for many reasons.