Alina, the pace has now been changed to 2 on 2027. Yesterday, I spent time doing a head-to-head comparison of 26 and 27. I don't think they added anything to 27 to make up for the loss of Annecy. What I saw is that there are differences during the riverboat portion of visits to towns (Tain L'Hermitage in 26, Vienne in 27). The rest of the changes have more to do with order of visits, perhaps because of traveling in different directions. I'm not going to be so quick to jump on board the tour for 27 at this point. I would have booked Sept. 26 but that is sold out and I have other plans for 26 travel already.
Being able to get large tour coaches into European towns is getting harder and harder. Paris on our 2014 tour vs 2021 was noticeably easier for the coach driver to get around and to make brief stops. When Paris started cracking down on traffic and promoting bikes it made it much harder in 2021. Many towns in Italy the big coaches can't get you close to sights often requiring an uphill climb. Bruge we were warned required 3 miles of walking from where the coach parked which differed from tours in the past. Other places either already are hard geographically or because they won't let the big coaches close enough. The price of travel being so popular.
It’s weird all these tours are sold out because I haven’t read a single review of any tours on this forum that have been full for ages when numbers on the tour have been mentioned.
We are on the September 2026 trip. I booked it back in April of this year and I was told there were only two Category 5 suites available. That is the only date that is showing as sold out so far.
Genie - Thank you for the information, I just looked at the map to see where the stops where, I took the GOT at the end as I spent a lot of time in Geneva this year and will go there again next September.
Alina - I will look into that and maybe take an extra day in Geneva to go to Annecy.
I have now spent a lot of time communicating with Tauck directly about this tour, specifically trying to get at the details of what was included for 2027. Long story short, Tauck confirmed that the stops in Annecy and Aix en Provence were eliminated for 2027. These stops were on the way from Geneva and on the way to Marseilles, before and after embarking the boat. They said that based on customer feedback, and logistical issues, they took those stops away. They haven't replaced them with anything. The Tauck spokesperson said that product managers were still working on the 2027 tour and may have some additions to it, but that it will be months before they do so. Therefore, if you're on this tour for 2026 -- enjoy those stops. If you have already been to these stops in 2025, I would be interested in hearing about your experiences, and if there were any logistical difficulties. I'm going to wait and see what happens with 2027, and at the same time shop around for other trip ideas. I'm not so much interested in the wine tasting as I am in touring all these places as I've not been to them (except for Geneva).
Genie, thank you for your update. I too am curious to know if any previous travelers encountered issues with these stops. I am on the tour in 2026. Hopefully by then they will be able to work around any anticipated issues. I can only imagine that the changes have been made by recommendation of the current Tour Directors who, of course, would be the best people to make that call. I have faith in Tauck that they are looking for what is best for the customers.
Most of the feedback comes from the ‘Hope and Trust’ surveys that every customer is asked to fill in. Some of the changes might just be logistical. Maybe the place the buses stop for lunch has closed down or something like that. It could be anything. Even Tauck just saving money by missing out one of the venues.
So many of the tours I have taken with Tauck over the years have changed a lot, and certainly the hotels have gotten much more high end than back in the day. I used to love those boutique hotels too. There are also many tours that have been completely discontinued. Tauck doesn’t even have a record of some tours we took with them.
British. In my experience working for a tour company - in the Operations department that hired the Reps - the local staff had a lot of input on how the tours, especially new tours were working out. They were able to make excellent suggestions that benefited the people in the office who made the final decisions.
Things may have since changed as it was years ago I had that job and it was for an English company, not a U.S. company.
Comments
Alina, the pace has now been changed to 2 on 2027. Yesterday, I spent time doing a head-to-head comparison of 26 and 27. I don't think they added anything to 27 to make up for the loss of Annecy. What I saw is that there are differences during the riverboat portion of visits to towns (Tain L'Hermitage in 26, Vienne in 27). The rest of the changes have more to do with order of visits, perhaps because of traveling in different directions. I'm not going to be so quick to jump on board the tour for 27 at this point. I would have booked Sept. 26 but that is sold out and I have other plans for 26 travel already.
Being able to get large tour coaches into European towns is getting harder and harder. Paris on our 2014 tour vs 2021 was noticeably easier for the coach driver to get around and to make brief stops. When Paris started cracking down on traffic and promoting bikes it made it much harder in 2021. Many towns in Italy the big coaches can't get you close to sights often requiring an uphill climb. Bruge we were warned required 3 miles of walking from where the coach parked which differed from tours in the past. Other places either already are hard geographically or because they won't let the big coaches close enough. The price of travel being so popular.
It’s weird all these tours are sold out because I haven’t read a single review of any tours on this forum that have been full for ages when numbers on the tour have been mentioned.
We are on the September 2026 trip. I booked it back in April of this year and I was told there were only two Category 5 suites available. That is the only date that is showing as sold out so far.
Genie - Thank you for the information, I just looked at the map to see where the stops where, I took the GOT at the end as I spent a lot of time in Geneva this year and will go there again next September.
Alina - I will look into that and maybe take an extra day in Geneva to go to Annecy.
I have now spent a lot of time communicating with Tauck directly about this tour, specifically trying to get at the details of what was included for 2027. Long story short, Tauck confirmed that the stops in Annecy and Aix en Provence were eliminated for 2027. These stops were on the way from Geneva and on the way to Marseilles, before and after embarking the boat. They said that based on customer feedback, and logistical issues, they took those stops away. They haven't replaced them with anything. The Tauck spokesperson said that product managers were still working on the 2027 tour and may have some additions to it, but that it will be months before they do so. Therefore, if you're on this tour for 2026 -- enjoy those stops. If you have already been to these stops in 2025, I would be interested in hearing about your experiences, and if there were any logistical difficulties. I'm going to wait and see what happens with 2027, and at the same time shop around for other trip ideas. I'm not so much interested in the wine tasting as I am in touring all these places as I've not been to them (except for Geneva).
Genie, thank you for your update. I too am curious to know if any previous travelers encountered issues with these stops. I am on the tour in 2026. Hopefully by then they will be able to work around any anticipated issues. I can only imagine that the changes have been made by recommendation of the current Tour Directors who, of course, would be the best people to make that call. I have faith in Tauck that they are looking for what is best for the customers.
Most of the feedback comes from the ‘Hope and Trust’ surveys that every customer is asked to fill in. Some of the changes might just be logistical. Maybe the place the buses stop for lunch has closed down or something like that. It could be anything. Even Tauck just saving money by missing out one of the venues.
So many of the tours I have taken with Tauck over the years have changed a lot, and certainly the hotels have gotten much more high end than back in the day. I used to love those boutique hotels too. There are also many tours that have been completely discontinued. Tauck doesn’t even have a record of some tours we took with them.
British. In my experience working for a tour company - in the Operations department that hired the Reps - the local staff had a lot of input on how the tours, especially new tours were working out. They were able to make excellent suggestions that benefited the people in the office who made the final decisions.
Things may have since changed as it was years ago I had that job and it was for an English company, not a U.S. company.