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The Forum is back!

British

I am glad to see the forum is back. I just wish it was more obvious in the new website. I’ve been looking for a while and had given up checking the forum icon. I thought it would be in a bold print if it was active.
I have been looking at other tour company forums the past few months but not posting.
I have found this really helpful and have even found a new tour company recommended on another forum. It was mentioned on a rival tour company’s website that seems to be allowed. Some people have their emails as their user name, so I looked the company up, could find nothing negative about them, emailed one of the people and asked for more info. They kindly replied. They had been in the travel industry themselves and spoke very highly of them and had taken about five tours. We got some info, called and booked a tour to Borneo next year. We are excited. The company was very efficient and they even offered an amazing business class fare that was half the price we could find even when we tried booking g through AMEX. We even know the tour guide we will be getting already and the person I emailed said he was the best tour guide they had ever had on any tour.
We obviously love tours related to wildlife and just can’t stop wanting to go back to Africa again and again. If this tour to Borneo turns out we will be looking at the African Safari they offer, a mixture of many of our favorite places in Africa. They also offer a great tour of Japan that appeals to us much more than the Tauck ones.
Meanwhile, we remain loyal to Tauck and have five tours booked with them going up to September 2020.
Reading forums is a great way to learn, get ideas, read differing opinions and feeling you get to know the regular forum contributors. Happy travels everyone!

Comments

Sue

Glad to see the Forum is finally back! Missed reading about everyone's travels. Borneo sounds interesting.

joycesw

Hi British,
Just got a “heads-up” from Alan about the return of the Forum and your post was the first I noticed. It has me intrigued. I, too, am jumping ship for our next tour, Egypt and Jordan. After I hounded Tauck for a year about the return of their tour, with no results, we went elsewhere, and then viola! Their tour has been reinstated but too late for me. We are land tour devotees, and so many companies, including Tauck, are focusing on cruises and riverboats ( which I understand from a business sense as that is where the demand is). It is getting harder and harder to find unique land tours. So, I am curious about which company you have found.
Joyce

BKMD

Joyce - I'm like you in that I'm not a fan of cruises or riverboats. I am jumping ship (pun intended), too, leaving for a land-only Alaska trip next week with another tour company. Tauck previously ran a land-only trip, but stopped offering it a year or two ago.

I suspect I'll be looking elsewhere for Egypt, some time in the future. I'm doing Tauck's Israel/Jordan trip later this year and don't want to repeat Jordan a second time just to include Egypt.

AshvEd

We are going to jump off of Tauck to take a land based trip to Iceland. Lacking "sea legs" makes it impossible to take Tauck's Small Ship trip.

British

I’m not going to recommend the tour company here, it’s small and for instance, there is only one date to Borneo next year. But certainly not recommend until we have taken a tour with them. Our last experience of being recommended another company by two different people we know, the tour was a bad experience. Would never tour with that company again.
I am another devotee of land based tours, I don’t need small group tours either, but Tauck is now doing more of those. I am still nervous about our River Cruise coming up.
Glad to connect with you again Joyce. How did you and Alan exchange emails, did Tauck do it for you by you both giving permission? I would happily give you details by private email.

AlanS

British, I don't remember how we exchanged emails, but the forum now has an offline messaging capability- look in the upper right of the screen, to the right of your screen name. Click on the envelope symbol. I haven't received a msg yet so don't know if there is a notification other than possibly a number by the envelope like there is over the globe signifying a new post. Once you click on the envelope click on "new message" in the upper right of the message dialog box. I just sent you a test.

MarketArt

To Alan S re must-see Towers in London. Been there maybe a dozen times; never thought to go anywhere near Big Ben; did visit Tower of London on my first visit after college. Have never been near Eiffel Tower, either; have photos from a distance. Touristy monuments not a priority. Enjoyed a Dickens Tour of London and will be there next month for the FT cultural Festival. Every traveler is different. So have never bothered with the Leaning Tower, but will be heading to Palladian town of Vicenza later this year before I join a cruise, Venice to Athens. I for one enjoy staying a bit off the tourist track.

KClemens

My wife and I will be traveling on the England, Scotland and Wales tour beginning on Aug. 12. We are hoping to meet with relatives in Stratford-upon-Avon on our trip through that location. The itinerary states that we 'have time at leisure to enjoy the medieval market town'. Then it states, next off to Oxford, where we will have a guided walking tour. My question: does anyone know how much free time is afforded in Stratford-upon-Avon before heading to Oxford? I am assuming there will be time for lunch. Do you know the approximate time when free time begins? Thank you. Logistically, just trying to meet up with our British family.
Thank you.

British

It would be a good idea to call Tauck as this is such a special chance!

Claudia Sails

We did this tour in 2016 and the itinerary is pretty much the same. I still have my detailed daily schedule that the TD gave us on day 1. We left Wales at 8. It's about a 3-3 1/2 hour drive. Went first to Anne Hathways house which is just outside the town then on the Stratford about noon. Left for Oxford at 3:30. Talk to your TD when you start the tour and explain to them what you're trying to do and they can help you out on the timing.

Kathy M

We were on this tour in 2019. From what I recall we first went to Anne Hathaway's cottage for a tour and then drove into Stratford, where we had time to ourselves. We went into Shakespeare's birthplace and then walked down to the river. We crossed the river and walked along the bank as far as the cathedral, stopping to look at the ferry crossing the river, the houseboats moored along the shore and a lawn bowling club before having ice cream and heading back to the bus. This may have been two hours.

If you are looking to meet family, you could skip Anne Hathaway's house, ask them to meet you there and have another hour or so to spend with them. Looking at the time stamps on my photos, it appears that we had about three hours in total, counting the stop at Anne Hathaway's cottage.