nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

New to Tauck and wonder if our expereince was typical

Diane4848

We just did our first Tauck trip (A week in London and Paris) and were surprised that there was so little time to spend at major sites. We had 30 minutes inside Windsor Castle, 90 minutes at the Louvre, 60 minutes at Versailles. In our opinion, not enough time to really see these amazing places. We were also surprised that we walked through inside of Windsor with no tour guide (told they are not allowed) and no use of the headset that explains what you are seeing. The information we got prior to booking did not have this level of detail so am not sure how one knows before booking that the time allowed in many important places is really short. Is this typical of Tauck - that the tours are more of a "highlight of sites" type of experience?

Comments

Claudia Sails

It can vary from tour to tour. I'd say in most cases we've had as much time as we wanted at a particular sight. In some cases if you are willing to handle your own transportation back to the hotel you can stay on at the sight. The only way to know the schedule ahead of time is to call Tauck and speak to one of their agents. They have more detailed schedules though they can change on tour due to circumstances the TD can't control - traffic jams, local events, etc.

As for Versailles, you need days there to see everything and the Louvre about as bad. The schedule tries to balance competing interests. Other guests on the same tour might have wanted time for other sights.

henrypoon_66

This is indeed very strange and concerning.

I would be very disappointed if Windsor castle is only 30 minutes. What happened to the rest of the morning?

60 minutes at Versailles, what did you see? The length of an average tour there is at least 3 hours not covering the gardens and the carriages. Did you start the day early and get early entry?

There is no point to arrange for transportation on your own since both windosr castle and Versailles are not located in the city. It would be much easiert o go on a private excursion instead of joing a group ytour.

I am sure no one wants to spend minimal time at these sites.

kfnknfzk

Diane4848,

I have not taken any of Tauck's one week tours, but please realize they are trying to squeeze in many places in a very short amount of time. Based on personal experience and preferences, we always have booked small group tours since they generally afford more time at each venue and offer more free time for us to explore on our own. You might wish to try one of those tours. Tauck now offers what they call "smaller groups"--limited to no more than fifteen (15) guests I believe, but the selections are limited right now and the pleasure of traveling with less people does come with a price.

One thing you can do is to ask here on the forum about other tours you might be contemplating. The more specific you can be with questions, the more specific the answers will be. There are many experienced travelers here who are always willing to answer questions and give impartial insight into tours.

Please don't give up on Tauck. They are a great company.

Edited for clarity

NancyCohen

I have found that in the major cities, TAUCK’s touring is rather ‘introductory’ so that you primarily see the high points. If you want an in-depth visit, another trip may be needed. Usually I add a few days onto the beginning and end of the trip. If something is important to me, or not included by the tour, I can use my added days or free time (if any) to see what I want to see.

And yes, I have been on tours where the guides cannot accompany you and explain. Usually they will prep you in advance and offer guidance.

I agree with the earlier comments, it is best to carefully review the itinerary, read comments on the forum and speak with a Tauck agent to clarify. I have been very impressed with the TAUCK experience over past 9 years.

I’m sorry your expectations were not met. But hopefully next time, you’ll have a better time and be thrilled!

British

I’ve taken many tours with Tauck. My first thought here is you say a WEEK in London and Paris. For that amount of time, all I would expect is a highlight of one or two or maybe three places in each location. If Tauck had done just one or two sites in total, I’m not sure you would have appreciated that either. Other examples… Windsor is outside of London and Versailles is outside of Paris, so you must factor in the time it takes to get to those destinations alone, traffic and amount of tourists.
Obviously, I’m British but not from London, so when I go there, I’m like a tourist. It would take many weeks to see everything I want to see in London. When I go, I choose a number of places and spend hours in each one. I’m going for just three days in August, not the best time to visit, but going with a large group for an event and three days at the end in London when we are done with that. I’ve already picked out what I want to see and so on for those three days.

I’ve only been to Paris once but lots of other places all over France. I’ve been to Versailles, it was in the winter so not busy. Apart from a few museums in Paris, I much prefer rural France.
May I suggest now that you have had a taste of both cites, you just book a flight and hotel for a couple of weeks for each city and go ‘ out of season’ and enjoy what you really want to see at your leisure and pace and length of time.

We generally have fantastic trips with Tauck which are generally two weeks. We usually arrive a day or two early if the start place requires more site seeing. Now we are retired, we use another company’s tours that are generally three weeks which cover places in more depth for some of the locations we are interested in going.

I personally don’t believe you get much more time at sites with a small group. Hotels may be smaller. In Europe, the bus drivers by law have to have more driving breaks, so it doesn’t matter if there are thirty plus or just 15 on a trip, if you stop for a bathroom break, the driver by law might have to have a thirty minute rest. The extra cost is to pay the Tour director more money since he can’t get as much money in tips from a small group as a large one.

We took a tour with just six people once, one lady was late almost every day, the TD had to keep going to find her. So really, a larger group of on- time people might have been less annoying.

JaimeM16

I did a Week in Spain and found the time at major sites, like Gaudi’s cathedral, sufficient. That said, some people were disappointed Guell Park was not included. This is why it’s important to really study the itinerary; I booked a flight arriving two days earlier so I could see some sites that were not listed. We only spent an hour at the Prado Museum, but I found that to be enough time. We had an excellent guide and people who wanted to stay longer could but would have to find their own way back, which I think is fair.

That said, I can certainly understand why only 30 minutes at Windsor Castkr was not sufficient. That is not a typical Tauck experience in my opinion.

MarketArt

I agree that time before &/or after a tour is good idea. As an art museum devotee, I often choose to skip the overview tour and do my own thing, if it's not possible to stay on. And yes, smaller French towns are wonderful; I'm grateful I've visited Paris several times, most recently on a Tauck tour that ended in Paris, a rushed, spring break weekend, needless to say not the best experience. Diane, I've sent you a PM with some afterthoughts.

British

Diane hasn’t been back to the forum since the 22nd

romanskier

This is a good example of why we go to a destination at least 2 days ahead and stay 1-2 days at the end of the trip. Especially if it is a location that is new to either one of us. On a slightly different Tauck trip, we went into London 2 days before the beginning of the Tauck tour and stayed I day later in Paris. Unfortunately, we caught Covid toward the end of that trip...so 1 additionally day in Paris stretched to 2 weeks. We are due to spend more time in Paris on a return some date in the future. But as British suggests, the time you sampled the cities should give to a sense of considering a DIY trip to London or Paris that would allow you more time to see specific sites.

Gourmet Gal

Since there were only two cities involved it would have been helpful for you to have known the details when booking because you could have easily added on extra days and toured on your own. Unfortunately, what you experienced is the down-side of group touring but honestly, 90 minutes at a time is my max for any museum, especially the big iconic ones as they’re usually overrun with tourists and crowded.

British

Places are overrun with tourists, usually because they are worth seeing despite the crowds. So Gourmet Gal, aren’t you a tourist?

Gourmet Gal

I’m a traveler and have become weary of the bucket list destinations and have been to too many where I wondered why people think they’re “worth seeing”. After extensively traveling the world I am more interested in cultural experiences like home visits, language immersion, cooking classes, performances, fine dining. Despise crowded places - not sure why I’m being needled for that.

British

Tauck tried offering culture experiences with their Culturious tours but Peter Tauck himself told me there was not enough interest so Tauck pivoted to smaller groups instead because it was requested more and more.
We’ve done all the things you mention except languages, we took Spanish classes here at home. We even perform in England, we have been told we are travelers but we are tourists, it’s just a fact. The least important thing to us is fancy hotels. Fine dining is not really a cultural immersive experience, it’s for a very few, the same as travel is in most of the world.

Claudia Sails

The advantage of taking a planned group tour is someone else takes care of planning the itinerary and the logistics. The downside is you have to take it or leave it if it isn't really what you want. Maybe some adventurous travelers would be better off planning their own so they can stay in the hotels they prefer, eat at the sort of restaurants they like, book the experiences they want, etc. Whichever choice you make its all.about trade offs.

henrypoon_66

Again, Tauck caters to a VERY SPECIFIC demographic.Their competitor is offering more cultural programs from ceramics workshops, cooking classes to diving excursions and Category 4 hikes. i think the other group is smart enough, worldly enough, educated enough to let other travelers do things they cannot or do not want to do.

The other competitor always has smaller groups without resorting to assigned seats on the bus( So elementary school for certain seniors resorting to such infantile behavior).

One more thing: Tauck guest is very focused on fancy hotels. Read this forum and you know why! By the way, Tauck has better rooms at the same Four Seasons Kyoto but other company has better excusrions, better food and better use of the time spent.

SandyFeet

I am finding all of this quite amusing…..just live and let live. No judging, but if you ever want to talk about “being needled” on this forum, then I’m your spokesperson. 🤣

kfnknfzk

I have never understood why it is so important for some to berate others for their traveling style, what they wear, where they eat, where they stay, what they post, what they think, on and on. It really can be exhausting and so unnecessary, especially on a forum that is supposed to be about sharing travel experiences. Sharing not lecturing and ridiculing because someone else thinks differently.

My preferences align more with those of Gourmet Gal's. Does that mean I am right and everyone else is wrong? Of course not. And my favorite...does it mean I am entitled because I prefer traveling in smaller groups? Of course not.

I travel because I wish to experience different cultures and to immerse myself as much as possible in that culture. Sightseeing is secondary for me. Is that the only way to travel? Of course not. I will always choose diversity of thought over homogeneousness.

Diane4848

Thanks to each of you for the thoughtful advice about our experience with our first Tauck tour. After a pause in travel planning to get a new knee, I am back at it for next year. Since we have not traveled much, it is a challenge to figure out what works. We have many places we want to see and who knows how much time so it is not likely we will want to do another overview tour expecting to go back someday for a deeper visit. I am exploring using a company recommended to us that does in depth tours of specific sites (i.e. 5 hour private tour of the Vatican) using very knowledageble local experts. This means lots more work finding hotels, restaurants, etc but we are going to give it a try and see if it works better for us than the tour option. Happy travels!!

Patrice

Diane, I am happy to hear that your new knee will allow you to be "back at it". I have travelled with Tauck 4 times on river and ocean cruises. As a solo female, the Tauck TDs and fellow Tauck guest travelers have made me feel welcome and included. For "land" travel I have used a "women-only" tour company twice: to Oaxaca Mexico and Puglia Italy. Participating in group tours has advantages and disadvantages as noted many times on Tauck's and other travel forums. My preference would be to stay in less elaborate/fancy hotels, but it is a minor concern. I just returned from Paris where I was truly solo - on my own. I had selected the flights and hotel and I created my itinerary with timed-entry tickets where required. The research in planning was interesting and quite time-consuming but I discovered and subsequently visited places that a typical organized group tour would not have offered. It was a fabulous trip. Now I would like to know, if the Tauck forum allows, what is the competitor company other posters are alluding to?

Mark_H

I'm booked on an early-summer ('25) "Week in London & Paris" trip, and noticed there seemed to be a lot of free time to explore on your own. I assumed that was to allow folks to see the places they wanted to see more of, whether that is a new site, or a visited site one might want to see more of.