Tauck World Discovery

Pros: Ease and comfort, special events, local tour guides, historical and cultural perspectives
Cons: Too large a group, fast pace, some of the hotels

When my husband and I first decided to go to Eastern and Central Europe for our vacation this past spring, we opted to go on our first organized tour to Europe , and made the decision to book with Tauck World Discovery. We had heard wonderful ...

Pros: A unique, first class travel experience with exotic destinations around the world.
Cons: Too much food!

Tauck World Discovery, a family owned tour company out of Westport, Connecticut, has established itself as one of the most respected in the travel industry. Tauck has come a long way since its inception in 1925 and, today, offers fascinating and unique ...

Pros: Luxury tour, everything taken care of for you
Cons: Not really my style

This spring I went traveling with my mother. She offered me a trip as a birthday present and I accepted with grateful thanks. We went to Italy and we went with Tauck World Discovery.

This was my first trip with Tauck but my mother and father...

Pros: Really none
Cons: See above

We took the Southbound Tauck "Cowboy Country" tour this summer from Rapid City (Mt Rushmore) to the Grand Tetons. It was a huge waste of time and money. Yellowstone and the Tetons are wonderful. We will certainly go back, but we will never go back ...

Pros: Everything was handled for us (luggage, tips, food, hotels, and local tours-no lines).
Cons: none

My husband and I decided to travel with Tauck World Discovery after planning to visit Italy. This was a trip that we had talked about for 6 years and we had decided that we wanted to go first class and that is exactly what we did thanks to Tauck. ...

Pros: Lots of walking opportunities, local guides in addition to our great group tour guide.
Cons: None - you don't even need a travel agent, unlike with a cruise.

My partner and I recently returned from Tauck's Rome and the Amalfi Coast trip in late April 2004. An outstanding itinerary - including Capri, which is rarely if ever a part of group tours - wonderful food, and fabulous hotels. What a value - we could never have afforded this trip with these activities and hotels on our own.

We expected an "over 55" crowd - not so! Our group ranged from their 30's to their 60's, with the median like us in our 40's - an active, interesting, educated, very diverse group of folks from as far away as Hawaii and Hong Kong. (We are from Portland, Maine.)

The trip included a few wonderful touches like a boat ride along the Amalfi Coast, a lecture on contemporary Italian culture at the seaside villa of a British expat/university professor and a splendid violin and piano recital at the Museum of Music in Rome.

EXCELLENT Tauck tour guide, great hotels, some free afternoons to explore. Most meals included, and you could choose from the entire menu.

Wonderful pacing.

Pros: Nice hotels,good basic itinerary
Cons: Badly located hotels, bad food, impersonal service, overpriced, not luxurious as advertised

We just got back from our 10th Tauck tour (to Italy this time), and it will be our last. Our tour was advertised as a luxury small group tour with a hefty surcharge (about $2,500 over the regular high price)as it was limited to 26 rather than the usual 44 people. However,we still rode in a large uncomfortable bus with a rigid seating chart and impersonal service Hotels were nice BUT on the outskirts of the city we were in with a good 1-2 mile hike to see any sites, and check-in is 4:00PM with an early departure the next day so you don't get to enjoy them anyway. Worst of all, our tour director was jaded, told us she "wasn't supposed to direct this tour, it was just thrown on her the last minute by Tauck." Instead of concentrating on useful facts, we heard a lot of personal complaining. Included meals were all taken together at 2 big tables with little or no choice of entree, and food was mediocre to really bad. were on our own. In short, a rip-off for the price.

Pros: Lovely hotels
Cons: No al l'carte dining. Inexperienced Tour Director.

Alps tour in July 2006. VERY DISAPPOINTED! Not a really luxury tour... nice hotels...lovely people...beautiful scenery...poor tour...no al l'carte dining....poor food... no choices...tour guide did not speak german.... she just read from a printed script...tour guide made fun of all the sites...several advertised sites were not seen on the tour...bus passed by and if you were looking out the window, you might get a glimse of an attraction. It was like watching a movie on a bus. Not exactly how I thought I'd see the Alps. Paid a lot of money and was not satisfied. Customer service doesn't care. Use another tour co.

Pros: Hotels were excellent. Bus driver was superb.
Cons: Group meals. No choice of dining times.

Just back from my fifth tour. It wasn't as good as I had expected. Some places that were listed in the brochure were not shown. The a'lacarte dining which I previously loved on prior trips is a thing of the past. The entire group had to dine together at specified times in separate dining spaces with either no choice or a very limited choice selected just for Tauck guests. Guests with problems were usually ignored or at best made to feel uncomfortable. Acommodations were not made willingly. This was not what I had expected. I was extremely upset.

Never book a tour that was an added date to the original brochure. Our tour guide who was filling in did not know the region very well. Just read a script. Could not give answers to questions. Really poor commentary.

Pros: Service, the boat, the sights (esp the dinner and show in Vienna)
Cons: The food ranged from very good to very not at times...

I took a Danube River cruise with Tauck this summer and was very impressed! The boat "Swiss Jewel" was gorgeous, the room spacious, the food good and the service-well, compared to our experiences on Holland America (aka "it's NOT our problem-whatever it is") , the Tauck tour guides were just super. I highly recommend this cruise to anyone who wants a personalized and very special smaller cruise.