Tauck Tour in Ireland

Elaine, "Smeone told us that Tauck is the only tour company that includes northern Ireland." That's NOT true. The Rick Steves 14-day "Ireland" tour also covers several locations in Northern Ireland, including Belfast, Giant's Causeway, Carrick-A-Rede Bridge, Bushmills, Dunluce Castle and several other locations. The tour also visits Cong and Ashford Castle, but doesn't stay there. It's great to hear that you enjoyed the Tauck Ireland tour. I feel the same way about the RS tour that I took, which covers a similar route. Unfortunately, Tauck Tours are WAY above my budget range, so it's not likely I'll ever be able to try them (especially now that I'm on a Pension). One of the Ireland departures is about $8,000 ($570 per day) with the single supplement! The equivalent RS tour is $4620 (with single supplement). Cheers!

WAY above my budget, too! Anyway, I have always enjoyed staying at B&Bs and talking to the owners and other "local" travelers. Sounds like a great trip, truly, but kind of over the top for me (six course meals every night?).

Negates the whole purpose of Rick's Europe Thru The Back Door philosophy though. Nice you have the money to do this but don't believe the majority of RS followers can claim the same. Also agree this post belongs in the new Trip Report section of the Helpline.

Ditto what Claudia said.

Well we mingled with a lot of Irish people. They are the nicest people we have ever come across in our European or Australia travels. They love Americans over there. Ireland is in desperate need of tourists, as their economy is realy suffering. Our group of 26 people talked regularly to most of the yong people who we all came in contact with. Yes we were offered beautiful meals, as that was what the hotels offered at on their menus. We didn't have to eat if we didn't want to. We had a choice of two restaurants at each of the hotels we stayed at. What is wrong with that? We could eat a simple hamburger, if we wanted to. We liked that all our entry fees (such as at the Titantic museum), etc. were already covered. We didn't have to wait in line to buy entry tickets, thus saving us time. We had our American tour guide with us everyday. We also had native Irish guides some days. Tauck doesn't nickel and dime you to death. Almost everything was included in our two week trip. With some tours you have to pay for your individual day tours. A few days we were offered alternative things to do at the particular hotels, instead of going sightseeing. Some of the travelers chose to do falconry and really loved it. We really enjoyed having such a small group. Golf was offered also, with a charge for clubs. We made a lot of friends on our tour and will continue our friendship with some. Last year we met a couple who had been on 36 Tauck tours. They had also traveled on other tours. If you talk to peple who have traveled with Tauck, they usually return for other trips. They are a family run business and have never been in debt. They have been in business for, I believe, 64 years. They must be doing something right. Our travel guide had been with them for 31 years. A lot of travel agents will tell you that Tauck is a class run business.

Elaine, no one is arguing that it isn't a good company or a nice trip. It's great, if that's how you want to spend your money. It's your money and your vacation. It's just that most of us here would never consider spending that kind of money when Ireland, in particular, is so easy to do on your own (or on a Rick Steves tour). You stayed in high-end hotels, not where Irish tourists would stay. You traveled in your group and were escorted into venues where others had to wait. Lots of tours provide that at much less cost. Tauck sells high-end tours at high-end prices, and there is nothing wrong with doing it that way if that's what you want No need to be defensive. But your report does belong in the Trip Reports section.

Elaine, Most of the tour characteristics you described are exactly the same with RS tours - local Guides are provided; admissions to Museums or whatever are always obtained by the Guide, so there's no waiting in line; tour groups also small, ranging from 22-26 or so; there are always choices at group meals; tour members are not "nickel & dimed" (even the gratuities are included for Guide and Driver - NO extra tips required) and many tour members form long term friendships, which are often renewed at the annual Tour Reunions in Edmonds. However, one of the hallmarks of the RS travel philosophy is staying in smaller, local Hotels rather than big five star chains. I've taken five tours so far (sixth this year) and the Hotels have always been excellent (although single rooms in any Hotel can be a bit "spartan"). The impression I get in reading the replies here, is that everyone agrees with you that Tauck provides excellent tours, but the reality is that most of us simply can't afford them. It's great that you decided to post about your tour experience, as there may be some here who have the resources to try Tauck Tours, and I'm sure the information will be helpful. Cheers!

This is the first time I've seen a discussion of Tauck here, and while I am sure it belongs elsewhere, I can't resist. We took a Tauck 8-day tour of Rome and the Amalfi coast this spring, our first. The pluses included a night entry to the Sistine Chapel. The minuses: the kind of wasted time that comes from a lot of Multi-course meals, as well as somewhat surface treatment of important historic and cultural sites. Examples: quickie in and out at Pompeii, followed by very long sit down lunch at local restaurant; failure to see any of the ancient sites in Rome except very quick run through the Colosseum; failure to organize options to expand the experiences, as could have been done in for example Capri, where a few of us figured out how to hire a small boat to circle the island but others didnt do more than what was provided (great hotel and shopping and one escorted trip to the uninteresting Anacapri, with a Chamber of Commerce pitch for shopping). As I have said to people since we returned home: you never want to complain about time spent in Italy, for goodness sake, but Tauck is probably greatest for travelers who like an unambitious pace and a lot of nice food.