ABOUT TAUCK TOURS:
After a careful and exhaustive research, I decided to use Tauck Tours to effectively use 10 days of vacation time that we wanted to spend in Spain. Tauck is very pricey but our experience with them well exceeded our expectations. Tauck took the stress out of EVERYTHING. We never had to handle our baggage or worry about pilot strikes. Our hotels were always superlative (Meridien Hotel in Barcelona, The Palace Hotel in Madrid (!), a beautiful parador in Ronda.....) complete with bidet (except Madrid which was surprising...) and crisp Italian linens. (again, except in Madrid which is a Westin hotel that uses American high thread count sheets....), and beautifully appointed rooms and lounges. Magnificent buffet breakfasts were always included and we never had to worry about tipping bellhops, waiters, etc bec Tauck took care of all of that. Judging from the way we were treated, I would guess that they tipped them all very generously.
While in Barcelona, Iberia Airlines’ pilots went on strike and cancelled our flight to Granada. Our tour guide, Matt Curran, somehow arranged so that we were able to take an earlier flight out which was an amazing feat considering that most flights were cancelled and many tourists were stranded to find other ways to complete their itineraries. There were also wonderful surprises along the way like a horse and carriage ride through Granada, our very own Flamenco show in Sevilla and a group of troubadors (very charming young men but man....they sang so badly...) called La Tuna in Madrid who serenaded us whilst we completed our desserts. We were also the first in line at the Prado museum which made the tour so pleasant. Every contingency was anticipated. Our train ride from Sevilla to Madrid was via business class complete with movie and lunch with wide and roomy seats. (Though the movie was a French movie dubbed in Spanish, L’Enfant, I totally enjoyed it even if it was a sad one.) Another feature that I cannot even express enough relief about, is the fact that there were no hidden charges or extra charges tacked on. I mean, I didn't have to worry about making any more decisions if I wanted to tack on another "optional tour". I hate that. It just feels soooo tacky. (Trafalgar Tours is notorious for this one....) For a memorable, stress-free vacation full of unexpected charm and the little touches that make such a HUGE impact, Tauck Tours clearly, excels. This is a classy, well-run enterprise. Whoever is in charge deserves the cover of some business magazine! Tauck Tours has more than won my loyalty and my next vacation will be another Tauck Tour, I am sure of it!
