For almost 100 years, Tauck has been helping travelers see the world by land, river, and sea. The family-owned and -operated company has enjoyed plenty of word-of-mouth recommendations from past guests (and needed to do minimal advertising as a result), and many tour participants become repeat clients, sometimes known as “Tauckies”.
TOP TOURS: 14 Best Companies for Guided Tours
A frequent travel industry award winner, Tauck offers travelers exclusive and behind-the-scenes, authentic experiences in the places it visits.
TourScoop Takeaways: Tauck
- Continents covered: 7
- Price range: Tour prices start at about $4,000 per person and include almost everything except airfare.
- Tour size range: Typical land tours have about 40 guests. River cruises range from 84 to 130 passengers. The company is working to increase its small-group offerings and will offer about 75 small-group land journeys around the world in the coming years, with most of those departures averaging 24 travelers, and many of Tauck’s African safaris featuring as few as 18 guests.
- Tour types: Land tours, safaris, small-group tours, European river cruises, small-ship cruises, and family travel tours
Credibility Check
Tauck is a member of the United States Tour Operators Association and the European Tourism Association. The company has racked up numerous awards and accolades over the years, including appearances on Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards in each of the last 25 years and recognition as “Best Tour Operator” in Travel Weekly’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards 25 times (in multiple categories) since 2003. More than half of its clients are returning Tauck travelers each year.
Tour Destinations
Tauck tours travel to more than 100 destinations in more than 70 countries on all seven continents. New tours include small-ship cruises to eastern Canada and New England, Alaska’s Inside Passage, and The Emirates, Qatar, and Oman.
Tour Types
Tauck offers land tours, safaris, small-group tours, European river cruises, and small ship cruises. Its Tauck Bridges collection of family travel tours and cruises has been around for 25 years.
MULTI-GEN ADVENTURES: 10 Best Travel Companies for Family Tours
When browsing tours on Tauck’s website, travelers can filter options by departure date, tour type, and destination. Tour descriptions include detailed itineraries, information about accommodations, reviews from past travelers, and information on what to pack and mobility requirements for the tour.
Tour Guides
Tour guides—referred to as Tauck Directors by the company—average 10 years of service. The company offers a generous compensation package that helps it attract top-tier candidates who remain loyal to the company and develop a high level of destination expertise over their tenures. Guides come from 41 countries, collectively speak a total of 52 languages, and have diverse backgrounds and past work experience (including a former priest, former college professors, and classical musicians).
Inclusions/Extras
Tauck tours include almost everything but airfare.
- Tauck land journeys include all gratuities (except Tauck Director gratuities), all taxes and fees, all sightseeing and entertainment, most meals, and airport transfers.
- Tauck European river cruises and small-ship ocean cruises include all shore excursions, all gratuities, all taxes and fees, all onboard beverages (adult and otherwise, in most cases), most meals, all sightseeing and entertainment, and airport transfers. Many cruises also include either a pre-cruise or post-cruise hotel stay (or both) accompanied by Tauck-guided sightseeing guides.
CIAO ITALIA: 10 Exceptional Italy Tours
In some larger cities, a lunch or dinner may not be included to allow guests to explore the destination at their own pace.
Typical Travelers
Many of the company’s travelers tend to be in their 50s and older. Family groups on Tauck Bridges trips tend to fall into one of three categories: conventional family groups (parents traveling with young children), grandparents traveling with grandchildren, or multigenerational groups including grandparents, their adult children, and their grandchildren.
Communication
Tauck communicates with guests throughout the entire process, from booking to pre- and post-departure. Guests receive their personal travel documents via email 60 days prior to departure for cruises and 30 days prior to departure for land journeys.
COMFORT ALL DAY: How to Choose the Best Shoes for Travel
Documents include information such as necessary pre-trip requirements, packing suggestions, information on local currency and weather, emergency contact information, and a day-by-day itinerary. The company also offers travel protection plans for extra peace of mind.
Private Options
Tauck offers private group departures with a minimum of 10 guests that work well for family reunions or milestone celebrations.
Sustainability Efforts
Tauck has focused on the cultural preservation side of sustainable travel through efforts like a guest-volunteer program in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and support of nonprofit Tourism Cares.
As European river cruising has become a larger part of the company’s business, Tauck has worked in partnership with Scylla (which owns and operates Tauck’s fleet of European riverboats) on a number of initiatives, including using cleaner-burning GTL fuel on riverboats when available, eliminating single-use plastic water bottles by providing passengers with a reusable bottle, and installing shower-mounted shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel dispensers on riverboats to eliminate the use of small plastic bottles. The company has also made efforts to “green” its business operations, for instance by increasing its use of electronic media to reduce the number of brochures printed.
Health and Safety Practices
The company’s small-ship ocean cruises have a physician aboard each departure. European river cruises do not, but the boats are never far from shore and local medical facilities.
For 2023, all Tauck guests ages 12 and older must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have had at least one booster dose and/or proof of recovery from Covid. For 2024 tours and cruises, Tauck currently has no vaccination requirement. Guests are advised of necessary vaccinations at multiple points, including at the time of booking and 180 days prior to departure.
Tauck stays in constant communication with its on-the-ground partners in the regions where it travels and monitors all U.S. government-issued travel advisories and media reports. Its cross-departmental Global Response Team can quickly respond to any situation 24 hours a day.
More from TourScoop:
- Best Tour Companies for Older Travelers
- 10 Essentials for Your Carry-On Bag
- 10 Things to Know Before Your First Group Tour