Other Options...

[sayhello]

I would love to have the Tauck experience in about 7-10 days.

I've never personally toured with CIE Tours International, but I've heard some good things about them. This is a 9 day tour of England, Scotland & Ireland:

https://www.cietours.com/ireland-uk/tours/british-irish-delight/

They also have a couple of 11 day tours that cover this area.

https://www.cietours.com/ireland-uk/tours/irish-british-focus/

https://www.cietours.com/ireland-uk/tours/essence-of-britain-ireland/

Sayhello

 

[wdhinn89]

I've never personally toured with CIE Tours International, but I've heard some good things about them. This is a 9 day tour of England, Scotland & Ireland:

https://www.cietours.com/ireland-uk/tours/british-irish-delight/

They also have a couple of 11 day tours that cover this area.

https://www.cietours.com/ireland-uk/tours/irish-british-focus/

https://www.cietours.com/ireland-uk/tours/essence-of-britain-ireland/

Sayhello

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[tink1970]

@wdhinn89, I've done both CIE and Tauck for Ireland and CIE is definitely more basic. I preferred our CIE guide to our Tauck guide but the lodging, meals, etc were much better with Tauck. CIE is underwritten by the Irish government (or something like that, I was a little fuzzy on the details) so when I went on an 8 day trip (with Day 8 being the airport day), our guide departed after we arrived on Day 7, citing EU labor laws(?). It was weird (to me). "Here are your hotel keys, fill out the survey, g'bye."

An example is with Dublin-with CIE we actually stayed in Dun Laoghaire at the Royal Marine Hotel and the group took a bus into Dublin (by that point I was ready for me time so I took the train in). With Tauck we stayed at the Shelbourne and Trinity College and other sites were within walking distance. We had a private viewing of EPIC the museum and a very nice dinner at a restaurant right around the corner from EPIC...things like that.

I'm not discouraging you by all means, just want to give you a head's up. If I had my choice, I'd split 2 7 day Tauck tours over a year or a couple of years, although I acknowledge flying gets tiring and expensive.

 

[wdhinn89]

@wdhinn89, I've done both CIE and Tauck for Ireland and CIE is definitely more basic. I preferred our CIE guide to our Tauck guide but the lodging, meals, etc were much better with Tauck. CIE is underwritten by the Irish government (or something like that, I was a little fuzzy on the details) so when I went on an 8 day trip (with Day 8 being the airport day), our guide departed after we arrived on Day 7, citing EU labor laws(?). It was weird (to me). "Here are your hotel keys, fill out the survey, g'bye."

An example is with Dublin-with CIE we actually stayed in Dun Laoghaire at the Royal Marine Hotel and the group took a bus into Dublin (by that point I was ready for me time so I took the train in). With Tauck we stayed at the Shelbourne and Trinity College and other sites were within walking distance. We had a private viewing of EPIC the museum and a very nice dinner at a restaurant right around the corner from EPIC...things like that.

I'm not discouraging you by all means, just want to give you a head's up. If I had my choice, I'd split 2 7 day Tauck tours over a year or a couple of years, although I acknowledge flying gets tiring and expensive.

Thank you for the advice. It doesn't said like we would be happy with CIE. We really enjoyed our Tauck experience and all the special touches they offered.

 

[Ava]

@wdhinn89, I've done both CIE and Tauck for Ireland and CIE is definitely more basic. I preferred our CIE guide to our Tauck guide but the lodging, meals, etc were much better with Tauck. CIE is underwritten by the Irish government (or something like that, I was a little fuzzy on the details) so when I went on an 8 day trip (with Day 8 being the airport day), our guide departed after we arrived on Day 7, citing EU labor laws(?). It was weird (to me). "Here are your hotel keys, fill out the survey, g'bye."

An example is with Dublin-with CIE we actually stayed in Dun Laoghaire at the Royal Marine Hotel and the group took a bus into Dublin (by that point I was ready for me time so I took the train in). With Tauck we stayed at the Shelbourne and Trinity College and other sites were within walking distance. We had a private viewing of EPIC the museum and a very nice dinner at a restaurant right around the corner from EPIC...things like that.

I'm not discouraging you by all means, just want to give you a head's up. If I had my choice, I'd split 2 7 day Tauck tours over a year or a couple of years, although I acknowledge flying gets tiring and expensive.

Thank you for the review of CIE. I've looked at their family tours but their minimum age is 8 so we'd have a few years until my youngest is old enough. They only have 4 family itineraries at the moment, but they all sound fun and are very reasonably priced for a week-long tour in those countries, IMO. (The England tour even includes seeing a musical in the West End, and the Harry Potter Studio tour!)

 

[pixiepirate]

I would love to have the Tauck experience in about 7-10 days.

You might also look at Insight Vacations. I have only done one of their regular tours, but their Luxury Gold tours are supposed to be more on par with Tauck

 

[AquamarineSteph]

@wdhinn89, I've done both CIE and Tauck for Ireland and CIE is definitely more basic. I preferred our CIE guide to our Tauck guide but the lodging, meals, etc were much better with Tauck. CIE is underwritten by the Irish government (or something like that, I was a little fuzzy on the details) so when I went on an 8 day trip (with Day 8 being the airport day), our guide departed after we arrived on Day 7, citing EU labor laws(?). It was weird (to me). "Here are your hotel keys, fill out the survey, g'bye."

An example is with Dublin-with CIE we actually stayed in Dun Laoghaire at the Royal Marine Hotel and the group took a bus into Dublin (by that point I was ready for me time so I took the train in). With Tauck we stayed at the Shelbourne and Trinity College and other sites were within walking distance. We had a private viewing of EPIC the museum and a very nice dinner at a restaurant right around the corner from EPIC...things like that.

I'm not discouraging you by all means, just want to give you a head's up. If I had my choice, I'd split 2 7 day Tauck tours over a year or a couple of years, although I acknowledge flying gets tiring and expensive.

I have also done both Tauck and CIE. Here's my breakdown. Both tours were equal to me as far as tour guides went. I enjoyed my travel companions better on the CIE tour. While the Tauck tour offered some unique things - the reason I selected that exact tour - the CIE tour was more than adequate for what I paid for it. As far as money's worth at the end of the day? I enjoyed both tours. I'd do both again, BUT I did better (cost/experience) with CIE.

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

 

[Aelin1977]

For anyone interested CinderellaSlipper has posted her latest trip report.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I booked our A&K Family Antarctica cruise through a Virtuoso TA (my go-to for hotel reservations for the free daily breakfast and property credits lol).

In return for booking with him, he is giving my dd and I this experience in Buenos Aires before our cruise (he gave us 4 options and this is the one that I chose):

This is a completely unique dining experience which cleverly blends exquisite food and wine, local culture and social integration. Individuals, couples, families and groups from all over the world are mixed around two 14 person banquet tables, which are led and entertained by two charismatic guides, and a friendly international team. This is not a cooking class, but a fun and unique experience, where you will meet and dine with people from all over the world.


Choose from our gourmet fillings and create your own empanada learning the traditional ‘repulge’ technique. Later, use your imagination in Argentina’s first and only novelty empanada competition (with prizes for the winner!). Alongside your creations, enjoy grilled provoleta cheese with sliced chorizo sausage, and our homemade chimichurri.


Dine the very best steak in Argentina, cooked to order, Vegetarian, pescetarian and celiac options are available on request. For desert make your own alfajores, Argentina’s national sweet, where biscuits, dulce de leche, melted chocolate fondue and coconut shavings combine to delight the senses.

Finally, get taught about the history and etiquette of mate, Argentina’s national pastime, and prepare it from scratch among yourselves.

I wanted to share as I know there are a few foodies here and I am very excited about this experience!

I am also using him to book a private tour as I read on the weekend that BA has some issues with petty thefts directed towards tourists, which makes me a bit nervous about trying to navigate the city on our own (and we only have the day we arrive {at 6:45am} and an additional 1.5 days to see the city before we leave for Ushuaia, so a private guide makes sense). I am getting very excited for this trip!

Maybe we'll even cross paths with @calypso726 in Antarctica!

 

[Calfan]

I booked our A&K Family Antarctica cruise through a Virtuoso TA (my go-to for hotel reservations for the free daily breakfast and property credits lol).

In return for booking with him, he is giving my dd and I this experience in Buenos Aires before our cruise (he gave us 4 options and this is the one that I chose):

This is a completely unique dining experience which cleverly blends exquisite food and wine, local culture and social integration. Individuals, couples, families and groups from all over the world are mixed around two 14 person banquet tables, which are led and entertained by two charismatic guides, and a friendly international team. This is not a cooking class, but a fun and unique experience, where you will meet and dine with people from all over the world.


Choose from our gourmet fillings and create your own empanada learning the traditional ‘repulge’ technique. Later, use your imagination in Argentina’s first and only novelty empanada competition (with prizes for the winner!). Alongside your creations, enjoy grilled provoleta cheese with sliced chorizo sausage, and our homemade chimichurri.


Dine the very best steak in Argentina, cooked to order, Vegetarian, pescetarian and celiac options are available on request. For desert make your own alfajores, Argentina’s national sweet, where biscuits, dulce de leche, melted chocolate fondue and coconut shavings combine to delight the senses.

Finally, get taught about the history and etiquette of mate, Argentina’s national pastime, and prepare it from scratch among yourselves.

I wanted to share as I know there are a few foodies here and I am very excited about this experience!

I am also using him to book a private tour as I read on the weekend that BA has some issues with petty thefts directed towards tourists, which makes me a bit nervous about trying to navigate the city on our own (and we only have the day we arrive {at 6:45am} and an additional 1.5 days to see the city before we leave for Ushuaia, so a private guide makes sense). I am getting very excited for this trip!

Maybe we'll even cross paths with @calypso726 in Antarctica!

That sounds awesome! I loved the empanadas in Argentina on our Patagonia hiking trip. Also loved that national dessert/pasttime, lol.

 

[calypso726]

I booked our A&K Family Antarctica cruise through a Virtuoso TA (my go-to for hotel reservations for the free daily breakfast and property credits lol).

In return for booking with him, he is giving my dd and I this experience in Buenos Aires before our cruise (he gave us 4 options and this is the one that I chose):

This is a completely unique dining experience which cleverly blends exquisite food and wine, local culture and social integration. Individuals, couples, families and groups from all over the world are mixed around two 14 person banquet tables, which are led and entertained by two charismatic guides, and a friendly international team. This is not a cooking class, but a fun and unique experience, where you will meet and dine with people from all over the world.


Choose from our gourmet fillings and create your own empanada learning the traditional ‘repulge’ technique. Later, use your imagination in Argentina’s first and only novelty empanada competition (with prizes for the winner!). Alongside your creations, enjoy grilled provoleta cheese with sliced chorizo sausage, and our homemade chimichurri.


Dine the very best steak in Argentina, cooked to order, Vegetarian, pescetarian and celiac options are available on request. For desert make your own alfajores, Argentina’s national sweet, where biscuits, dulce de leche, melted chocolate fondue and coconut shavings combine to delight the senses.

Finally, get taught about the history and etiquette of mate, Argentina’s national pastime, and prepare it from scratch among yourselves.

I wanted to share as I know there are a few foodies here and I am very excited about this experience!

I am also using him to book a private tour as I read on the weekend that BA has some issues with petty thefts directed towards tourists, which makes me a bit nervous about trying to navigate the city on our own (and we only have the day we arrive {at 6:45am} and an additional 1.5 days to see the city before we leave for Ushuaia, so a private guide makes sense). I am getting very excited for this trip!

Maybe we'll even cross paths with @calypso726 in Antarctica!

Sounds great! That would be cool if we crossed paths.

 

[Cousin Orville]

I hope to hear how your Antarctica trips go! It's definitely on my to do list when my youngest gets a bit older. Our main non-ABD trips we're working on is Israel & Jordan in the Spring - queue the Indiana Jones music for visiting Petra. In the Summer we're going up to Banff - specifically Lake Louise. After almost 50 countries, I've yet to visit Canada. I kinda feel guilty about that. And we've pretty much set on Morocco on a private family tour next December. Conde Nast has a list of their recommended traveler specialists for most popular countries. We used one of their recommendations for Portugal last year and it was a great trip with lots of little VIP experiences here and there. After taht is probably an adults Golden Triangle trip with friends in 2020.

 

[Rapunzellover]

I hope to hear how your Antarctica trips go! It's definitely on my to do list when my youngest gets a bit older. Our main non-ABD trips we're working on is Israel & Jordan in the Spring - queue the Indiana Jones music for visiting Petra. In the Summer we're going up to Banff - specifically Lake Louise. After almost 50 countries, I've yet to visit Canada. I kinda feel guilty about that. And we've pretty much set on Morocco on a private family tour next December. Conde Nast has a list of their recommended traveler specialists for most popular countries. We used one of their recommendations for Portugal last year and it was a great trip with lots of little VIP experiences here and there. After is probably an adults Golden Triangle trip with friends.

Can you pass on the Portugal reccomendations? My plans to go this year fell through, and I'll be going next year.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Can you pass on the Portugal reccomendations? My plans to go this year fell through, and I'll be going next year.

We used Portugal Tours for You recommended as mentioned above in Conde Nast's list of Travel Specialists. They customized the whole trip for us. We wanted a 2 wk trip including Lisbon and Porto that would be good for a family, but we also told them my dw and I were into food and wine. They added a visit to Alentejo and a stay at São Lourenço do Barrocal, a winery/agriturismo. They arranged private tours while we were in Lisbon and Porto and many cool experiences. We did a lot of touring in and around Lisbon, but they arranged a visit to Lisbon's aquarium with the kids with a private behind the scenes tour with a marine biologist. It was cool. When we were in Porto, they arranged a private tour of Taylor Port Winery and a tasting. They normally only offer group tours as far as I could tell. We were the only private tour. And when we had our tasting, there were lots of people doing tastings of 2 or 3 small glasses. Ours was a private table with a crazy vertical tasting where they had multiple years - mostly very old ports. I'm really not a big Port fan, but it was a fascinating tour and neat experience. We skipped the hour long line to a JK Rowling hot spot in Porto. The winery that we stayed at in Alentejo was apparently where Madonna stays yearly to ride horses - we just missed her. And all of it was very affordable. It's tempting to go back, especially to Alentejo. I just loved it.

 

[wdhinn89]

I have also done both Tauck and CIE. Here's my breakdown. Both tours were equal to me as far as tour guides went. I enjoyed my travel companions better on the CIE tour. While the Tauck tour offered some unique things - the reason I selected that exact tour - the CIE tour was more than adequate for what I paid for it. As far as money's worth at the end of the day? I enjoyed both tours. I'd do both again, BUT I did better (cost/experience) with CIE.

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

Thank you for your experience info!

 

[wdhinn89]

You might also look at Insight Vacations. I have only done one of their regular tours, but their Luxury Gold tours are supposed to be more on par with Tauck

Thank you!

 

[CaptainCook]

For anyone interested CinderellaSlipper has posted her latest trip report.

Can you PM me her link again? I can’t seem to find it but have enjoyed reading her site in the past. I can’t find her Facebook page any longer, either.

 

[calypso726]

I hope to hear how your Antarctica trips go! It's definitely on my to do list when my youngest gets a bit older. Our main non-ABD trips we're working on is Israel & Jordan in the Spring - queue the Indiana Jones music for visiting Petra. In the Summer we're going up to Banff - specifically Lake Louise. After almost 50 countries, I've yet to visit Canada. I kinda feel guilty about that. And we've pretty much set on Morocco on a private family tour next December. Conde Nast has a list of their recommended traveler specialists for most popular countries. We used one of their recommendations for Portugal last year and it was a great trip with lots of little VIP experiences here and there. After taht is probably an adults Golden Triangle trip with friends in 2020.

I'll post about mine here and on other social media. Love Indiana Jones! LOL Banff is on our list for down the road too. Morocco and Golden Triangle also sound exciting! I hope you share your thoughts about your non ABD adventures here with us too.

We have two other non ABD trips for next year. A visit to Scotland again. We also just booked a trip to the Maldives with a stop over in Dubai for a few days. I'm completely psyched about it since the whole thing was booked using hotel points and airline miles. Emirates first class on the A380 which has a shower on the plane. We have a few days at the Al Maha Deset Resort and Spa in Dubai. Then, we fly to the Maldives and have a few days in over-water bungalows at the Conrad Rangali. I am so looking forward to eating at Ittha, the undersea restaurant. All the pictures I've seen look so cool. I can't wait to see it in person!

 

[Cousin Orville]

I'll post about mine here and on other social media. Love Indiana Jones! LOL Banff is on our list for down the road too. Morocco and Golden Triangle also sound exciting! I hope you share your thoughts about your non ABD adventures here with us too.

We have two other non ABD trips for next year. A visit to Scotland again. We also just booked a trip to the Maldives with a stop over in Dubai for a few days. I'm completely psyched about it since the whole thing was booked using hotel points and airline miles. Emirates first class on the A380 which has a shower on the plane. We have a few days at the Al Maha Deset Resort and Spa in Dubai. Then, we fly to the Maldives and have a few days in over-water bungalows at the Conrad Rangali. I am so looking forward to eating at Ittha, the undersea restaurant. All the pictures I've seen look so cool. I can't wait to see it in person!

So ironic as I was looking up Maldives info last night! I was watching one of my favorite YouTube bloggers, Kara and Nate, in the Maldives and I can't stop thinking about it. Ok, that settles it, I have to go now

We have a long layover in Dubai this November on the way to Cape Town. We’re flying Emirates business. I’m debating spending more Amex points for 1st or whether to save it for another flight. I am tempted to go First at least the way over to Dubai be refreshed for our long layover. We booked a private tour to take us around. We'll have to go back for more later. I'm curious, what are your thoughts on drinking alcohol on the plane after the story of the British woman who was jailed in Dubai for having a measurable blood alcohol level from drinks on the plane? Sounded like there was a lot more too the story. I'm not terribly concerned and plan to drink responsibly on the plane, but was curious about your thoughts.

 

[Aelin1977]

Can you PM me her link again? I can’t seem to find it but have enjoyed reading her site in the past. I can’t find her Facebook page any longer, either.

Check your messages.