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Luxury Gold vs Tauck
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of Luxury Gold and Tauck.The Low Down
Luxury Gold (a luxury brand brought to you by Insight Vacations) endeavours to elevate travel beyond the ordinary, bringing you the best escorted experience for the best value. Staying in some of the finest hotels, chosen for their prime location, ambience, and level of luxury, and enjoying meals and wine at some of the best restaurants the destination has to offer. Insight have recently expanded their range of luxury vacations to include trips through South America, Africa, and Asia - where you can expect the ultimate in luxury and refinement.With smaller groups (average of 30 but no more than 40 guests - and Asia & South Africa with only 24), relaxed start days, VIP door to door transfers (if you're an Aussie within 50km of an airport) , Luxury Gold offers a seamless stress-free travel experience. If you've travelled with any of its sister brands like AAT Kings, Trafalgar, Insight, Inspiring Journeys or Uniworld further savings are available.
New to the Australian market in 2017, Tauck began operations in the US over 90 years ago. Offering premium river cruises, land tours, small ship cruises, family adventures and small group journeys around the world. You won't find too many Aussies and Kiwis on their trips yet, as they have only recently opened an office Downunder, but Tauck are renowned for the quality and inclusiveness of their trips, whether they are on land or water. Stats
No. of Trips
52
No. of Departures
613
Avg. Trip Length
13 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$869
Accommodation
4.5 - 5 Star
Budget
Premium & Luxury
No. of Trips
193
No. of Departures
2,783
Avg. Trip Length
11 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$1,044
Accommodation
4.5 - 5 Star
Budget
Premium & Luxury
In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
Indulge your passions on a luxurious small group journey, offering the perfect blend of guided and independent exploration. Choose from our worldwide collection of immersive luxury journeys.
How do we define “Luxury”? It’s exceptional dining experiences, including Michelin star restaurants and cooking classes. It’s staying in luxury hotels in central or scenic locations. Luxury is feeling like a VIP accessing iconic sites after hours and meeting remarkable people. It’s having the service of a Travelling Concierge accompanying you along the way with incredible commitment to service. When you travel with us, we ensure your experience is elevated, elegant and impeccable.
We put our heart into everything we do and are proud to be leaders in luxury travel. I invite you to relax and enjoy the charm of different cultures as we take care of every detail. Speak with Global Journeys today to start your holiday planning. We look forward to taking you on a journey beyond the ordinary.
We believe that when you travel, you should never settle for ordinary. You deserve to travel in good company, with someone who cares. We believe that good value sells itself – you should get what you pay for, and then some, in one upfront price with virtually everything included. Leave your worries at home; we take on all the planning, all the logistics. To you, it’s peace of mind travel, to us, it’s 90+ years of integrity.
Wherever we travel, we’re all about taking you to explore the world’s treasures….discover people and cultures you may not have known existed…and experience extraordinary, life-changing moments. Since 1925, we’ve built our company on the personal referrals and recommendations of our guests. We can think of no higher testament to our journeys and commitment to customer satisfaction – and no better way to tell you what we do than through their words.
Recent Reviews
4.6
This was a great tour with excellent hotels and tour guides. The coach was comfortable with plenty of room - maximum 40 passengers - but with Luxury Gold the maximum number is 18 and minimum is 10.
Australians need to be aware that we were asked for an extra 400 euros at the end of the trip - 250 euros for our tour manager and 150 euros for the ...read more driver. Apparently Americans are given vouchers for these gratuities and the Canadians were given an itemised account which included gratuities. However I am not aware of how much they paid for their trip compared to Australians.
Note: The option to prepay Tour Director & Driver gratuities prior to departure is an option. Please ask us to include this in your quote if you wish - or they can be organised after you have paid your trip deposit.
Australians need to be aware that we were asked for an extra 400 euros at the end of the trip - 250 euros for our tour manager and 150 euros for the ...read more driver. Apparently Americans are given vouchers for these gratuities and the Canadians were given an itemised account which included gratuities. However I am not aware of how much they paid for their trip compared to Australians.
Note: The option to prepay Tour Director & Driver gratuities prior to departure is an option. Please ask us to include this in your quote if you wish - or they can be organised after you have paid your trip deposit.
We enjoyed all the highlights and had personal experiences with the sites. The food was great. Really enjoyed the villages we visited.
Great itinerary for a trip to Egypt, hits the main sites. Thrilled with the addition of Esna’s temple, which is being cleaned/restored and has amazing colors! Great pace with a 7-day cruise, allowing a break mid-day for a late lunch on the River Tosca. I never felt rushed to get through a site/temple. Again, our Egyptologist guide, Wael, was a wealth ...read more of information - we couldn’t have asked for a better guide!
Our itinerary was just busy enough with enough time to explore on your own if you wanted to or rest if you wanted to. I especially liked exploring Belfast and Giants Causeway, Dublin, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Galway, and Ashford Castle. I loved hearing about the rich and sometimes complicated history of the areas.
Even though there was a lot of moving, the baggage handling and coach rides were done very well. No other way to cover so much ground in one trip.
4.6
The poor weather (rain, cold and wind) was a distraction throughout the tour which, unfortunately, had a negative effect on many of the venues. It made the tour guides jobs particularly difficult. Not Tauck's problem but, nonetheless, it was unfortunate as it negatively impacted the tour. When we booked this tour, we compared it to another Tauck Eastern ...read more European tour referred to as a Jewish Heritage Tour. As we are are not of Jewish faith, we felt that this tour would not be meaningful to us. In hindsight, we are not sure that the tour we chose would have been much different from the Jewish Heritage Tour. Most of the members in our tour group were in fact Jewish and the focus of the tour definitely was on the Jewish faith and the Holocaust. I would like to suggest that Tauck make more of an effort to differentiate between these two tours. There is much to consider in an Eastern European tour that does not focus so highly on the Jewish heritage.
On a very positive note, the local tour guides were excellent, very knowledgeable, courteous and friendly. Our Tauck Tour Guide was also excellent with extensive experience in Eastern Europe. One final negative comment, unfortunately. Even though we realize that Tauck does not make hotel room assignments, we feel that they can do a much better job of influencing the hotels on our stay to provide rooms that are more comparable to the cost of our tour. We have not once during our Tauck tours been assigned a hotel room with a view of anything but rooftops of adjacent buildings or a view of another section of the hotel itself. That's not what we feel we deserve for the money we pay for these tours. On a closing note, we are booked on our next Tauck tour to Portugal in October and plan to book a follow-on Tauck tour to New Zealand on 2024.
On a very positive note, the local tour guides were excellent, very knowledgeable, courteous and friendly. Our Tauck Tour Guide was also excellent with extensive experience in Eastern Europe. One final negative comment, unfortunately. Even though we realize that Tauck does not make hotel room assignments, we feel that they can do a much better job of influencing the hotels on our stay to provide rooms that are more comparable to the cost of our tour. We have not once during our Tauck tours been assigned a hotel room with a view of anything but rooftops of adjacent buildings or a view of another section of the hotel itself. That's not what we feel we deserve for the money we pay for these tours. On a closing note, we are booked on our next Tauck tour to Portugal in October and plan to book a follow-on Tauck tour to New Zealand on 2024.
Denali was spectacular and thoroughly enjoyed the plane ride up over Denali. The trip into the park was also great and we did see some bears and Dall sheep way off into the distance. The Lodges were all Princess Lodges and were very crowded. Quite a number of us caught COVID so didn't make the cruise which was very disappointing but enjoyed what we ...read more did see.
Thoroughly enjoyed this tour. We had a great Tour Director and everything was well organised. She gave very informative information on the places we were visiting and had a great sense of humour. The accommodations were fabulous and there was a great group of people on the tour.
Overall, a wonderful experience. We must start with kudos to both Jemma and Hannah for all the support, help and advice you gave us throughout the booking process. Yes, we will book with you again and are now looking at Tauck tours to Australia, New Zealand and or Tasmania in 2023.
Our tour to Ireland was number one on our Bucket List and we were ...read more not disappointed. Vincent, our tour guide was a treasure of information on Ireland's history and overall knowledge of the political, economic and societal struggles that have plagued Ireland's history. Also, his knowledge of each of the sites we visited on tour was extraordinary. He truly deserves to be a "Keeper" for Tauck.
There are, however, two recommendations for consideration that would change our overall rating to five stars instead of four. First, the Westin Dublin was not what we expected of our accommodations. It was below the standard of other Westin hotels we have used over the years. Unfortunately, we had complaints that we registered with our tour guide and the hotel management. Compared with all other hotels we stayed in during our tour, the Westin was at the very bottom.
Secondly, the amount of time we spent on the limousine bus was excessive. We covered a huge amount of The Republic of Ireland's and Northern Ireland's geography and transit times to each destination were often at times too long. Due to the necessity to keep on track with our itinerary, we felt that the amount of time we were allotted at some of our stops was minimized. Again, a wonderful experience that took Bill back to his Irish roots!
Our tour to Ireland was number one on our Bucket List and we were ...read more not disappointed. Vincent, our tour guide was a treasure of information on Ireland's history and overall knowledge of the political, economic and societal struggles that have plagued Ireland's history. Also, his knowledge of each of the sites we visited on tour was extraordinary. He truly deserves to be a "Keeper" for Tauck.
There are, however, two recommendations for consideration that would change our overall rating to five stars instead of four. First, the Westin Dublin was not what we expected of our accommodations. It was below the standard of other Westin hotels we have used over the years. Unfortunately, we had complaints that we registered with our tour guide and the hotel management. Compared with all other hotels we stayed in during our tour, the Westin was at the very bottom.
Secondly, the amount of time we spent on the limousine bus was excessive. We covered a huge amount of The Republic of Ireland's and Northern Ireland's geography and transit times to each destination were often at times too long. Due to the necessity to keep on track with our itinerary, we felt that the amount of time we were allotted at some of our stops was minimized. Again, a wonderful experience that took Bill back to his Irish roots!
Fantastic company and nice staff on board. We never had to ask for anything... it was all offered on a plate. Very good service and Global Journeys handled the booking and delivered all the required paperwork.
Our experience was an intriguing and memorable holiday on our Portrait of India tour. From the moment we arrived until we boarded our plane to leave, we didn’t have to worry about a thing as everything was taken care of. The accommodation was superb and we visited some magnificent places and sites along with a couple of real surprises. The Taj Mahal ...read more and Varanasi were highlights along with lunch cooked cooked by a famous local in her home. Our tour guide was very interesting and informative throughout our journey and we would recommend this trip to our friends.
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