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Tauck vs Viking River Cruises
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of Tauck and Viking River Cruises.The Low Down
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. 
Cruising down the rivers of Europe you are sure to pass a Viking Longship on your travels. Viking boasts the most extensive fleet of river cruises vessels in Europe, and while their core market is the US, there are many clients from Australia that choose to cruise with them each year. In 2017 Viking launched their range of mid-sized ocean cruises - with just 930 guests this gives their ships greater maneuverability, allowing them to dock where the mega-liners cannot. Viking do not offer NZD pricing, so if you're a Kiwi wanting jump onboard then you'll need to pay in AUD or USD.Stats
No. of Trips
205
No. of Departures
3,591
Avg. Trip Length
11 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$1,145
Accommodation
4.5 - 5 Star
Budget
Premium & Luxury
No. of Trips
69
No. of Departures
5,250
Avg. Trip Length
11 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$511
Fleet Size
74 Ships
Known For
Scandinavian Design
Ship Styles River Cruises
In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
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.
A Viking river cruise is the discerning traveller’s dream. Whether you choose to visit Egypt, Asia, Europe or the Mississippi, our itineraries are designed to immerse you in the history and culture of each destination. With us, you could be exploring a local food market with our head chef one day and experiencing an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of a world-famous museum the next.
Our state-of-the-art ships take you right into the heart of each destination, and you won’t find any kids or ‘nickel and diming’ on board. In fact, our fares include everything you need - from meals, beverages and Wi-Fi to a culturally enriching shore excursion at every port of call. This unique combination of features has become affectionately known as ‘the Viking difference’.
Viking has 70 award-winning river ships sailing all over the world, and we can’t wait to welcome you on board to discover the Viking difference for yourself.
Recent Reviews
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.
4.6
Two weeks aboard Viking River Ships is the most relaxing way to explore a beautiful part of Europe. To wake up in the morning and look out the floor to ceiling window and see the stunning river and scenery go past is magical. Viking made everything so seamless (including a ship swap due to flooding rivers). The staff were incredible and the ship was ...read more so comfortable and beautifully decorated for Christmas. Each town and city offered something different and we had plenty of free time in each place. A truly perfect way to travel.
Our first river cruise with Viking did not disappoint! We enjoyed the excellent experience and attention we received from the staff onboard. They welcomed us onboard around 10:30am even though our boarding time was 4:00pm. We were able to leave our luggage and continue to explore Budapest. Viking provided our lunch on the first day and if we needed ...read more we could have had lunch on the last day of our cruise after checking out of our cabins at 9:00am. Viking will hold your luggage as well if you have a late flight and want to continue to see the sights after leaving the cruise. This was a thoughtful gesture.
We had a couple of things that did not go to plan. Our ship the Viking TIR had some damage because a log hit a part of the propeller and it was causing vibrations so we had an unscheduled stop in Linz so they could repair the damage. The rivers were in flood which made it difficult for the nautical crew and when we reached Passau we were advised the water level was too high for us to continue. Viking had a sister ship coming from the other side of the river and we had to pack up our things and they transferred them to the Viking VALLI whilst they put us on a bus for the planned excursion and then onto the Vali docked in Nuremberg. Because all their ships are the same we were allocated the room and we continue on without further disruption.
The included tours were informative and because we have traveled to Europe many times before we didn’t do any of the optional tours offered. I will say that I found the price of the optional tours expensive as we had been to most of the places offered and at a much cheaper cost. The food was restaurant quality and you could have as much as you wanted. The one thing I didn’t like was that lunch and dinner were at set times. The laundry was expensive however we were able to do everything except our jeans in the bathroom which had a heated floor and most things dried overnight. Most of the other passengers were in their seventies with a sprinkling of a few younger and older. Overall the experience was great and we were able to see the Christmas markets in Budapest, Vienna, Nuremberg, Kolbenz, Cologne and Amsterdam. Global Journeys and Georgie always give exceptional service and advice and we look forward to making our future travel plans with them.
We had a couple of things that did not go to plan. Our ship the Viking TIR had some damage because a log hit a part of the propeller and it was causing vibrations so we had an unscheduled stop in Linz so they could repair the damage. The rivers were in flood which made it difficult for the nautical crew and when we reached Passau we were advised the water level was too high for us to continue. Viking had a sister ship coming from the other side of the river and we had to pack up our things and they transferred them to the Viking VALLI whilst they put us on a bus for the planned excursion and then onto the Vali docked in Nuremberg. Because all their ships are the same we were allocated the room and we continue on without further disruption.
The included tours were informative and because we have traveled to Europe many times before we didn’t do any of the optional tours offered. I will say that I found the price of the optional tours expensive as we had been to most of the places offered and at a much cheaper cost. The food was restaurant quality and you could have as much as you wanted. The one thing I didn’t like was that lunch and dinner were at set times. The laundry was expensive however we were able to do everything except our jeans in the bathroom which had a heated floor and most things dried overnight. Most of the other passengers were in their seventies with a sprinkling of a few younger and older. Overall the experience was great and we were able to see the Christmas markets in Budapest, Vienna, Nuremberg, Kolbenz, Cologne and Amsterdam. Global Journeys and Georgie always give exceptional service and advice and we look forward to making our future travel plans with them.
We booked Viking's France's Finest river cruise with Georgie after previously sailing on their Amsterdam to Budapeat river cruise. It was fantastic. Top class cabins, tours, food, drinks and staff. We cannot praise Viking and their staff highly enough. Very pleasant and helpful. There was a problem with high water and strong current on the first half ...read more of the cruise but the staff organised for buses to take us on our tours and return us to the ship after it sailed without passengers to our next port. Everything went without a hitch.
Like many others, we have another cruise waiting for us in a few months time. Global Journeys Georgie does a great job with our bookings.
Like many others, we have another cruise waiting for us in a few months time. Global Journeys Georgie does a great job with our bookings.
Our Viking river cruise far exceeded our expectations. The crew provided exceptional service, the food was sensational the tour guides were professional, fun & informative, and the comfortable cabins were spacious and cleaned regularly. We will only book with Viking for future cruises and definitely recommend them to our friends. We also wanted to ...read more thank Georgie from Global Journeys for her great communication and help with our Viking holiday including organising our flights to ensure we have a seamless experience.😊
Tracey and Global Journeys made the whole trip fit together! Viking was an excellent company to travel with and although getting late into Autumn, we didn't have all the crowds to contend with and the autumn colours were magnificent. From the moment you stepped on board, the staff were there to help you with any queries, magnificent meals, touring and ...read more just generally taking care of you. The peace of floating down the rivers and looking out were soothing. We had a main deck cabin but spent our time in the lounge or on the Aquavit Terrace. There were times on the sundeck, but fresh. The included tours were great and well organised, and then there was still a little time to explore yourself. Well worth it.
We set off from Australia at the end of August on an almost 10 week European adventure. On our last 2 weeks we did Viking’s France’s Finest 15 day river cruise, which is in fact 2 cruises marketed as one trip. We did the Avignon to Lyon cruise first, followed by a round trip from Paris for the second. Viking transfers you via train from Lyon to Paris ...read more to do the second cruise. Both cruises were a wonderful, relaxing way to end our sometimes exhausting 10 week journey! We were blessed with pretty good weather and the itineraries on both ships were interesting .
Everything onboard was amazing, from the friendly staff, the wonderful food & wine to the included tours, complete with excellent local guides. We couldn’t fault it. It was the perfect way to end a long trip abroad. France in Autumn was beautiful with the trees changing colour and the scenery we saw from our ship was spectacular. We chose the lower deck cabins as we were travelling with a group, so not in cabins much. Perfectly fine for our needs. Many thanks to Georgie for organising this part of our holiday. Nothing was too much trouble and she happily answered all our queries!😄
Everything onboard was amazing, from the friendly staff, the wonderful food & wine to the included tours, complete with excellent local guides. We couldn’t fault it. It was the perfect way to end a long trip abroad. France in Autumn was beautiful with the trees changing colour and the scenery we saw from our ship was spectacular. We chose the lower deck cabins as we were travelling with a group, so not in cabins much. Perfectly fine for our needs. Many thanks to Georgie for organising this part of our holiday. Nothing was too much trouble and she happily answered all our queries!😄
Popular Trips
8 Days Nuremberg to Vienna
Operator: Tauck
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