My husband and I are planning a summer trip to some National Parks. He doesn't want to drive we have been looking at the Toauck or Globlus Tours , THe 8 day trip starts in Scottsdale and ends in Las Vegags . Has anyone been on these tours or heard anything about them?

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law recently took that same Tauck Tour and raved about it.....They liked everything about it--the itinerary, the accommodations, the guide and the other members of the group.

We did a Tauck of Europe and was very happy with the product. We were looking at the same tour you mention since it is close to our home. The guides are experienced and teach a lot about local history. Good meals, nice lodgings, no complaints

You might want to check into Grand Circle Tours on line www.gct.com and compare itineraries and prices. We've done two tours with GC and were VERY satisfied with them. They always had us in nice hotels close to restaurants and sights. Tour directors were very nice and well informed about the countries we visited. Several people on both tours had been on quite a few GC tours and had always been satisfied with GC.

I know several people who have done the National Park tour with Globus and loved it.

I have taken Tauck tours, and I must say, they are problem free. My wife and I really enjoyed ourselves, every detail is handled well. The accomodations are top flight, the tour guides are well informed.

I found them to be a bit constraining, however. Too many meals are included, I feel. Many of the folks in the group are older, and they seem to like this feature.

We are going to take another Tauck tour this spring, in France. We have learned to leave the group before a long planned lunch, tour on our own, and then meet up with the group later.
This seems to work for us.

Ditto with the idea of exploring on your own during lunch hours. I'm not sure what the age group will be in the US, though. During the summer there may be a lot of families. Europe definitely has an older crowd, because that's the group that can mostly afford it, I guess.

My in-laws have taken about five or six Tauck tours, including the National Park tour. They have been pleased with all of them. They may cost a bit more, but they feel that they are well taken care of and won't travel with any other tour company. will use them again.

We have taken two Tauck tours in Europe and have signed up for one in Eastern Canada. My girlfriend would never agree to trading down to Globus now because Tauck is so good.
I have also taken a Globus tour in Europe many years ago.
I don't know about the U.S. tours, but in Europe, Tauck uses high-end hotels (some that are really unique) in the center of the cities it visits. Globus, on the other hand, uses good but not exceptional hotels that are sometimes way out in the suburbs. Our Venice hotel wasn't even in Venice at all.
Also, the meals with Tauck will be considerably better than with Globus. And more meals may be included.
So compare the price, but also compare the hotels and the number of meals included.