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A Vermont country store is one of the sights of a New England Fall Foliage tour. Different carriers offer different routes and things to see.

Posted on Sun, Jul. 5, 2009

Senior Traveler: Motor coach tours an easy ride

By Alan Solomon

For The Inquirer

Let's face it: Motor coach tours are the perfect adjustment to realities we all know too well. Someone else does the driving. Someone else makes most of the decisions. Someone else hauls the bags. There's a toilet on the bus.

Paul Minning, a widower, knew that when he boarded a Caravan Tours coach a couple of years ago for a New England fall-color tour.

"The only better way to do it is in your own car, which I used to do quite a bit," said Minning, then a sprightly 87. "Next to that, a bus is a good way. The bus knows where to go and how to get there, and the most interesting places, so it's hard to beat."

So no one gets the wrong idea, the passengers weren't all 87-year-olds, sprightly or otherwise. Motor coach crowds are the kind you get on cruises when school is in session: Plenty of seniors, but also some folks in their 40s. A few singles, who quickly become part of the group. On the whole, as seniors tend to be, they are convivial and well-traveled. One, on this tour, was a retired airline pilot.

"I can look out the window," said the ex-flyer, a delighted Bill Darrow. "I can take a nap if I want to."

Caravan Tours isn't the only company hauling leaf-peepers around Vermont and New Hampshire. There are plenty to choose from, at a variety of prices - but how to choose?

As always, a little homework goes a long way.

Let's look at two tours, one from value-priced Caravan (from $995 per person, double occupancy) and one offered by higher-end Tauck (from $2,190). Same length (eight days, seven hotel nights), same region. Both do what they do very well, but there are differences that could make the decision for you.

Itineraries. Caravan's tour takes in part of Cape Cod (two nights are in Hyannis) and includes a day on Martha's Vineyard. The time on the Cape sounds better than it is - you can't appreciate Cape Cod from the road, which is about all you get - but the time on Martha's Vineyard is special. Caravan also overnights in Maine (Kennebunkport). Tauck settles for tickling Maine between stops in New Hampshire - even offers rides on a Maine lobsterman's boat - but no Cape, no Martha.

Boston also is handled differently. Both tours begin there with a first-night welcome briefing and get-acquainted session. The next day, Caravan gives the city an obligatory glance on the way out of town; Tauck provides a full day's touring in and around Boston, then time for independent poking around and a second hotel night in the city. Boston veterans will consider the Tauck treatment excessive; those making a first visit will be appreciative.

Tauck also has a two-nighter in its Vermont lodging. Caravan's lone two-night stay is the one in Hyannis. Two-nighters are calming.

Edge. Your call.

Accommodations. The Boston hotels - the Hilton Boston Logan Airport (Caravan) and Omni Parker House (Tauck) - are in the same general price range (typically about $225-$250/double). But the Hilton, though excellent, is at Logan Airport, which is close to downtown but, still, it's an airport hotel. The grand old (refurbished) Parker House is pure Boston in ambience, location, and its famous dinner rolls, and it's right in the heart of things, which is handy, given Tauck's itinerary.

In Vermont, Tauck uses the very New England-y Hawk Inn & Mountain Resort in Plymouth for two nights. Caravan uses the Long Trail House in Stratton, which is part of a sprawling but out-of-season and (in fall) too-quiet ski resort.

Fox Ridge Resort, Caravan's choice in North Conway, N.H., is nice enough and one of the tour's better offerings. Tauck puts its customers in the White Mountain Hotel, which looks like a New Hampshire inn. Room prices (about $109 at Fox Ridge, $229 at White Mountain Hotel) reflect the difference.

Caravan's last overnight, in Maine, is at the lovely Nonantum Resort in charming Kennebunkport. The Tauck trade-off: Its farewell lodging is at the stylish Orchards Hotel in the Berkshires, in western Massachusetts.

Edge. Tauck.

Meals. Caravan includes three dinners over its seven nights (one a lobster dinner in Maine), and no lunches. Tauck includes six dinners, requiring patrons to fend for themselves only on the second night in Boston (there are plenty of notable dining spots) and four lunches. Tauck's more comprehensive meal plan increases its price, but presuming that its dinners match its lodgings, quality and convenience shouldn't be ignored.

Edge. Tauck, clearly - but wise independent choices can narrow the gap.

Other factors. Both companies use comfortable motor coaches, hire local guides to assist the staff escort, cover most tips (including for baggage handlers), and include transfers to and from Logan Airport. Only Tauck will arrange air from Philadelphia.

Choice. Like any travel experience, it depends on your priorities and budget - but know what you're buying.

A reminder. If you go, don't forget your "nice" pills. You're going to be on a bus with these strangers for a week.

And bring a camera.