8 Top Tips for Planning a Group Trip

Whether it’s a lad’s trip or a getaway with the girls, a lot of the same tips for planning apply. Read our top tips below.

Plan Together

There’s nothing better than getting away with the gang for some quality time together, away from the stresses and strains of everyday life.

Planning a group holiday can be a lot of fun, or a lot of stress! But it doesn’t have to be complicated. We’ve gathered together some of our top tips on how to plan a group trip.

Watch the Guest List

How many is too many? That depends if you want an intimate bonding experience or a big blowout. Too few and you lose the sense of occasion, but you don’t want it to be too chaotic either.

Another thing to watch out for – make sure everyone knows at least a couple of people in the group. You want to avoid a situation where one person is on the outskirts of the group and feeling awkward.

Put everything in one place

Pick one central place to put all the information for your group holiday and make sure everyone in the group has access to it. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated. It could just be a Google Doc, a Facebook Group, a Whatsapp group or a humble email chain.

Everything goes here. Ideas for destinations, dates for travel, flight prices, hotel deals, itineraries, what food to try, things to do – keeping it all in one place is the best way to ensure everyone’s in the loop.

Pick a Leader

This could be you, or your most organised buddy. The ones that’s obsessed with spreadsheets! You need a captain to take the reins and take a leading role in planning everything. Accept that not everyone is going to put the same amount of effort into planning. This person will be in charge of your Google doc or group where all the info goes.

Set a Budget

Everyone’s got different budgetary limits. Some people like to do everything cheap, some people like to splash out. Ideally, the group won’t have too much of a disparity here, but still it’s worth setting a budget per person to make sure spending is kept in check. Use that budget wisely, the destination’s probably more important than the accommodation depending on the experience you’re looking for. Instead of spending more on a boutique hotel, it might be best to save that money for activities.

Choose the destination carefully

This ties in closely with the budgeting issue. It’s best not to have too many options, if you’re the organiser don’t be afraid of being decisive. Propose one or two hotel choices and some things to do on the ground. Apply a bit of pressure to get the group to make a decision.

Book Flights or Travel First

The price of flights fluctuate so much, it’s a good idea to book it as early as possible. The last thing you want is to carefully budget your trip then discover the price of the air travel has shot up!

Plan, but not too much!

Everyone’s sure to have plenty of ideas for activities for the trip. It’s worth planning at least one activity for the whole group and keeping some flexibility for smaller groups to do different things – some people might want to lounge by the pool and others might want to check out historic sights. Keep things lose and see how the day goes, and what you feel like doing. Planning ahead is great but you don’t want to be stuck doing something that seemed like a good idea months ago.

Do Your Own Thing

Everyone has different travel styles and priorities for their holidays. You don’t have to be joined at the hip just because you came as a group. Don’t be afraid to go off on your own during a group holiday, it’s a much better option than missing out on the things you really want to do. It’s your holiday too!

About Cassidy Travel

Planning your next holiday? Browse our online offers to get a great deal on your holiday. We’ve got great prices on a range of top destinations and we’d love to help you to plan your getaway today.

This blog is powered by Cassidy Travel, one of Ireland’s leading travel agencies. Our team of over 100 expert travel advisors send 1000s of Irish holidaymakers around the world every year. And we love doing it! Visit our website to start planning your next getaway. If you’re Dublin-based, drop into one of our stores. With 33 years of experience we’ve mastered the art of easy booking. Whether it’s a city escape, US adventure or family holiday we’d love to help you plan, book and dream.