Picking a destination is the first battleground of any group trip. Someone wants culture, someone wants beaches, someone just wants cheap beer and sunshine, and at least one person in the group has already been to everywhere on the shortlist.
The trick is to find destinations that genuinely work for mixed-interest groups — places with enough variety that even the most contrasting personalities can find something to love. These are our picks for 2025, all accessible from UK airports, and all proven crowd-pleasers for groups.
Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon keeps topping group travel lists for good reason. It's one of the most affordable capitals in Western Europe, it's genuinely beautiful in a way that pleases both the culture lovers and the Instagram-obsessed, and it has a nightlife scene that runs well into the early hours without feeling like it's exclusively for stag parties.
For groups, the variety is the main appeal. The historic tram routes and Belém pastries for the culture crowd, excellent seafood restaurants at reasonable prices for the food lovers, Bairro Alto's bars for the nightlife contingent, and day trips to Sintra or Cascais for those who want to escape the city for a day. It's rare that a destination genuinely satisfies everyone, but Lisbon comes close.
Direct flights from London Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, and Manchester. easyJet and Ryanair serve the route well, and TAP Portugal is a solid option for groups that want a flag carrier.
Seville, Spain
Seville is often overlooked in favour of Barcelona, and that's precisely why it's such a good choice. Lower prices, fewer tourists, and a warmth (both in weather and in atmosphere) that makes it feel immediately welcoming.
Tapas culture means eating as a group is actually enjoyable rather than a logistical challenge. Most restaurants are happy with large tables, and the price point means you can eat well and often without blowing the budget. The flamenco shows are worth the booking hassle, and the Cathedral and Alcázar are genuinely world-class.
Ryanair flies direct from London Stansted. Alternatively, connect via Madrid or Malaga on Iberia. Flights from Manchester are limited, so northern groups may find Barcelona a more practical alternative.
Krakow, Poland
If your group is budget-conscious, Krakow is hard to beat. Your money goes further in Poland than almost anywhere else accessible from the UK, and the city itself — with its beautifully preserved medieval centre — is one of the most photogenic in Europe.
The Main Square (Rynek Główny) is the social hub, surrounded by restaurants, bars, and cafés that stay open late. Day trips to Auschwitz-Birkenau are sobering but important if the group has any interest in history, and the Wieliczka Salt Mine is unlike anything you'll find elsewhere. Kazimierz, the former Jewish quarter, has excellent food and a bohemian bar scene.
Ryanair, Wizz Air, and easyJet all fly direct from multiple UK airports, including Manchester and Birmingham. It's one of the most accessible Eastern European cities from the UK.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam is a classic group destination for good reason: it's compact enough to navigate easily on foot or by bike, it has world-class museums for the culturally inclined, excellent restaurants and markets for the food lovers, and a nightlife reputation that precedes it.
The canal house aesthetic means it photographs beautifully, and accommodation is excellent though pricey — groups that can afford to rent a canal house apartment rather than splitting into separate hotel rooms tend to have the best experience. Book early, because good Amsterdam accommodation sells out fast.
One of the most connected European cities from the UK. Direct flights from virtually every major UK airport on multiple carriers, including British Airways, KLM, easyJet, and Ryanair.
Split, Croatia
For groups that want sun, sea, and history without the Mykonos price tag, Split is the answer. The Diocletian's Palace complex — a UNESCO site that has the remarkable quality of being genuinely integrated into the living city rather than roped off — is unlike anything else in Europe.
The Dalmatian Coast day trips are the other major draw: island ferries to Hvar, Brač, and Vis are cheap, frequent, and scenic. Accommodation in Split itself ranges from apartments within the palace walls to hotel options on the waterfront. Summer gets crowded, so if your group is flexible, late May or September offer the best balance of weather and manageable crowds.
easyJet and Ryanair fly direct from London and several regional UK airports. Flights get competitive in price if you book a few months ahead.
Edinburgh, Scotland
If international travel isn't on the cards — budget constraints, passport issues, or someone in the group who simply prefers not to fly — Edinburgh is the UK's strongest group travel option. The Old Town and New Town together give you more to do in a long weekend than most European capitals.
The food and drink scene has improved enormously over the last decade: excellent independent restaurants, a world-class whisky selection, and a bar culture that is genuinely welcoming. The castle, Arthur's Seat, the Scottish National Museum, and the Royal Mile are all within easy walking distance of each other. If you're going in summer, the Fringe is an experience unlike any other.
Trains from London take around 4.5 hours on the East Coast Mainline, and budget flights run from virtually every UK regional airport. No passport required for UK citizens.
How to get your group to agree on a destination
The problem isn't usually that there's no good option — it's that getting eight people to converge on one is a negotiation that nobody wants to lead. The classic group chat approach — "where does everyone want to go?" — produces either no responses or a spray of incompatible suggestions that leads nowhere.
A better approach: shortlist two or three options that broadly work for the group, then run a proper vote. This is where Trips Together makes a real difference. The app's destination voting feature lets everyone vote on a shortlist without the social awkwardness of directly opposing someone's suggestion. The app tallies the votes, and suddenly you have a democratic result that everyone has participated in — which also means everyone has a stake in making the trip good, even if their first choice didn't win.
Whichever destination your group lands on, the same rules apply: start the planning process early, agree on a budget before anyone books anything, and use tools built for group coordination rather than hammering a group chat into submission. Europe in 2025 has never been more accessible from the UK, and there's a destination for every group profile on this list.