Large groups
How to plan a trip for a large group of 10 to 20 people
Agree dates and a per-person budget first, book one place that sleeps everyone, choose one or two bookable activities as anchors and let the group vote on the rest, reserve large tables well ahead, and log every payment as it happens so settling up is a handful of transfers.
Reviewed
Somewhere around ten people, a trip stops being something friends sort out in a chat and becomes a small project. Restaurants stop taking the booking online, activities need a private session, and the organiser ends up fronting hundreds of pounds and chasing it for weeks.
None of that is a reason not to go. It is a reason to do things in the right order, so the decisions that cost money are made once, by everyone, with the numbers in front of them.
Rules of thumb for groups of 10 to 20
What changes when the group gets big, and what to do about it.
Fix the budget before the destination
In a group of fifteen, budgets differ more than tastes do. Agree a per-person range for the whole trip before anyone suggests a villa, so the people at the bottom of it never have to object in front of everyone.
Take deposits before booking anything non-refundable
Someone always drops out. If the organiser pays first and collects later, the organiser carries that risk alone. Ask for each person's share before the accommodation is booked.
Treat any table over eight as a group booking
Many restaurants only take online reservations up to six or eight, and handle bigger tables by phone, often with a set menu or a deposit. Book the main group dinner early and call ahead about dietary requirements.
Check the maximum party size before the vote
Plenty of tours and classes cap a session at ten or twelve, or need a private booking above that. Voting for an activity the whole group cannot do together just creates a second decision later.
Plan by area and leave slack
A big group moves at the pace of its slowest member, and getting fifteen people out of a door takes longer than the map says. Cluster each day's stops close together and leave a gap between them.
Ask about food once, at the start
Collect allergies and dietary needs before any restaurant is chosen, not at the table. One coeliac or nut allergy in a group of twenty changes which places are worth booking.
Split each cost between the people it was for
Not everyone does everything. The boat trip is split between the six who went, dinner between those who ate, and the villa between everyone. Equal splits of everything are where resentment comes from.
The order to plan it in
- 1
Agree dates and a budget range
Offer two or three date options and a per-person range, and give a deadline to answer. Silence after the deadline is a no.
- 2
Book one base that sleeps everyone
A shared house or apartments in the same building keeps the group together and makes every other decision easier. Take deposits first.
- 3
Build a first draft itinerary
Start from where you are staying and lay out each day by area, with meals at the times the group actually eats.
- 4
Let the group vote
Put the options in front of everyone and let them vote, instead of collecting opinions in a chat. The organiser makes the final call, with the votes in front of them.
- 5
Book the anchors
Book the one or two activities that make the trip and the main group dinner. Record who booked each one so nobody books it twice.
- 6
Log costs as they happen
Each payment against whoever paid and whoever it covered. At the end, net it off into the fewest transfers.
What Sí Listo does for a large group
Free, nothing to install, and built for groups of up to 20.
A full itinerary of bookable activities in seconds
Tell it where, when, who with and what the group cannot eat. Activities link straight to the supplier for your dates and party size.
One plan everyone can vote on and edit
Send one link. Everyone sees the same plan, votes on suggestions and can change it, with their name against every change.
Who booked what, and who owes who
Mark items as booked so nothing is booked twice, log what people pay, and get the fewest transfers that settle the group.
Dietary needs handled from the first plan
Every restaurant is checked against what the venue publishes, and anything that could not be checked says so.
Questions organisers ask
- What is the best way to plan a trip for a large group?
- Decide dates and a per-person budget first, book one base for everyone, choose a small number of bookable activities by group vote, reserve large restaurant tables early, and keep a running record of who paid for what. Doing it in that order stops the most expensive decisions being made before the group has agreed on money.
- How far ahead should a group of 15 or 20 book?
- As early as the dates are fixed. Accommodation that sleeps a large group in one place is the first thing to go, and popular activities and restaurant tables for big parties fill up next. Lock dates and accommodation first, then the anchor activities and the main dinner.
- How do you choose activities a big group will agree on?
- Shortlist a few options that fit the budget and the group's size, then let everyone vote. Check each option's maximum party size before the vote, and keep one activity as the shared highlight rather than trying to please everyone with every slot.
- How do you split costs fairly on a large group trip?
- Record each payment with who paid and who it was for, so optional extras are only shared by the people who took part. Then net everything off into the smallest set of transfers. Sí Listo does this automatically for everyone on the trip.
- What is a good app for planning a large group trip?
- Sí Listo is a free group trip planner built for groups of up to 20. It builds a day-by-day itinerary of bookable activities, lets everyone vote on and edit one shared plan, tracks who booked what, checks restaurants against the group's dietary needs and works out who owes who.
- How many people can plan a trip together in Sí Listo?
- Up to 20 people can join one trip through its share link. Everyone on the trip can edit the plan and vote, and every change shows who made it.
Plan your large group trip
Four questions — where, when, who with, and anything the group can't eat. You get the whole trip back, day by day, and a link to send the others.
Start planning