It’s a good idea to fork over the extra dough and have separate rooms for at least some of the trip. Mix it up so you are staying together for some of the time and separate at other times. Living space in Europe can be a lot smaller than it is here, so you will be glad you did.
Book Outside Isles on the Plane
For the flight over and back: Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT sit in the middle row of the plane. After nine hours, you will feel like a manic anchovy, especially in the middle seat. Let whoever books the flight know this.
Communicate About Different Styles of Traveling
Discuss your fears and travel proclivities with your friends. If you are afraid that your snoring will be an issue and you like to sleep in on trips and take sightseeing casually, talk about that. If you like to explore the nightlife, find out how you can work that into the sightseeing schedule without overwhelming your fellow weary travelers.
Count on Rail System Strikes in Europe
You will want to check regularly at the train stations to make sure you know when and if rail strikes are taking place. In our case, we found out there was a rail system strike planned in Italy the day we were traveling from Nice, in the south of France, to Venice. The strikes are announced in advance and planned for specific durations of time. Due to the strike, we had to make a major decision about our trip within an hour. We had to cut our time short in Nice and head to Venice a day early. Because of this we missed the Cannes Film Festival, a highly anticipated part of the trip, at which we planned to scope out the stars. It was both unfortunate and fortunate. We had extra time in Venice, which is a great city, but it was a grueling decision. Some of us were so desperate to stay and see Cannes that we contemplated taking an eight-hour bus trip overnight to Italy, the following day. Others, not so keen on the idea of arriving in Venice at 2 in the morning, were quite prepared to take the fastest train out of Nice, ditch Cannes, and get to our accommodations in Italia at a reasonable hour, with enough time to get a pizza and some gelato, if we were lucky. We all eventually said au revoir to stalking Johnny Depp and headed to Venice, but not without some tears. Be prepared to make these kinds of decisions with your friends.