Planning Guides

Group travelers have unique needs, depending on the trip purpose. Bachelor party planners debate over which type of alcohol to consume and whether or not a stripper is appropriate. Family reunion organizers decide how big of a reunion to have and where to have it. Brides and grooms deliberate on pros and cons of a destination wedding or a home-grown wedding.

Peruse these planning guides to find tips, advice, and new approaches to planning anything from a road trip, to family vacations, to ski trips, to weddings, to girls getaways, and more.

Family Reunion Planning Guide: Gathering the generations together takes time and patience, but is worth the lasting memories.

Group Getaways with Friends: Travel with college friends, poker pals, other couples, golf buddies, or just the girls.

Wedding Planning Guide: Whether the ceremony is a quick Vegas-themed affair, in a dreamy destination, or where you live and work, the devil is in the details. Here are tips to simplify the wedding planning process.

Ski Guide for Groups: Snowboarders and skiers alike can use this essential planning tool of ski resorts, checklists, and aprés ski activities before hitting the slopes.

Group Reservation Guide: Tips for negotiating group hotel rates, group flight reservations, and more.

Clubs, Teams, Organizations Guide: Become a group trip planning expert with tips about group reservations, how to organize a trip with ease, and other helpful advice.

San Francisco Getaway Guide

San Francisco's multi-cultural artistic flair and waterfront location, combined with world-class vineyards just a quick drive away make for ideal weekend trips. This laid back City by the Bay was home to tie-dye, a hotbed of progressive social change during the 60s revolution, and is the cosmopolitan, creative center of the West Coast today.

A family-friendly town. A hip, metropolis for trendy urbanites. A strong gay and lesbian community. San Francisco truly offers something for everyone.

Top sights, activities, and attractions:

• Golden Gate National Recreation Area
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Fisherman's Wharf
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Alcatraz Island
• Pacific Ocean beaches
• San Francisco Bay
• Chinatown (largest Chinatown outside of Asia)
• San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
• Presidio
• Trolleys and cable cars
• Ghirardelli Square (and Ghirardelli chocolate)
• Pier 39
• Aquarium of the Bay

Music scene
San Francisco has a history of producing and drawing bands to entertain all sorts of crowds. From the Dead Heads of the 60s generation to the modern mosh of musical sounds, there are clubs, bands, and famous groups galore.

Art scene
Museums, galleries, theater, dance companies, performances, cabarets, and events. SFMOMA is a world-class modern art museum with paintings (Henri Matisse), photography (Ansel Adams), and more. Plus, don't miss the art galleries in Sausalito and around San Fran.

Shopping scene
From mall-famous iconic shops like the Gap, Anne Taylor, and Tommy Hilfiger to quaint boutiques with hand-crafted scarves, shirts, pottery, jewelry, and more, San Francisco offers a trendy shopping experience for all ages and tastes.

Food fare
In & Out Burgers are nearly as famous as their t-shirts. You simply must find one and indulge. Vegetarians abound in this health-conscious city so you can not only splurge on a milkshake instead of a burger at In & Out Burgers, but you'll have a wide selection of restaurants with fabulous international cuisine. From fresh seafood restaurants to Chinatown's dim sum to Mexican food with guacamole to make you cry like a baby, San Francisco dishes up delectable bites.

And the drinks are a gastronomic wonder, too. Not only does San Francisco neighbor Napa Valley, a world-renowned wine-growing region, but the city has enough clubs, bars, and hip establishments to make metro-philes swoon (without spilling a drop, of course).

Beaches
Stinson Beach for road trippers, the beach by Golden Gate Park for families who want quick access to the city but also a long stretch of sand for sandcastles, the Presidio's San Francisco Bay beach for photo ops of Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and beyond. Or how about Baker Beach for nudists? Find other San Francisco area beaches here.

Districts and Day Trips

1. The Mission District – Think eclectic eateries, happening nightlife, and a Hispanic history with a heart. The Mission could possibly be San Francisco's trendiest hang-out.
2. Haight Ashbury – Home of the Grateful Dead, tie-dyed shops, and an area made famous by the 60s, this area still has classic townhouses, funky shops, and is near Golden Gate Park. It's a sidewalk collection like a virtual shrine unto the hippie movement. Eat one of it's famous burritos and wander through the past and into the new shops that typify the revitalization of this neighborhood.
3. Muir Woods National Monument – Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (one of the largest urban national parks in the world), this woodsy wonder is a hiking area just north of San Francisco and named for the famous naturalist John Muir. Pay a visit to this quiet reprieve and look up at old growth redwood trees.
4. Napa Valley – Nestled in Napa Valley with honey-colored hills akin to Tuscany, California's wine country is famous for its grape nectar. Take a road trip from the city to Napa for wine-tasting, hot air ballooning, bicycling, spa-going, and more.
5. Sausalito and Tiburon – Two of the Bay Area's most quaint towns are just 20 miles north of the city across the bay. Best way to get there is via ferry on Pier 41 near Fisherman’s Wharf. Art galleries, novelty shops, boutique clothing stores, restaurants are all easily walkable and the views of San Francisco from these waterfront towns are spectacular. Bring your camera and stay for lunch. Sausalito resembles a Mediterranean seaside village and Tiburon is akin to a New England coastal town. Great for families.
6. North Beach neighborhood – Walk through Little Italy and taste a cappuccino and pastry from the old country. Plenty of shops and attractions to keep you occupied in this former Beatnik hub.
7. Berkeley – Home to University of California Berkeley, this town across the bay from San Fran is full of shops and is an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.
8. Pebble Beach Golf Course and 17-mile Drive at Pebble Beach – Pebble Beach is world-famous for its golf course, luxury spa, and winding drive with several breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. If you are a golfer, plan ahead and book a round of golf at this famous course well in advance.
9. Monterey Bay Aquarium – One of the world's largest aquariums, this marine sanctuary is perfect for the kids or the kid in you. Plan to spend the night in this town that was the setting for John Steinbeck’s books Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday.
10. Carmel – With quaint tree-lined streets of boutique shops, cafes, and art galleries, this town is near Pebble Beach and Monterey and great for road trips from San Fran.
11. Sonoma, St. Helena, Calistoga - Art galleries, wineries, spas. In that order. Sonoma has art galleries, quaint shops, good eats, and a community theater not to mention the plethora of wineries in Sonoma County. St. Helena is located between Calistoga and Napa and a quaint town with award-winnning restaurants  and wineries nearby. Calistoga is a spa haven for those who crave a good massage.

Best of the Web for San Francisco

• San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau
• SFMOMA
• Alcatraz facts and history
• San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
• Presidio
• San Francisco gay and lesbian history
• Local bands and music
• San Francisco Citysearch guide

To plan a San Francisco getaway with friends or family, start with TripHub's free group trip planning tools. Plus, here are more tools to help you plan your Bay Area group vacation:

1. Shop for San Francisco hotels
2. Shop for San Francisco flights
3. Shop for San Francisco activities and attractions
4. Shop for San Francisco car rentals
5. If you have a larger group, here's a group reservations guide to help you navigate the booking process.

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Outdoor Survival Courses

Imagine you're on a day hike and dusk sets in a little too early. You're low on water. No food left. And no map. As dark settles on the ground, your feet quicken pace to match your racing heart. Will you make it back in time? Are you on the right trail? Can you even see the trail? Or what if an small avalanche rolls across your path in the snow on a winter hike or snowshoe adventure? How would you survive if a day hike goes wrong?

A New York Times article covered courses designed to train people how to survive with just the clothes on their backs and a sharp knife. How Survivor or Lost TV episodal! Seriously, if you're ever in the deep woods, it might not be a bad idea to know what to do. The New York Times article details a group survival trip taken by the author. Gathering nuts and wild onions for a soup over a fire made from twigs and no matches, these troopers brave the cold and learn a greater appreciation for Mother Nature and human's inventions to stay warm and fed.

This type of adventure might be a creative bonding experience for groups of friends. Not that there aren't a significant amount of women who'd do this, but I can particularly imagine this as a guys experience: "putting hair on chest" and proving to themselves they can hunt, gather, make fire, and survive under adverse conditions. A worthy right of passage. If someone can survive in the wild on minimal accoutraments, they've earned my respect.

Three courses offer survival training from one-day sessions to nine-week courses:

1. Arizona: Ancient Pathways
2. Montana: Wilderness Arts Institute
3. New Hampshire: Jack Mountain Bushcraft and Guide Service

Know of other courses or guides who offer survival training?

Source: New York Times

New York City: Lights, Cameras, and a Whole Lotta Action

New York is alive with non-stop action year-round. In this pulsating city of cabbies, world-class theater, chic trends, and super stars, it can be hard to find peace and quiet. But that's not why Manhattan is famous. Travelers scurry from around the globe to feast their senses on this one-of-a-kind, razzle-dazzle city with heart and soul.

Trend-setting styles. Culinary delights. World-renowned shopping (both bargains and luxury goods). Theater and shows for any audience. Classic and contemporary art. Musical genius. Financial power. The rich and famous. Architectural juxtapositions. It's no wonder visitors return again and again to soak in a city with so much life.

Holiday Hoopla
For the holidays, the Big Apple puts on the ritz with over-the-top decorations (think buildings wrapped in glittery red bows), activities that people wait the whole year for (ice-skating), and a certain buzz in the middle of snowflake season that you can't find anywhere else.

• Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade's giant hot air floats
• Holiday events at The Metropolitan Museum
• Christmastide at the Cloisters - traditional medieval decorations at the Met
• Shopping for holiday gifts at any of Manhattan's chic shops, department stores, or neighborhood boutiques
• Window shopping along Fifth Avenue to view some of the world's most elaborate window displays
• Rockefeller Center's outdoor ice-skating rink and over 60-foot tall Christmas tree
• Empire State Building beaming green and red for the holiday season
• Rockettes in Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall
• Horse and carriage ride around Central Park
• New York Road Runner costume contest and 4-mile run in Central Park on New Year's Eve
• New Year's Eve Celebration and Ball Drop at Times Square

Broadway
The Great White Way boasts musicals for an assortment of audiences. Which ones appeal to your group? Here are suggestions to get you started:

• Rent or Avenue Q for trips with friends
• Phantom of the Opera (which recently became the longest running show on Broadway in history) for an extended family trip or family reunion or trip with grandparents
• The Lion King for family trips with kiddies
• Wicked or Chicago for girls getaways
• Monty Python's Spamalot for guys getaways
• Mamma Mia or The Wedding Singer for bachelorette or bachelor parties - apropros for either

Search for more Broadway shows

Activities & Attractions
Famous attractions have appeared in movies for decades and draw visitors daily for different reasons. Here's why first-time metro-loving groups visit the Big Apple and a few reasons why urban hipsters keep coming back for more.

• ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN headquarters
• Bronx Zoo
• Central Park
• Chrysler Building
• Empire State Building
• Ellis Island Immigration Museum
• Fifth Avenue
• Ground Zero
• Hudson River
• Rockefeller Center
• Statue of Liberty
• Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange
• NBC studio tour
• CNN studio tour
• Shops and boutiques in Greenwich Village, Soho, Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, and elsewhere

Arts & Current Culture
New York City offers some of the world's finest art collections at museums and galleries and is a hotbed of artistic and architectural innovation. It's also home to contemporary cultural icons like major league baseball stadiums and TV tours.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art: discover ancient relics and brush strokes of genius
• Museum of Modern Art: pay a visit to Van Gogh's Starry Night
• Soho (in lower Manhattan) is an artistic haven itself with galleries and funky architecture to give its cobblestone streets even more character.
• Sex and the City tour
• Sopranos TV sites tour
• Sports fans can go to Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium, home of the Mets.
• Nightlife: New York spoils its guests with a happening nightlife comprised of hip clubs, famous chefs satisfying restaurant patrons with succulent meals, dancing 'til the sun comes up, eclectic off-Broadway shows, live performances ranging from funk bands to soothing piano lounge acts, and so much more. Find your groove at the various bars, restaurants, and clubs around town.

Beyond Manhattan
While Manhattan is New York City's most famous and visited borough, there are four others that draw visitors for distinct reasons. Quick highlights:

Brooklyn
Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, a famous suspension bridge connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan, and walk along New York City's first historic (and still swanky) district, Brooklyn Heights. Then stroll through the Brooklyn Botanical Garden with more cherry trees than Washington, D.C., and visit the Brooklyn Museum of Art that showcases one of the world's largest Egyptian collections. And of course, the kids will love Coney Island and Brighton Beach.

The Bronx
The Bronx has a surprising history (previously home to John F. Kennedy, Anne Bancroft, Tony Curtis, Edgar Allen Poe) and amount of attractions for visitors. The Bronx Zoo is the largest urban zoo in the U.S. Yankee Stadium, home to New York's Yankees, is an American icon, so plan ahead and book baseball tickets and stadium tours early. The Bronx also has a greater percentage of green space than any other borough and any other urban area in the country (24% of its 42 acres are parks). Van Cortlandt Golf Course is the first American public course and is part of Van Cortlandt Parks' two square miles of riding trails and other parkland areas.

Queens
With the bird lovers 9,000-acre Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, New York Mets' Shea Stadium, and the U.S. Open Tennis Championship USTA National Tennis Center, Queens is a cultural center it is own right. It's also home to two major east coast airports (JFK and LaGuardia), and boasts the Museum of Moving Images with the largest collection of moving image artifacts in the world. Plus, two film studios reside in Queens, so look sharp in case you're "discovered."

Staten Island
Explore the 2.5 mile boardwalk at South Beach, take the free (yes, free) Staten Island Ferry ride from lower Manhattan past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island through New York Harbor to arrive at the northern shore of Staten Island, visit the largest collection of Tibetan art outside of Tibet at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art. And there are plenty of nature reserves, historical and cultural museums and sites, as well as national recreation areas on this island.

Best of the Web for New York City

• Walking tours of the "Big Onion"
• Broadway shows and news
• New York Times New York City travel guide
• Gospel, jazz, and other Harlem tours, including Harlem group tours
• Gawker: a Manhattan blog with attitude
• NYC Visit: official guide to New York City
• New York Times wine lovers guide to Manhattan
• Stylish New York City with posh hotels, hip eateries, chic shops, and trendy ways to play
• Radio City Music Hall concerts
• Statue of Liberty National Monument
• Gridskipper's best sandwiches in Manhattan

Start planning your New York trip with TripHub's group planning tools.

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Underwater Poker

For a guy trip with a little adrenaline and other worldly experience, try an underwater poker tournament. Divester reported about a tournament to raise money for a military family, but there are tons of other good causes as well.

Here's how to organize your getaway with friends while raising money for a good cause:

1. Decide how many guys can make this commitment. Note: They must either be scuba certified or willing to be trained how to dive.
2. Arrange practice group dives before the big tournament.
3. Arrange practice poker matches just for fun.
4. Decide where to go diving and make any necessary hotel, transportation, etc. arrangements. (Hint: TripHub can help.)
5. Set the date of the tournament, the cause for which you'll donate money, and the target amount to raise. Alert the non-profit organization, church, family, or other benefit group.
6. Raise funds. Make calls. Go door to door. Do email blasts. Ask co-workers. Post announcements on MySpace. And so forth.
7. Create a trip on TripHub to invite any who want to join the tournament and go as spectators or participants. Here's helpful tips on how to do this using TripHub's free trip planning tools.
8. Discuss trip details using TripHub's trip discussion blog, organize and post everyone's info and trip details on the event schedule.
9. Then go on the poker tournament, win big, and feel great about donating to a worthy cause while bonding with your pals in a unique way.

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Gift Vacations: A Luxury Travel Treat

The New York Times ran a story on a new trend for millionaire vacations: why travel alone when you can afford to take your friends and family and pay for them? Group travel doesn't discriminate against cash in pocket, banks, investments, etc. Everyone travels for the same reason when planning a group trip: to stay connected to close friends and family.

This new luxury travel trend - dubbed as a result of the rich in America getting richer and not being shy to foot the bill to spend quality time with people - presents interesting opportunities for group travel, along with dilemmas.

• Opportunities: Free time at no to little cost to enjoy a vacation, opportunity to see a new place or try out a new style of living potentially out of bounds otherwise, take the attitude of "carpe diem" and just go for it.
• Dilemmas: The guilt of feeling obligated to somehow return the enormous favor, the feelings of inequity among friends, not feeling "right" about accepting such a gift. And the giftor must decide who's in and who's not invited, which can get uncomfortable with those uninvited. Ugh.

On my boating trip this summer (split the costs evenly), one of our stops was Roche Harbor, San Juan Island. We happened to arrive during a mega yacht meet-up and our 33-foot wooden boat was dwarfed by many pristine, fiberglass ships. For the size of little quaint Roche Harbor (at least that's how I remember it from my childhood) it seemed ridiculous. But after reading this NYT article (which is intriguing, and a must read) now I wonder how many people on yachts were on gift vacations.

If you have the means to plan a luxury trip with friends and family (whether you gift it or not), you can use TripHub to coordinate and share trip details.

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How Do Guys Bond?

OK, let's keep this civilized. No snickering. It's a serious question. With all the whoopla about "mancations" and guys traveling together for fun (groups of buddies/pals/friends/comrades have traveled together for getaway/bachelor/etc. trips for a while, but the travel industry just clued in) I decided to investigate.

When childhood pals, college friends, frat boys, ski club members, or just friends from life decide to get together to reconnect or bond, how do they pass the time? Whether road tripping or flying somewhere, bachelor parties, casual reunions, and sporting (golf, ski) get togethers are all part of the rituals of reconnecting.

Guy getaways can include anything from golfing, skiing, boating, fishing, hunting, club-hopping, lady-gawking, cigar-smoking, beer-chugging, gambling, or even metro activities such as meeting up in a city of choice and relaxing together at clubs.

Outside magazine recently emphasized how important the buddy system is (traveling with at least one other for safety) and listed great articles on various ways men bond, using famous figures such as Eddie Vedder, Jack Handey, and others for how to play on vacation. Plus, a few lessons for athletes who get too competitive.

Have a look. Or pick up the October Outside magazine edition.

Source: Gadling

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Musical Trips

Gadling's Neil Woodburn blogged about his 24-hour experience in Las Vegas to see The Pogues which got me thinking. Not only was I jealous of his having gone to see one of Ireland's best, modern, and eclectic bands (in my humble opinion), but there are so many other bands worthy of traveling (road trips included) to a destination to see them with a good group of friends.

This is my quick hit list:

1. Grateful Dead (oh wait, not an option anymore)
2. Bob Dylan
3. Pearl Jam
4. Rusted Root
5. Sheryl Crow
6. Simon & Garfunkel revival concert
7. The Shins
8. Belle & Sebastian
9. Pink Martini
10. Kelly Joe Phelps

What bands or musicians would inspire you to travel with friends for a concert?

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Avoid Common Holiday Headaches

Holidays are just around the corner. Families and friends will gather to spend quality time reconnecting. While the holidays are some of the busiest travel times of the year, there are several prep steps to take to avoid the typical holiday stress.

Here's how to avoid common holiday stressors by planning ahead:

Long lines
Avoid long lines at airports by taking an extra day off of work (on less busy travel days), or traveling when flights are less likely to be full. Be flexible.

Travel expenses
Book early to save on flights and hotels. If you see a sale price for a package deal (hotel + airfare) or hotel, or flight, you should grab it as prices are only likely to increase as the date approaches. Also, consider airports nearby but not exactly where you wanted to go and consider renting a car, taking a train, or a puddle jumper plane to your destination. Sometimes, creative planning can get you there for cheaper. Shop around on discount sites or even use sky miles to help out.

Rides to and from airport
Nothing is worse than standing in the cold outside an airport hoping your ride shows up soon, at that terminal, at that airport, on that day. Coordinate early and use TripHub's Event Schedule to list rides available for people in your group. If Uncle Bob is planning on picking up Aunt Sue at 8:40 PM the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, note this on the Event Schedule of your trip home page so others can hitch a ride if convenient.

Where to stay
If gathering at a relative's house, discuss or share accommodation options together. TripHub has tools to do just that. 1) You can discuss accommodation options within the Trip Blog when you set up a trip home page with your group, or 2) discuss hotels using the custom feature built for making comments within a hotel search results page, or 3) if you have set plans or can open your house up for guests, share your accommodation information with other members of your group.

No peace and quiet
Want to ensure you have a little solo time on your trip, so you aren't inundated with family 24/7? Here are a few tips for getting time to yourself through the joys of iPods, books, exercise, and dogs.

Missed opportunities
To plan ahead on attractions, shows, museums, theater events, golf tee times, and other activities that could be sold out, you can use TripHub's Trip Blog and/or Event Schedule to share ideas and information with people and avoid any confusion.

To plan your holiday group getaway, you can use TripHub to plan where to stay, how to get there, and what to do when you're together. It's an easy, free way to plan ahead and avoid the stress of the happy holiday season.

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Wine-Tasting Vacations

TripAdvisor issued a list of its favorite "vineyard vacations" - which are, of course, ideal for groups such as extended families (sans kids), girls getaways, bachelor parties, birthday parties, wedding events, or just getaways with friends.

This top 10 list includes all the usual suspects, and a few notable newbies. So raise a glass of chardonney or merlot and bring back new bottles of wine to dazzle your friends (or yourself) when you return from vacation. 

1. Napa Valley, Calif.
2. Tuscany, Italy
3. Bordeaux, France
4. Santiago, Chile
5. Sonoma, Calif.
6. Burgundy, France
7. La Rioja, Spain
8. Hunter Valley, Australia
9. Champagne-Ardenne, France
10. Constantia, South Africa

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