If your group chat has finally graduated from "we should do a trip" to actual dates, the numbers say Europe is calling. Kayak has crunched search data for bookings made by parties of five or more — trips taken between July and December 2026 — and the results put classic city breaks firmly on top.
London takes first place for hotel searches, with groups paying an average of €181 a night, down 6% year on year. Paris follows at €144, a 3% drop. But when it comes to holiday rentals, the French capital leapfrogs everyone: Paris is the number one rental destination for big groups, averaging €151 a night — handy when a large apartment split five ways works out far cheaper than five hotel rooms.
The real value story, though, is Marseille. It ranks seventh for hotels at a modest €100 a night and second for rentals at just €89. Beyond the price tag, the port city rewards slow exploration: the Panier District, dating back to around 600 BC, is best wandered in October and November when crowds thin and temperatures cool. The neighbourhood's streets double as open-air galleries, with murals, street art and studios selling work by local artisans and designers. Nice also makes the rental list, in eighth place at €141 a night.
Elsewhere, the top 10s mix the expected with the surprising. Barcelona (€176) and Madrid (€124) appear on both hotel and rental rankings, as do Rome, Marrakech and, naturally, London and Paris. New York is the priciest hotel city on the list at €307 a night, while Poland offers the bargains: Gdansk sits sixth for rentals at €110, and Krakow is the cheapest of all at €76 a night. Berlin rounds out the hotel list at €115.
Why it matters: travelling as a group of five or more genuinely changes the maths. Splitting a villa, a rental car, petrol and even grocery runs unlocks savings that solo or couple travel can't match — the difference between a posh place and a basic one often comes down to how many people divide the bill. The catch, as Kayak's data indirectly acknowledges, is logistics: Opodo's August survey found 30% of 9,000 travellers went solo simply because friends or family couldn't get dates together. If 2026 is the year your group finally books, these cities offer the strongest combination of demand, availability and price softening — several destinations on the list are actually cheaper than last year.
For big-group planners, the practical takeaway is to match the booking type to the city. Rentals win in Paris, Marseille and Rome; hotel rates are sharpest in Madrid, Berlin and Krakow. And if Marseille tops your shortlist, aim for late autumn to get the Panier at its quietest.
