Where should we go on vacation?
Picking a trip should be the fun part, yet a group chat full of links can stall it for weeks. Everyone has a favourite, and each place wins on something: the beach, the food, the price, the flight time.
A quick decision matrix ends the debate fairly. Everyone agrees what matters before anyone pitches a destination. Score the shortlist and book the winner.
Open the tool with this question filled in. Two to five minutes, no account.
Start this decisionWhat should you weigh?
Five factors cover most versions of this decision. Rename them, drop the ones that do not apply, and add your own. Phrase each so a higher score is always better.
- Things we want to do
- The activities you would plan the days around.
- Affordability
- Flights, stay and daily spending for the whole trip.
- Short travel time
- Door to door, which matters more for a short trip.
- Weather that week
- The forecast averages for your dates, not the best month.
- Easy to get around
- Transport, language, and how much planning it needs.
What does it look like worked out?
Three ideas for a one-week trip: a beach resort, a city break, and a mountain town. Weights run 1 to 10, scores 1 to 5.
| Factor | Weight | Beach resort | City break | Mountain town |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Things we want to do | 9 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Affordability | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Short travel time | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Weather that week | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Easy to get around | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Total | 96 | 123 | 100 |
Each total is score times weight, added down the column.
City break wins by 23 points. The city break wins easily. The beach only leads on weather and ease, the two rows this group cared least about. For a group that mostly wants rest, a heavier weather row would change the picture.
Where do people go wrong?
Letting one person set the weights. Have each traveller weight the rows, then agree a shared set. The group accepts the result more easily.
Scoring the best season. Score the weather for your actual dates.
Common questions
- How do you decide where to go on vacation?
- Shortlist a few places, agree what matters most for this trip, weigh it, and score each place. The highest total is your trip.
- How do we decide as a group?
- Agree the weights together first. Then score the shortlist together or alone and compare. Arguing about weights is shorter than arguing about places.
Ready to weigh your own?
The question and starter options come filled in. Change anything. AI suggests factors; the answer comes only from your weights and scores.
Start this decision