My own experience — in the days before the internet and cellphones — depended greatly on improvisation. I recall being nudged awake at dawn by the boot of a policeman outside the Venice rail station. Passports were checked at every border. Money was changed country to country. Paper maps were used until they tore at the creases.

For this generation, money was changed only once, borders were crossed invisibly, and almost everything was booked online in advance.

After embarking from central London, the group arrived at the Gare du Nord in Paris, where Alfie led the way through the streets using Google Maps.

They stayed at an Airbnb atop five steep flights of worn stairs on Rue des Dames. The apartment’s peeling paint was easily overlooked by the eager travelers. They walked to Pont d’léna and the Trocadero Gardens, and waited for the lights of the Eiffel Tower to go on.

‘‘Even just sitting in Paris doing nothing and taking the city in with my friends was one of the highlights of my trip,’’ Shari said.