Planning a stag weekend in the middle of the ‘Credit Crunch’ can be a real nightmare, as you begin to realise how much the price of flights abroad has sky rocketed. Luckily there are still some places in Europe that are fairly inexpensive to travel to, reasonably priced once you get there and becoming immensely popular.

The days of £1 flights to Europe are now well and truly gone, as earlier in the year oil prices reached as high as a phenomenal $127 per barrel, sending the cost of aviation fuel spiralling upwards. As travel costs rise, people are looking to alternative destinations to prevent their ambitions for a prospective groom and his friends’ crazy weekend abroad from being scuppered.

Three places that have become hugely popular are the fun-packed Eastern European cities of Budapest, Krakow and Riga. For a great stag weekend, Budapest really is a dream come true. The beer is cheap and women are hot (and thankfully not the other way around). There’s also a lot to do – go-karting, pistol shooting, and of course pub crawls and wine tasting. But don’t think that Budapest is all dingy pubs and bars, as there are also some stunning, cutting-edge dance clubs strewn across the city as well.

Poland is also becoming a popular destination for stag weekends and Krakow in particular has a lot to offer. This picturesque town is also ideal for wine, women and song. For a start it’s a student town (with over 100,000 students), so the feel is young, vibrant and cosmopolitan, and secondly the town likes to party, hard. Once again there are a whole host of activities that you can do, including, if the inclination takes you, shooting a Kalashnikov rifle.

A stag weekend Riga style is also an unforgettable experience and highly affordable for credit crunch casualties on a diminished budget. Riga is a small place but this is actually a good thing. Even though it is small there are lots of things to do within its ‘walls’, more than enough to keep any stag party happy. Here Russian and Latvian cultures merge to create a vibrant nightlife and some truly beautiful women. No matter who goes to Riga, they all come back agreeing that the women are stunning! What’s more the clubs in Riga not only attract these gorgeous women, but also some of the best DJs working the turntables from around the world.

All of these places are ideal for a stag weekend, credit crunch or not. It must be said that some of these places have got a bit of a bad reputation because of the ‘Eastern way’ of ripping off groups without guides. It can happen if you go in unprepared and unfamiliar with things like the right prices you should be charged in a club, but the same can be said of any country.

Luckily because of their increased stag party popularity, more and more excellent companies are cropping up who specialise in sorting out stag weekends in these areas, making sure you don’t fall victim to any con artists or quick buck merchants. Not only do these companies provide excellent services, but they can also ensure that you are kept amused with exciting activities, are surrounded by the most beautiful woman and get the most bangs for your buck on your stag weekend.

Contrary to popular belief it’s not purely a case booze birds and more booze when it comes to Europe stag weekends.

These days there’s a huge breadth of activities available that can involve neither females or alcohol. Be it on a stag weekend in Budapest or a stag weekend in Krakow (two of the coolest new Eastern European stag weekend destinations) your weekend can take a variety of sophisticated and stimulating forms. Activities such as wine tasting, caving, fencing, city tours are proving as interesting to some visitors as the more adrenalin-fuelled Kalashnikov shooting, Trabant tours or paint-balling stripper fests.

On a Budapest Stag weekend you have the option to take a break from all the fun and frolicking with a city tour for example. A three-hour guided bus tour to all the major sights, including the Castle District, Heroes’ Square and the Basilica. You’ll have plenty of photo opportunities and the chance to crash course your knowledge on the city ready for any questions when you get home.

If you don’t fancy an organised trip one of the best things to do in Budapest is to simply stroll around the city soaking up the unique atmosphere and historical architecture. Must-see sights include the Heroes’ Square, the St. Stephen’s Basilica and the giant Parliament building, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. The views from almost anywhere along the Danube are stunning, if you scale one of the Buda Hills (exploring the Castle District is highly recommended), you will see the whole city sprawled out in front of you.

You might prefer an afternoon sampling the sophisticated delights of Hungary’s top wines as they emerge to do battle with the finest France and Italy have to offer. An expert English speaking sommelier will talk you through between 6 and nine varieties of reds, rosés, whites, and a world-famous Tokaj desert wine. There’s even a large cheese and cracker platter. If you’re feeling particularly highbrow, take a fencing lesson from double Olympic Silver medallist Erno Kolcsonai. Touché.

On a more relaxing note the idea of a trip to the thermal baths for some good old steam room, plunge pool and massage therapy might be more your thing. If you’re that way inclined check out the tranquility of Budapest’s most trendy day spas. Some organised stag weekend packages include a 60-minute massage or comparable treatment. The list of options is extensive: Watsu, Indian Stone treatment and Mauri massage.

Though regarded as more of a high-octane nightlife and girls type destination even Krakow can offer a sophisticated alternative to the stag weekend festivities. The city which has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish scientific, cultural and artistic life has in it’s historic centre the Old Town, Kazimierz and the Wawel Castle, added to the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1978. It’s absolutely beautiful and well worth exploring for time of reflection, meditation and by way of a short break from stag party mayhem.

Make your Stag Parties Well-Organized and Memorable —Just Hire Professional Help

It may seem nice to organize the stag party on your own, but in fact organizing a stag party is surely not a stroll in the park. You need to get a good idea of what the groom wants, look for venue, some party ideas and find a good hotel or night club, and a lot more. When you find them all how do you know whether they are good enough or not?

Would you go on price only or what feels right? Yes, you need to take so many decisions and mange everything down to the last detail. And it is certainly not that easy

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So it is advisable to take professional help to organize your stag party. There are many reputable companies in the UK that specialize in organizing memorable stag parties. These companies organize stress free, problem free stag parties with the best activities.

They provide everything you could possibly require to make your celebration hugely successful and truly unforgettable. The party organizers offer a vast and varied assortment of nightlife activities across the UK. The activities include theatre shows, themed evenings, hilarious adult cabarets, gentleman’s clubs, restaurants, and top night spots

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Thus, they offer huge selection of wide-ranging activities, hotels, venues and great entertainment that can be mixed and matched together to create the ultimate event. In other words, whatever you envisage for your stag party they can transform your vision into a reality. All you have to do is tell what you want and leave the rest to the party organizer.

But in case you are not sure of what you want even then the party organizers can help you. They can suggest some awesome ideas that will surely surprise you. They provide efficient bespoke service that will suit you and your guests perfectly.

Moreover, if you need transport facility, they will arrange it for you and offer you several cost competitive options.

Stag party organizers know how hard it is to organize a hassle free party, so they offer excellent service that make much easier for you to plan your party.

Kiev (or Kyiv in Ukrainian spelling) is the right place of any party group that would like to experience exciting nightlife with a lot of opportunities to mingle with locals. Due to the large size of the city and the fact that Kiev tourism potential is much higher as current number of travellers, the concentration of foreigners is low. The locals are in general very hospitable and the city centre is very safe. You can meet a lone girl passing through half-dark underground corridors after midnight as it would be on noon.

Kreshatik is the high-street of Kiev with most expensive boutique shops and brands like Louis Vuitton or Gucci and at anytime full of people. They are not just walking around but in warm weather majority of them will have a bottle of beer or local non-alcoholic drink kvas in their hands. Young people sit here in small groups as in any other city. As of evening Kreshatik is full of street artists and people are gathering in small crowds to watch them.

Both Ukrainian and Russian are spoken in Kiev. The difference between the two languages is not noticeable for a person who does not have at least basic knowledge of one of these languages. Both are using the Cyrillic alphabet, therefore understanding of the inscription will be like deciphering of hieroglyphs (at least at the beginning). With little effort you will be able to discover beer on menu by noticing the word beer in both Ukrainian and Russian, which is Пиво.

The most popular day time activity for stag travellers to Kiev is shooting. The span of weapons available starts from old-fashioned bows and crossbows, through pistols and clay pigeon rifles to Kalashnikovs and sniper guns. The shooting range which is around half hour from downtown includes not only shooting-galleries, but area for tank driving and shooting club restaurant with barbeque meals.

As the night begins the pulsating downtown is the right place to have fun and enjoy the hospitality of Ukrainians. To learn some local habits a special Vodka Tasting Dinner is served in traditional restaurant. The art of vodka drinking in Russian style is taught and three rounds of double vodkas are complemented by typical hors d’oeuvres – zakuski and some of the best vodka stories you ever heard.

Although you will like the traditional Ukrainian kitchen, the centre of city offers other venues with more international flavours like Caribbean bars with latin music, modern disco halls with the best of techno, house, rave and other electronic styles, as well as fancy Italian and French cuisine restaurants, divers fast foods, German beer house or Irish pub. The dance clubs open after eight, but the mood is culminating around midnight and the party goes on until early morning.

Kiev is connected to Western Europe with many daily flights. Direct connections to all major capitals like London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Stockholm and Vienna are operated both by Ukrainian and European airlines and there are other cities like Frankfurt and Munich in Germany or Milan in Italy with frequent flights. The distance is a little longer then to Central Europe stag destinations; so many groups are coming for three days to use the opportunity to enjoy the city to full extent.

Accommodation is available in all categories, you may stay in cheap hotels of Soviet times, modern three star properties or luxury palaces, all located in neighbourhood of divers pubs, cafés and bistros to start you party somewhere close. A popular alternative for individuals or few friends are the short-term rental apartments which can host up to 5 persons.

If you are looking to organize the last weekend of freedom for a friend or even for yourself there is no better place as Kiev, the capital of stag parties (and capital of Ukraine as well). For further information on offer for stag do in Kiev please visit Kiev Stags .

Since 2004 and the arrival of low-cost airlines resulting in cheap flights from cities across Europe such as London, Berlin and Amsterdam, Riga has established itself as one of the hedonistic hubs of the Eastern European party and stag weekend scene. Offering what is widely regarded as some of the best nightlife in the Baltics, Riga gives other stag weekends options such as stag weekends in Budapest and Krakow stag weekends a good run for their money. There’s certainly no shortage of opportunities in which to lose your inhibitions.

Riga’s reputation as a hotbed of hot beds as well as bar and club culture (with a healthy dash of adult oriented entertainment thrown in for good measure) has led to it rapidly evolving into one of Europe’s essential destinations for Stag weekends and partygoers. It’s a vibrant, fast-evolving and progressive city with a huge amount to offer from beer halls, clubs, Sports Bars, British and Irish pubs, casinos and gambling halls, live music venues, pool and snooker halls, strip clubs and massage parlours. Navigable on foot, it’s all happening in Riga’s Old Town, the beer is cold and cheap and the women are English-speaking, beautiful, intelligent and friendly – the perfect combination.

Of course there’s plenty more to do than just partying and pulling. Options for visitors are virtually limitless. Relax in one of Riga’s trendy bars, explore the old town and take in the finest concentration of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe or visit museums. Spend a night at the opera or attend a classical performance… yeah right.

Daytime thrill seekers might want to try something a little more daredevil and for weekend stag parties there’s a wide range of high-octane options. In addition to the normal paintball, go-karting, clay pigeon shooting and quad biking Riga offers some singularly outrageous experiences: get completely legless in a freefall simulator, Bond up in KGB shooting session, explore old ship wrecks in the Baltic, daredevil down an Olympic bobsleigh track (the longest in Europe) or brave an icy snowmobile safari – ‘Me Tarzan. You Svetlana.’ There’s Zorbing, kayaking, bungee jumping, thermal baths and strippers galore!

Though not quite the steal that Riga once was, (the local currency the Lat is tied to the Euro) prices are still competitive – if slightly less enticing than Krakow or Budapest. You’ll pay around 2 Lats (£2.5) for an excellent, award-winning beer such as Tērvetes or Piebalgas, which you can enjoy from Skyline bar on the 26th floor of the Hotel Latvija overlooking the Old Town. You’ll pay even less in a back street bar. (Cheap places are no more than a pound) As in all major European cities, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to eating out. A decent meal out should set you back less than £10.

As perfect as Riga is for the ultimate stag night weekends you’d be best advised to go through a reputable travel company that can not only arrange airport collection and drop off but organise value for money accommodation, high quality activities and VIP entrance to the hottest nightclubs in town. They’ll work hard to maximize your entertainment whist minimizing any potential grief. As with similar style stag weekends in Budapest or Krakow local knowledge can also prove useful in protecting stag parties from some of the less ethical aspects of a night out such as rip off taxi fares, hyper expensive drinks and overly persuasive doormen.