Going on a hen or stag night is a recent tradition that precedes the majority of weddings. To many people getting hitched, they represent the last night of being single before tying the knot and living out year after year of monogamy. In a lot of cases, these nights basically involve a few drinks and some fun and games, but the face of hen and stag parties has changed more recently.
To celebrate the final night of freedom, men and women are choosing to hold their parties abroad, making them nights or even weekends to remember, but which destinations do men and women prefer? On the whole, it seems that trips to major European cities tend to be popular, although some choose to stay closer to home by taking the train to somewhere else in the UK.
City slickers
Our research has shown that, when it comes to the rise of hen and stag tourism, the most popular venue for stag parties is Amsterdam. Surprisingly, London came top of the pile for women, with a number of other major cities across Europe and further afield scoring highly.
In the case of Amsterdam, the Dutch capital is known for having a laid-back vibe and is easily accessible from most major cities and ports via plane or ferry. London, being home to more than seven million people, has a huge number of bars, restaurants and cultural venues to suit pretty much all tastes, while it has more of a buzz than other cities in the UK.
Not so different
London came third in the list of most popular stag night destinations, while Las Vegas and Prague made up the rest of the top four. Vegas came fourth among women for hen nights, while Barcelona was second. Surprisingly, Blackpool, the much-maligned Lancashire seaside town, was third, although it was the seventh most popular with men.
As these nights are rare occurrences, it seems that when it comes to making them more memorable, money is no object. Most males surveyed said that they were likely to spend between ?251 and ?500 on a stag party. Women proved to be more frugal, with the majority saying that they stayed between the ?101-?250 price range.
The range of activities people tend to do on stag nights has also grown. While the majority of men said that their perfect do would basically involve non-stop drinking, close to one in three women said they would like to spend their hen party at a spa retreat. Some men did say that their ideal stag party would involve an activity-packed weekend.
For details of the research visit http://bingo.ladbrokes.com/en/news/stag-vs-hen-do-how-partner-plan
