Hen Party Weekend
 

My sister is getting married and I am in charge of organising a hen do!

I thought it would be great to go abroad. Obviously I don't want to do something too expensive and I still want people to afford the trip, so I'm wondering if there are any suggestions. We're in England so somewhere in Europe I'm thinking!

Any ideas or tips on great places to take a big group of girls would be appreciated. We'd like a combination of party / culture. We're planning it for late September / early October, over the weekend Friday - Sunday and don't want really want it to be over £200 for the flight and accommodation. I think a cheap and cheerful hostel would be perfect!

Any advice would be great, thank you.

What's your nearest airport? I'd begin there and see where the discount airlines are offering flights to. Since it is just a weekend, the convenience, price, and timing of flights would be huge factors in my decisions.

Gatwick is the nearest airport for most people.

That's a great idea, see where the cheapest flights go first before choosing a destination and getting disappointed with the price!

Thank you.

First up, check local airports to see what cheap flights are on offer in late September/early October. Be careful in the case of the bargain flights that you aren't going to be deposited at an airport miles away from the city that then requires a lengthy bus ride through the countryside to get to where you want to be. And then look to see what hostels are in the towns/cities have vacancies. Not knowing where you all are in England it is difficult to advise more specifically, but I would put the following cities on your short list. All have more than enough cultural life to keep you busy over a weekend. And all will have (big) enough bars as well for your partying:

Amsterdam
Barcelona
Berlin
Lisbon
Lyon (the second city in France and not as expensive as Paris - also easy to reach by train)
Paris (best reached by train if you are within 90 minutes of St Pancras International, but book soon)

Then the more obvious ones - Prague, Budapest, Riga, Krakow

But you may find these more obvious ones overfilled with other hen and stag parties from the UK.

I'm assured by Aussie friends that http://toptravelbargain.com/hostels.html isn't a bad site to check out hostel prices.

One other I forgot to mention - Dublin, which fits into the Prague, Budapest list.

These are fantastic tips.
Thank you!
I just got back from Lisbon, I loved it and think that could be a good one. Paris I think is just too expensive a city to do for this occasion. Berlin sounds perfect also.

Right, thanks again for your help, I'm off to do my research!

When we were in Prague a few summers back, we saw more than one hen party out and about, so I guess that is another popular destination.

I know Budapest quite well, since I have been there several times before, and it surely is a wonderful place. People enjoy life there (especially night life) and the whole atmosphere is just wondeerful.

If you want to go there, I can tell you it is a great idea. People really know there how to spend some quality time with friends.

And hen parties are not always about strip clubs, and cheap beer, though they are really an important part of a boys weekend.
Here you can check some stag weekend ideas: http://www.staglandbudapest.com/activities

I had the misfortunte of being next to one at an outdoor cafe in Krakow. It was men and women. A bunch of loud drunks were were obnoxious and ruining the atmosphere for everyone. I called the waiter to complain and he said there were a lot of young Brits doing that, going around drunk and making noise in Krakow, but he was too scared to do anything about it. I left as soon as I could.