Stag do suggestions

[shakermaker1982]

I'm getting married in October & my brother + cousin are in charge of sorting this drinkfest out. They seem keen on Riga but I've heard mixed reviews. Anybody got any other suggestions. I was keen on Stockholm/Copenhagen but it is pricey. If I leave this to my brother then we'll end up in a rat infested hostel so I'm better off giving them a steer.

The group will consist of borderline alcoholics, binge drinkers. a couple of sensible people and the odd non drinking coffee drinker. I'm not bothered about doing activities so it doesn't have to be a city which caters for stag do's. Just somewhere to have a few beers, see the odd sight and maybe watch some football. Dates are pretty flexible.

Anybody recommend any cool European cities?

[Kingdom]

Amsterdam. It might sound sleazy, or cliched, but we went there for my stag on the insistance of everyone, and it was incredible. We stayed on a botel the first night, great laugh altogether.

[endabob1]

Barcelona

[the 12 th man]

Hamburg,great beer & excellent red light district

[passinginterest]

Will be on my first stag next weekend, in Limerick, I'm sure it's just the kind of cultural experience you're looking for so I'll let you know how it goes

[shakermaker1982]

How much for a pint in Amsterdam Kingdom? Chelsea are also playing Ajax end of July so it could be an option.

I've heard some good stuff about Hamburg. Beatles enjoyed it anyway!!!

[danthesaint]

have been to Riga twice (once with pats) both times absolute deadly place

cheap beer food and good lookin burds (altho im sure thats off your radar now )

its like most cities i suppose, ya have to be careful everywhere.

have been in gothenburg as well it was slightly dearer than dublin, we went at a time they had some sort of festival (like a bank holiday) some bars were shut, so be careful.

was amsterdam too, that was brilliant, canal tours on a boat, ajax tour, van gogh etc... was cool, only thing that put me off was that sex show i went to... was like looking at me ma and da go at it...... haha

i found some of the forums on trip advisor were pretty good, and they give yaz options for things to do.

[Kingdom]

How much for a pint in Amsterdam Kingdom? Chelsea are also playing Ajax end of July so it could be an option.

It's 5 years now so probably doesn't equate, but I don't remember feeling ripped off. We went through Eindhoven to save money, which added to the fun. We went on the Bank Holiday weekend, and I couldn't recommend the place enough. The AMsterdam arena tour wasn't great. That said I was tired and emotional on it, so that sullies most likely. The stadium itself was deadly.
A fella I work goes on random weekends three times a year. Last one was about 6 months ago and went to Hamburg. raved about the place.

[shakermaker1982]

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g2...e.To.Riga.html

just been reading up!!!

[Schumi]

Getting married in Oktober? Has to be Munich at the end of September for the Stag.

[green army]

was in riga twice. first with a group of lads and hated it. always looking over your shoulder in case something was gonig to happen. said that i would never go back unless pats or ireland were playing there. a year later went with pats for uefa cup game and it was fantastic but i stayed away from the dodgy places.

if your looking for a cheap place to stay in in riga, try friendly franks fun palace (or something like that).its a hostel and we got a free beer on arrrival.close to main places

was at a stag last week in prague. we went gun shooting and a pub crawl. had me doubts about doing the pub crawl but it was brilliant craic. and we did another one the following night also.

[Wolfie]

Been on a good few Stags over the last few years - Munich, Hamburg and Krakow were all very good destinations.

Personal opinion - but I found Riga a bit of a dodgy gaff to be honest. A lot of pick pocketing and still a "soviet" vibe to the place. Not the sort of gaff to fall foul of the cops, that's for sure.

I suppose it depends how boisterous your crew will tend to get - but you need to be based in a place where you're not going to be looking over the shoulder if your having a bit of crack (not drugs reference, necessarily).

[Dodge]

Also went to Riga with pats and had a cracking trip. A mate went there this summer (who had gone with pats) and said the place had gone to ruin. Economy had imploded (worst than here) and practically nothing open.

The Gothenburg Pats trip coincided with a music festival. Big stage up in one of the main squares with free bands on every night (and sometimes during the day). They had food and drink stalls all around the place. Wanted to go back but Ryanair dropped the direct Dublin flight.

Had one of the best session weekends of my life in Barcelona. Huge amount of bars, clubs and a big casino if you’re into that. Beer is cheap, weather’s usually great and the football connection is obvious.

All the stags I’ve been on (about 7/8) have been in Ireland. My own was in Letterkenny/Ballybofey

[thischarmingman]

Karakow- everything that Riga has only far fewer English (and Irish) yobs, far more picturesque and far, far better pubs, clubs and bars. There's also enough to do and see in the city itself to keep everyone in the group occupied, whether they want to spend the entire time drinking or whether they want some time to see the sights. The pubs and bars range from your trendy modern places to smoke little basements with jazz bands (Poland has a huge jazz scene) and just about everything inbetween. Even the main tourist areas are far cheaper than Ireland, and of course, Ryanair fly there. Guarantee you'll absolutely love it.

[Neish]

Would advise against Riga, nice wee town to visit for a night or two but not for a stag

Was just in there for a few days in April, my sister has been working in the Irish embassy there for past few years, acording to her a lot of the clubs and pubs have closed down over past year and a half. They got hit even worse than us with global recession.

Also can be doggy enough if ya don't know the place. She is friendly with one or two of the UK embassy people two and said they have Irish and english people (mainly young men) getting ripped of righ left and centre after going to stip club or brothels every weekend over the summer, you'll get no sympthy and prehaps from her and quite right too

Was in Krackow last year lovely city and friendly people andlthe lovely girls

[shakermaker1982]

cheers guys. Looking into Krakow after all the good write ups.

[thischarmingman]

There's loads of accommodation options there (actually, there's tons), but for what it's worth the hostel I stayed at was Nathan's Villa. It was close to the centre, cheap, cheerful and clean, and had a nice downstairs bar. Anyway, you won't be stuck for accommodation of you do decide to go there, whatever your budget.

[Raheny Red]

Stay clear of Riga!

I'd advise Berlin, Barcelona, Prague, or Vienna.

[passinginterest]

Limerick turned out to be a good spot, paintballing was great craic and the nightlife was lively, seems to be a popular spot for stag and hen parties, that or they all just end up in the same places.

[dahamsta]

Don't mind your foreign trips, have a staycation, rent a couple of houses on an Irish island with at least two pubs and just get boll*xed drunk on the money you save.