Most stag weekends abroad go without a hitch. The ones that don't usually trip over something small and avoidable: a passport that looked fine but wasn't, or a rule the group didn't know the city had brought in.
Here's what to check. Everything below was checked in October 2026, and rules change, so look at the official gov.uk foreign travel advice for your destination before you travel.
Passports: check the dates, not just the cover
For trips to the Schengen area, which includes Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, a British passport has to meet two rules:
- It was issued less than ten years before the day you arrive. Look at the "date of issue", not just the expiry date. Older passports sometimes had extra months added, and those months don't count.
- It's valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave.
A passport can fail the first rule while still being "in date". Ask everyone in the group to check both dates the day you book, and to renew straight away if either is close. The official rules are on gov.uk for Spain and each other country.
Ireland is different. Dublin is in the Common Travel Area, so the Schengen rules don't apply to British citizens. Airlines and ferry companies still ask for photo ID, and most want a passport, so check with yours.
New border checks in the EU
The EU's Entry/Exit System replaces passport stamps for visitors from outside the EU, including Brits. The first time you go through, you may be asked to give fingerprints and a photo at the border. It's free, but it adds time, so don't book the last possible flight home.
The EU also plans an online travel authorisation, called ETIAS, that British visitors will need before travelling. At the time of writing it hasn't started. Check gov.uk before you book, and if it's running by then, make sure everyone applies in good time.
Health cover and insurance
- GHIC: the free UK Global Health Insurance Card gives access to state healthcare in EU countries. Apply through the official NHS service, never a site that charges.
- Travel insurance: GHIC isn't travel insurance. Everyone should have a policy that covers medical care, getting home and cancellation, and check it covers the activities you're doing.
Barcelona
- Organised pub crawls are banned across the whole city, at any hour, since 29 October 2025. That covers organising, selling, advertising and taking part. Moving between bars as a group of mates is fine. Just don't sign up for a paid crawl.
- Since February 2026 there are fines for drinking in the street, urinating in the street, and nudity or semi-nudity in public, which includes walking around in swimwear away from the beach. Anything that depicts genitals, including inflatables and rude costumes, is banned.
- Police can take payment on the spot from visitors.
- Beach clubs have strict dress codes: no sportswear, football shirts, flip-flops or costumes.
More on the Barcelona page.
Prague
- Organised pub crawls are banned between 10pm and 6am (in force since November 2024), with fines for the organisers. Paid crawls now run earlier. A group going from pub to pub on its own is fine.
- Drinking in public is banned in more than a thousand places, including the main squares, around metro entrances and transport stops, and on the river embankments overnight. Police can fine you just for carrying an open drink.
- Shooting ranges turn away anyone who has been drinking, and everyone needs a passport or national ID card.
- Use a bank cash machine, not the "zero commission" exchange kiosks, and use app taxis rather than cars waiting on the main squares.
More on the Prague page.
Amsterdam
- Drinking in the street is banned in most of the centre, with on-the-spot fines for public drunkenness, noise and urinating in the street or canals.
- The Red Light District has its own rules: bars there close at 2am at weekends, smoking cannabis in the street is banned in the old centre, photographing the windows is not allowed, and guided tours of the area are banned.
- Beer bikes are banned in the centre. A self-drive boat carries a maximum of twelve plus a sober skipper, with no amplified music.
- Never buy anything from street dealers.
More on the Amsterdam page.
Lisbon
- Since February 2026, nowhere may sell drinks to take outside late at night: from 11pm Sunday to Thursday and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, until 8am. Fines apply to sellers and to individuals. Drinking inside or at a terrace table is fine.
- People live above the bars in Bairro Alto. Keep the noise down.
More on the Lisbon page.
Albufeira
- A code of conduct bans nudity off the beach and walking around town in swimwear, and the municipal police enforce it on the spot.
- Since May 2026, in the main nightlife streets, bars close at 3am, clubs at 5am, and shops and off-licences stop selling alcohol at 11pm. The council describes this as temporary, so check what applies when you go.
- Drums need permission, so leave the stag drum at home.
More on the Albufeira page.
Dublin
- Many venues have over-21 or over-23 door policies, and everyone needs photo ID.
- Clubs close earlier than in British cities, around 2.30am to 3.30am.
More on the Dublin page.
The rules that apply almost everywhere
- Carry real photo ID. Clubs abroad check it, and a photo on your phone often won't do.
- Don't drink in the street unless you're sure it's allowed. In most of these cities it isn't.
- Leave rude costumes and inflatables at home. Funny at the airport, fined in Barcelona and refused at most club doors.
- Drugs are illegal, including in places people assume otherwise. Penalties abroad can be far tougher than at home.
- Keep away from water and cliff edges after a drink.
- Save the emergency number: 112 works across the EU.
We'll flag the rules in your plan
When we plan your weekend abroad, we build it around the local rules: activities before drinks, booked nights out, transfers from the airport. Flights aren't included; the group books them. Get your plan within 24 hours, and read our packing list before you go.