The best stag dos aren't the wildest ones. They're the ones that fit the groom and the group. A weekend built for twenty-five-year-old rugby lads will lose the groom's dad by lunchtime; a whisky tasting won't hold a group that wants to run around.
Start with who's coming, then pick from the ideas below. Prices are our from-prices per person, checked in October 2026, and vary by city; each activity page shows the price everywhere we offer it.
The sporty group
Competitive, energetic and happiest with a scoreboard. Give them something to win.
- Go-karting (from £50 pp): the safest bet on any stag. Everyone can drive, everyone thinks they'll win.
- Paintballing (from £24 pp): teams, tactics and bruises to show off at the wedding.
- Football and footgolf (from £29 pp): a five-a-side or a round of footgolf, easy to fit around a hangover.
- Stag Olympics and highland games (from £31 pp): sack races, tug of war and silly events, with a winner at the end.
- Rafting, coasteering and kayaking (from £31 pp): Cardiff has white water ten minutes from the bars.
The chilled group
Good food, good drink and good chat. The night out matters less than the long lunch before it.
- Beer tasting and brewery tours (from £31 pp): in Dublin, Prague and Amsterdam it's the whole point of the trip.
- Whisky, gin and rum tasting (from £33 pp): Edinburgh's whisky is the obvious choice.
- Golf and crazy golf (from £16 pp): a proper round or a few holes of crazy golf with a bar attached.
- A booked group dinner (from £34 pp): one long table, the speeches before the speeches.
- A boat (from £28 pp): the Thames, the canals of Amsterdam or the cliffs of the Algarve.
A mix of ages
The groom's mates, his brothers, his dad and the future father-in-law. Plan the day so everyone can join in, and the night so anyone can head off without spoiling it.
- Pick a daytime activity with no fitness test: bowling, darts and pool (from £21 pp), axe throwing (from £25 pp) or clay pigeon shooting (from £35 pp).
- Make dinner the centrepiece. It's the part of the weekend the older ones will enjoy most, and they can leave after it with honour intact.
- Choose a city where everything is close, like Cardiff or Newcastle, so nobody's stranded.
- Keep it to one night if some are only coming for the Saturday.
Non-drinkers and the sober-curious
Plenty of stags have someone who isn't drinking, for health, faith, fitness or the morning after. A good stag works for them too, and it's not hard.
- Put the activity at the centre, not the bar crawl. Karting, paintballing, an escape room (from £19 pp) or combat archery (from £29 pp) are as good sober.
- Book a dinner, not just drinks. Everyone's equal round a table.
- Pick a comedy or show night over a club: a comedy club is from £10 pp.
- Split the kitty fairly. If the group is buying rounds, the non-drinker shouldn't be paying for them.
An entirely alcohol-free stag works well too: an outdoor day, a big dinner and a sports match. Tell us and we'll plan it that way.
The small group
Six to eight people can do things a big group can't: a table at a busy restaurant without booking weeks ahead, a single car for a day trip, a food tour or a cocktail class (from £37 pp) that feels personal. Use the size, don't apologise for it.
The big group
Fifteen or more needs a different plan: activities that run big sessions, accommodation that keeps you together, and a night out that works in smaller groups. We've written a whole guide to stag do activities for big groups.
The groom who hates fuss
Some grooms dread the idea of a stag. Don't force a classic one on him. Ask what his perfect Saturday looks like and build that: a match and a curry, a round of golf and a pub, a long lunch in a city he loves. It's still a stag do if his mates are there.
Ideas by season
- Summer: boats, beaches and anything outdoors. Albufeira, Barcelona and Bournemouth come into their own, and a boat party is hard to beat.
- Autumn and spring: the best time for city breaks, with fewer crowds. Paintballing, karting and a long dinner work anywhere.
- Winter: plan indoors. Activity bars, bowling and darts, tastings and a comedy club. Prague and Edinburgh are at their atmospheric best in the cold.
Stitch-ups and traditions: keep them kind
A bit of mischief is part of most stags: the outfit he has to wear, the forfeits for saying his partner's name, the fake arrest (from £25 pp) he never sees coming. A few ground rules keep it fun:
- Check with someone who knows him well. What's funny for one groom is a nightmare for another.
- Nothing that could hurt him, cost him his job or upset his partner.
- Costumes: check the local rules. Some club doors turn them away, and Barcelona fines rude costumes and inflatables.
- 18+ options: some cities offer them. If the groom wants that, ask; each city page shows what's available behind an 18+ section. If he doesn't, they're simply not part of the plan.
Turning ideas into a weekend
Two activities over a weekend is plenty for most groups, plus a dinner and a big night. Our sample itineraries show how that fits together. Browse every activity by city, or tell us about your group and what they're into, and we'll send a full plan within 24 hours.