Irish low-cost airline Ryanair have announced that they will be cutting flights to and from Riga by up to 30% in 2012 in response to rising security costs at the airport. Both sides have since entered into a slanging match, the airline claiming that Latvia will lose out on 300,000 tourists, €30m and 300 tourism-sector jobs over the course of the next year. The airport has retaliated, criticising Ryanair for affecting people’s potential to bag cheap flights to Riga and making them “more limited” in terms of choice. BIFF! POW! BAM!

There’s no such thing as leaving it too late, especially when a Riga stag do is concerned. Of course other airlines will be running flights to the city next year, but Ryanair is known for those handy ‘super cheap if booked before Midnight tonight’ deals and many of our stag groups take advantage of this, sensing the opportunity to save money for Schnapps and spas once out there. For example, should you fancy a Riga stag do starting on Thursday 15 December and ending on Sunday 18 December, return flights will set you back a mere £84.25, including taxes and fees!

But what to do at this time of year? Well, Riga looks really magical in the snow and is renowned for getting white Christmases. Our bobsleigh package is perfect for the winter. Picture bombing down the track through snow-covered trees wrapped up warm and then relaxing back in town afterwards with spicy Schnapps!

For a winter stag do Riga truly cannot be beaten. It is our northernmost stag location, hugging the Arctic Circle, with the largest range of activities of any of our destinations. Drinks are super cheap, the women are welcoming and the nightclubs have one of the craziest party vibes we’ve experienced. Head out to the Baltic Beach Hotel where spa treatments start at a sweet £5 for a half hour (female) rub down and you’ll have a chance to bathe in a vat of wine. Yes, you read that correctly! The vitamins in the wine are absorbed by the skin and it helps flush toxins from your body. And don’t worry, a glass is provided to enjoy whilst you bathe!

Now, how’s that for some tasty looking Riga stag do ideas?!

For those of you planning a stag do in the UK at the back end of 2011, we have some splendid news for the wallets of your stag party. The Trainline website’s cheap fare finder is either on the blink or the coffers are empty, as they’ve been unveiling some very special deals, indeed, for the upcoming Autumn season. Good news for those planning on scaling the country for their stag do to bring that extra element of occasion to their stag do. For example, those planning on escaping London for an Edinburgh stag do can find their way to the Scottish capital for as little as £20, rather than the usual £80 odd – your Stag Company scribe is certainly no mathematician, but that’s good saving where we come from.

Edinburgh stag do now even cheaper

Throw in the recent Easyjet and Ryanair flight sales and we’re breaking down boundaries and making this mostly blue ball we call Earth a pretty darn small place. If you’re still stuck for stag night ideas then it’s worth looking at our site for inspiration. Whether it’s a Bratislava stag do or a Norwich stag night, you’re bound to find something to tickle the fancy of your group there. With London 2012 in mind, too, Easyjet have announced that they will be opening a new line of flights from the small airport offering a budget alternative to their London airport neighbours.

If you’re still desperately stuck for stag inspiration, and are a little light in the pocket after too many summer evenings spent in beer gardens, never fear – we have a very special offer for a Riga stag do that delivers on a very small budget. For just £126 per person, you get hotel accommodation in the centre of the city, airport transfers, breakfast, pub crawl, lapdancing club entry and a personal event organiser who will take all of the stress out of your best man duties.

There you go: stag weekends don’t need to be stressful or hit you hard in the pocket, just use The Stag Company as your pilot to your dream stag weekend.

Magaluf stag do dangers

In the last few years visits to sexual health clinics have risen by 22% between May and September and Co-op pharmacists are advising that men and women take condoms with them when travelling away.

Lisa McCreesh, a pharmacist at the mutual, said: “On holiday people often get more amorous. We are urging people to remember that condoms provide the most effective protection against STIs. If you have had unprotected sex, it is important to get a check-up as you may not show any symptoms.

“Some condoms that are available abroad don’t always comply with the relevant European health, safety and environmental protection laws, so we would advise people to plan ahead and make sure they take CE marked condoms with them, along with any first aid essentials.”

She said: “Left untreated sexually transmitted infections can lead to health problems – whatever your age, always wear a condom to protect yourself.”

In better news, fewer than 5% of respondents in their twenties had never used protection before though 1 in 10 said that they had not used protection due to being drunk. 1 in 8 of women respondents claimed that they had not used protection because they were embarrassed to ask. Damn those Magaluf stag weekends with their pesky surprises 9 month later…

Or feeling broody, or whatever…

The Stag Company is far too much of a gentleman to comment on past stag night conquests in any degree of detail, but would like to throw its ample weight behind any “bag it up” campaign bandwagons that might be forthcoming from said survey. Stay safe kids.

As regular readers of this blog will know, the Krakow stag do is among our very favourite destinations thanks to its heady brew of Old Town charm and classy, ornate clubs. There are 120,000 students in the city as well as cheap drink prices so there’s plenty to get your teeth into on a Krakow stag weekend where the bars look like they’ve been around for many years – even if that isn’t the case.

Krakow stag do

Cocktail bars are growing in popularity in the city and are perfect if your crowd like to get suited and booted for your night’s out. They stay open awfully late, one highlight is on ul. Jana which has leather sofas and an extensive cocktail menu. Cien, also on ul. Jana offers late opening hours and a house music policy, perfect for pulling shapes among the young and the beautiful in this Polish stunner.

Bars and cafes are also well represented in the city with atmospheric boozers just waiting to make your acquaintance. Many of Krakow’s nightspots have that that dark, sticky floored charm that make for wonderfully memorable dark and dirty nights out that you and the lads will be talking about for months to come. Cafe Camelot and the retro Singer in Kazimierz (the old Jewish quarter) possess dimly-lit large tables and local Polish beer that will knock your socks off.

When it comes to final destinations for your Krakow stag do, Frantic on Szewska tends to have some immense looking girls and a top soundtrack for the evening’s proceedings – you can also get a drink for about 6 or 7 zloty (about £1.50 to you and me). For some off-the-chain parties, check out Art Klub Bledne Kolo which is the go-to place for “cool Poland” with electro parties on Saturday nights. Caryca, Kitsch and Lubu-dubu are based on the same street, ul. Wielopole and offer eclectic parties ’til the dawn.

So there you have it, inspiration to help you stag Krakow a treat.

As far as summers go, weather-wise you’d have to consider 2011 to have been a solid 7/10 – at least around these parts. It’s certainly been better than last year so if you’ve been out on your stag do this summer, you can probably consider yourself lucky.

Winter Stag Weekends 2011

However, economic factors are being taken into account more than ever which has seen an enormous rise in winter weddings to save money on venues and churches and the like. It is to that end that we’ll take a look at some of our favourite winter destinations for stag weekends – whether that’s down to all-year-round sun or picturesque winter scenery.

1. Germany

Germany is a great destination for a stag weekend, especially in the winter as they take Christmas very seriously indeed with some cracking Christmas markets sprouting up at the Yuletide period. They also take beer pretty seriously, too, with massive varieties of ale perfect for getting that stag do swimming in party spirit. Ok, you’re not going to get away from the cool conditions of Blighty and be given any kind of respite here, but you will get a fantastic stag do whether it’s a stag weekend Berlin, Munich or Hamburg-stylee.

2. Spain

For those all-year-round sun kind of destinations that we were talking about, unless you want to break the bank (and a big wedge of the wedding budget) a Caribbean stag do is probably out of the question, it’s fair to say. However, Spain offers great temperatures going right through the year, especially the further south you get. Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, is particularly famed for its sizzling temperatures in December, January and February, but you’ll got some heat on a Valencia, Madrid or Barcelona stag do, too.

3. UK

Ok, so you’re probably going to have to wear a jacket but the UK still holds its own in the winter months with some fantastic bargains available. An Edinburgh stag do is a particularly picturesque affair during winter, ditto Liverpool, London, Manchester, Chester and Brighton – though probably best give the North Sea a swerve in Brighton!

So there you have it, some fantastic options for building that cost-effective, but nothing-less-than brilliant stag weekend courtesy of yer boys ‘ere at The Stag Co.

Maybe you’ve left it late, too late you might worry, to book your stag do. Well, here at The Stag Company we laugh at TOO late. It doesn’t exist in our collective minds and though it’s undoubtedly going to be a rocky few days as you try and throw together the perfect groom’s send-off, you shouldn’t be too discouraged as stag night gold doesn’t take months to pan for here.

Last Minute

1. First, you need to decide upon a destination in the UK or Europe, somewhere that’s really going to get the juices flowing. Going abroad is actually much cheaper than you might think and often works out quite alot cheaper than trying to get across the country – especially if you live near an airport. The Money Saving Expert website has a fantastic flight price checker that should aid you in your quest for the cheapest possible flight dates to build your weekend around. There is also an “I’ll go anywhere” option that should aid you if destination inspiration is hard to come by. If you do want to keep it UK though, for a Brighton stag do, say, you can also use thetrainline.com, which will find you the cheapest deals on train travel, too.

2. Next, you need to decide upon the activities that you want your weekend to be built around – again, we have a really easy way for you to decide upon these as you enter your destination onto the quote builder on our home page, then you will see a whopping great list of activities to choose from. Obviously there will be drinking, but you might want to think about go-karting, quad-biking, zorbing etc, to ensure that you don’t peak too early and wind up in the back of a taxi come 11pm, before the night has really kicked off.

3. Enjoy! We’ll take care of all those little niggly details and with our extensive contacts around cities in the UK and in Europe you don’t need to worry about us finding your hotel accommodation, no matter how late you leave it. So get plottin’ now and see what we can throw together for you.

To find out more about a stag do Brighton style, please call us on 01273 225 070.

Please forgive the Daily Mail headline, but now I’ve got your attention…

On Facebook, no-one can hear you scream.

Time to tidy up those Facebook photo albums, chaps, for now it seems that employers are performing sweeps of potential employees social networking profiles to judge their suitability for roles. That means photos taken on stag weekends are about to come under particular scrutiny if this worrying trend makes its way over to the UK from America. Many recruiting companies already do this, so get those profile’s privacy settings updated pronto, or else face the employment oblivion, folks.

'Orrible

When it comes to stag do pranks and games, believe me, we’ve heard the lot. We know what you debauchered dogs get upto and for the most part, we’re impressed, truly, but if you have a photographer-in-chief present on your stag weekend, you might want to have a quiet word on the way home. We’ve heard stories of relationship break-ups due to Facebook photo albums, you won’t want to lose your way in the job-hunt, too, just because you might have had the record of a cheeky grope at a stripper externalised on a digital camera’s memory card.

Watchdogs in America are already appauled by this growing trend, with New York Times commentator, Adam L. commenting,

“We’ll quickly reach the point where every single person in the workplace is rendered unemployable. People should obviously use common sense when deciding what to put online; at the same time, if it doesn’t affect their job performance, it shouldn’t be any of the employer’s business.”

We quite agree, hell, the world’s more fun when you have two personas running simultaneously – take a look around your office now – look at that IT guy tip-tapping indecipherable code into a text box. Why, he’s probably quite the weekend warrior underneath the tweed jacket – known to all in Latvia for his Riga stag do antics where he copped off with a 500lb girl from the Welsh valleys. I mean, probably not, but you just don’t know…

Ahem.

A leading HR person, Suzanne Lewis blogged on the subject, saying that social networking fails to take into account people’s ability to change, to mature,

“even if you were stupid enough to take a picture of yourself with your marijuana plant back in 2007, doesn’t mean you’re stupid enough to do so now.”

Some quite simple solutions here, folks.

1. Detag is your friend.

2. Update your privacy settings.

3. Don’t add your boss on Facebook.

4. Perform a sweep of your social networking pages and take off anything incriminating.

5. Don’t join any potentially racist/xenophobic/criminal groups.

Simple, eh? Then you can get upto whatever you want on your Timbuktu/Riga/Brighton stag do.

Alcohol usually plays a central role in stag parties, but it can (just about) get a little bit boring to drink constantly without any imaginative games and challenges to break up the thirst quenching.

It will usually be the best man’s intention to get the stag inebriated, as it makes it easier to carry out the jokes planned at his expense. While there will be others, who will frustratingly remain sober without the gentle persuasion of a drinking game.

So on top of the obligatory stag party rules such as not drinking with your right hand and not referring to someone by name, what other stag do drinking games can you do?

We think the ‘I Never’ game is a great addition, especially if you are all seated in a pub and lacking in topics of conversation. The rules go like this:

Everyone sits around a table, with a plentiful supply of drink to hand. To start someone makes a statement beginning with “I never…”, which must be true. Everyone else must drink (more than a mere mouthful) if they have done what he hasn’t.

Before long the revelations will become increasingly shocking, especially as more booze is consumed and people forget that they’ve kept their dark secrets to themselves for good reason. Although, chances are nobody will remember a thing in the morning.

If nothing else, you will have a laugh and get well on your way to being merry.

For beer loving stags check out the Heineken Brewery on your Amsterdam Stag Weekend.

Now that the crackers have been pulled and the turkey has been eaten your attention may well be turning to organising a stag party for 2010.

Late spring and early summer is the most popular time for a stag do ahead of the summer weddings, so now is the time to get those head counts confirmed and the shortlist of possible destinations whittled down to just a couple.

We understand how much of a daunting task it can be to organise a weekend away with the lands, especially when some are strangers and everybody is scattered across the country, but at least you are now in the right place for assistance.

We can help you out with the hard work of planning the trip away, including your accommodation as well as the activities you will take part in during the hopefully memorable weekend of freedom.

If you are thinking of a weekend away in Europe for your stag party you can choose from the famous cities of Barcelona, Dublin and Madrid to the unfamiliar, but fascinating hidden gems of Eastern Europe, such as Krakow and Vilnius.

If the exchange rate is keeping you on these shores the choice is just as vast with stag do destinations available all over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The favourite stag do destinations are Bournemouth, Nottingham and Newcastle, but we can tailor your party no matter where you want to host it.

The activities on offer range from adrenaline packed paintball to the hilarious sumo wrestling with some naughty lap dancers thrown in the middle.

The choice is huge and we take away the difficulties of piecing it altogether into one fantastic weekend package, so get in contact and your 2010 stag weekend will be organised before the groom even considers replacing his best man.

If we haven’t lost half our readership with that piss poor imitation of a Geordie accent, then I’ll continue for those who are still with me, and still thinking about a Newcastle stag weekend. For venture you should. It’s funny that tucked away so high in the north where the cold wind blows, that we get so many requests for stag weekends in Newcastle. They keep coming in however and we keep sending groups of stags away to what is becoming one of the most infamous nights out in the UK. We’ve decided to take a little look at some of the top activities people seem to be doing when they head there.

Our top three asked for day time packages this week in Newcastle are:

Quad Biking

With the nicer weather round the corner, the demand for action and adventure outdoors is going through the roof. You want to get out into the Newcastle countryside and you want these beautiful quads as your chariot. Tear up the dirt on the Tyne and get stuck in.

Clay Pigeon Shooting

This is a classic that we think will never die on stag weekends. Let’s face it, guys have been shooting sh*t out of the sky for years. It’s our god given manly right to bear arms against small artificial targets and by Jove if we want to blast the crap out of a dot in the sky we will do it and justify ourselves to no one.  Be careful guys, this sport is extremely addictive.

Paintballing

Ask kids today about paintballing and they’ll recognise it as an international activity taken as a serious sport all over the world. Mention paintballing to any British kid born between 25-35 and their immediate thoughts should be of one thing: Byker… Grove. We’ve laboured this point enough here but those who know, know what I mean. Funnily enough, despite our first impressions of paintballing were of PJ being tragically wounded, people are still fanatics – or perhaps it’s because our first impression was of PJ being tragically wounded…
Our top three asked for night time packages this week in Newcastle are:

Comedy Club

Interestingly, more of you are opting for laughs at the moment probably something to do with the rest of the world being so sh*t right about now.  In true British style, when things are bad we want to find things to laugh at. Newcastle has excellent comedy venues that we send our stags to so if you feel like you need some cheering up, get yourself along to a chuckle-fest.

Clubs and Pubs

Second to the comedy, most of you just want to go out and get smashed, and that’s okay by us. If you can’t do it on your stag do, well, then you probably shouldn’t be having a stag do. Near the station you have Neville Street and Collingwood Street which is an excellent pathway past some popular pubs like the Union Rooms, Revolution Bar, O’Neills and Head of Steam. These are just a few. Newcastle has a ridiculously high concentration of pubs so you never have to stumble far to find your next pint.

So there you have it, these are the activities guys are asking for at the moment, but you can also give us a call and see what else we have on offer for stag weekends in Newcastle!