The Best Stag Do Providers 2019

Imagine this nightmarish scenario:

A hapless, over-confident group of people, all pulling together in different directions towards a vague goal, with a leader that doesn’t have a clue where they’re supposed to be going, or the best way to get them there. Even the thought of organising a piss-up in a brewery is beyond them, let alone actually getting around to it.

That’s right, it’s a badly prepared stag weekend. Why, what did you think I was talking about?

So here we are in 2019, and it’s high time we got our annual review of the best stag weekend providers out there underway.

I’m pretty confident that by this time next year the situation with travel into Europe will all be sorted out and running smoothly. But who’s to say that we Brits will be all that welcome? So I thought I’d put together a send-off to remember in what is without doubt one of the best, and most popular stag do destinations there is: Krakow.

Krakow Stag Weekends

Krakow is generally seen as a place to be in the summer. In July the mercury can hit 24°C but between December and February temperatures fall to below zero. That said, it is beautiful in winter, and if you can tough out the cold (stag groups from Newcastle, I’m guessing, won’t even bother bringing a coat) then the Christmas markets are fun to visit.

You would also, of course, have a lot more choice when it comes to accommodation in the winter, because Krakow is one of Europe’s top destinations for a stag weekend. Every month during peak season hundreds of Brits pitch up to give one of their number the send-off of a lifetime. On your average summer weekend in fact, you’re probably more likely to hear English being spoken on the street than Polish.

This is the second-largest city in Poland after the capital, Warsaw, and without doubt one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The architecture is especially eye-catching: Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance, and medieval. If you have a bit of time to explore, the market square, the Wawel Cathedral and the impressive Royal Castle are all well worth a look. The architecture survived the war largely intact but Krakow’s Jewish population suffered terribly under Nazi occupation in WWII – many were transported to the concentration camp Auschwitz, nearby.

So what makes Krakow so popular with stags? What have the Cracovians ever done for us?

Krakow Nightlife Guide for Stags

Well there’s the famously warm and welcoming locals for one thing, remarkably tolerant of us, all things considered. Then there’s the Krakow nightlife. Here you will find one of the densest concentrations of bars, clubs and restaurants in the world. If your group don’t manage to have a good time in Krakow, something has gone more badly wrong than Simon Cowell’s new face.

Craft beer, clubs and kiełbasa

There are huge clubs open til dawn that attract big name DJs and Krakow’s large student population; ‘vodka and snack’ bars, serving many different flavours of the local spirit and tapas-like plates of traditional foods such as herring in oil and boiled white sausage (biała kiełbasa) ; craft beer pubs; cocktail and jazz bars; karaoke joints and of course your classic stag nightspots playing contemporary music that attract a mixed crowd, perfect for the end of the night. Drinks are ludicrously cheap here. You can find a shot for as little as one Euro, and beer tends to be about a third of the price as it is in London. So go nuts but do try and play nice because Brit groups in Krakow don’t enjoy the best of reputations to be honest, and why risk spoiling it for everyone else?

Bar crawls are de rigeur here, usually led by an attractive young lady who will ensure you get into each venue with no problems, handle the drink orders and politely pretend never to have heard your weak pick-up lines before. Most of the action takes place in Krakow’s scenic Old Town: Floriańska and Szewska Street are good places to start. If you want a more authentic flavour of Krakow try the pubs in the Kazimierz, the old Jewish district, where locals tend to drink. The city itself is compact enough to be easily walkable, and a lot of stag accommodation is located within minutes of the hotspots, meaning about the only time you’ll need transport is your airport transfers (you’ll invariably be met on arrival, and handed a fistful of beers for the short journey into town) and for your activities.

Krakow Stag Do Activities

And what a bundle of activities there is to do here. All the classics for the evening: river booze cruises, casinos, strip clubs, steak dinners, and in the daytime you’ve got quad biking, paintball, go-karting, river rafting, escape rooms, and shooting ranges. The famous Wieliczka salt mine, an interesting tour, is a short distance to the south and I noticed at least one of the companies I contacted actually offer tours to Auschwitz – somewhere I think everyone should visit in their lifetime but, …er, on a stag weekend?

Lock, stock and Luksusowa

While researching for this report I chose a couple of activities to try, and the one I was most interested in was visiting a shooting range. Here trigger-happy stag groups can blast away with Glocks, pump-action shotguns, AK47s, MP5 submachine guns and more. You get a small amount of bullets included but come prepared to spend because once you start blazing away like Dirty Harry you’re going to want more. You can’t do this on a stag in the UK, it tends to be Eastern European countries where they have more liberal gun laws. And lots of guns. So many guns.

I also wanted another traditional Krakow stag do idea: a tasting session of Polish vodkas in a city-centre bar. You might not think you have it in you to knock back half a dozen shots of vodka over the course of an hour. You might not think it’s a good idea anyway. But if you want to get your night off to a good start in Krakow, and also sample at least a smidgen of local culture, then this is a safe bet.

Needless to say, if you want to compare prices for a Krakow stag do, then just check out the link for the best deals or alternatively feel free to contact me directly and I’ll be happy assist.

So let’s get on with the show ….

As always, when conducting this research I need to do everything in the utmost secrecy. That means creating an entirely fake identity for myself: new name, new (made-up) job, new contact details, and putting on a false nose and moustache, and a not unflattering blonde wig, before I start phoning people up. And yet again I got away with it! Mwuh ha ha ha ha.

Here are this year’s nominees:

• Last Night of Freedom
• Chillisauce
• StagWeb
• Designaventure
• Red Seven

Last Night of Freedom

LNoF offer a ton of excellent stag activities in Krakow, all the standard ones you’d expect plus a few unexpected ones that I didn’t feel like investigating too far: Roly Poly stripper? Naked sushi girl? How very tasteful and 2019!

The chap I spoke to had a pretty salesy approach, quite pushy, but of all this year’s agents he was clearly the one that knew Krakow the best and was obviously very familiar with the city. As such I was happy to take his recommendations on the vodka tasting, and the way he rated the setting and the host, seriously. The offered price of £277 was at the higher end of the scale but he was able to give very a convincing spiel on the size and quality of the apartments I was asking for, and the other various benefits of booking with LNoF.

The LNoF website is pretty great and worth mentioning. They have useful details of the different accommodations they use in each city, and they also have a shop where you can buy all the accessories you need to ruin the stag in one place: bondage gear, lederhosen, asymmetric thongs etc. A strong effort this year.

Chillisauce

Chillisauce were on top of their game this year having wobbled somewhat in 2018. I heard from someone within an hour of putting in an enquiry. Their first email confirming they’re working on a quote has a photo of the agent, a nice touch of personality, and it clearly outlined the benefits of booking with them, so you know everything you need to straightaway. When we spoke I got a strong sense she was reading from a script, but a well-written one. She was very pleasant to deal with, and like several other companies, gave me a price immediately over the phone.

They offered to provide me with a female guide throughout the weekend, someone that knows the city and the local lingo well, and capable of solving any problems along the way. Krakow, along with Prague and Budapest, is one of Chillisauce’s top stag destinations. Once everyone is booked in, they supply each member of the group with online maps and itineraries, a very handy trick.

A price of £247 for my proposed weekend I thought was very reasonable, and although I felt my agent was slightly more interested in just getting the sale than really learning about me and my group, again it’s a solid performance from one of the market leaders.

Stagweb

Another agent that again came across as very knowledgeable about both Krakow and the different activities available. The overall impression I got from a couple of conversations was that he was competent but not at all pushy, a friendly guy without a hard-sell approach. The background noise sounded very busy which didn’t surprise me.

They were very quick with the requote after I requested a couple of changes and the quality of the quotes itself was also very high, packed with useful information. And I really liked the fact that on Stagweb’s website there’s a video introducing you to the highlights of Krakow, along with a ton of other good stuff from bar and restaurant recommendations to some handy Polish phrases to use: “Oczyszczenie zapłaci za wszystko” / “The groom will pay for everything” is one definitely worth practising!

I should also point out that the Stagweb agent I spoke to was one of the only ones I spoke to, beyond the guys at Red Seven and Designaventure, that seemed really interested in having a chat and getting to know me and what I was interested in. Although January is the busiest time of year for stag providers so I guess I can give them some leeway in not wanting to be too talkative.

Designaventure

Designaventure did well last year and they’ve crept into my top five again this time around. As in previous years, still a very plain website and emailed quote compared to other providers.

As with previous years, the quote was fairly steep comparatively, though not the highest I received by some way. And for some reason I had trouble getting through, seems they were closing at 6pm during their peak season rather than 8pm as others do, so they were trickier to get hold of than the others.

But when I did speak to someone he was a really nice guy, knew his stuff and was very on the ball. Beyond a quick offer to price match against whatever else I had he wasn’t pushy at all. So practically a rerun of last year from Designaventure. Not quite the cigar just yet, but solid.

Red Seven

By all accounts, Red Seven has been a bit hit ‘n’ miss recently but on this evidence, they are getting back to the standards I’d expect from one of the mainstays of the industry. The agent was friendlier than most, and we had a good long chat about various things including my (entirely fictional) brother and my (entirely fictional) job. Red Seven gave the impression that they are completely au fait with every aspect of a stag tour, and that gave me total confidence it would run smoothly. Reassuring one might say.

I learned that the price would be slightly cheaper if we were able to pay in full rather than in installments, and that Red Seven, unlike most other operators, will also book your flights if you want – one less hassle to bother about for the best man and something to think about if the rest of your party are a bit scatty.

There was no pressure to book accommodation beyond a nod to the fact that it was better locked down early than not, but clearly, Red Seven has a lot available to them. Quote details, ease of booking, and requested amendments: all perfectly satisfactory. On this evidence, it’s a return to form for Red Seven.

THE WINNER

Can I continue much longer to conduct this anonymous research before someone gets wise? I guess we’ll find out in 2020. But for now it’s time for the winner to step forward, take a bow and collect their (entirely fictional) trophy.

Ladies and gentlemen the 2019 best stag do provider of the year with 85 points out of 100, beating out second place by just one solitary point is …..

Congratulations to them and commendations to the other contenders who performed admirably.

I’ll be back in 2020 with another edition. In the meantime, if you need any help navigating the world of stag dos just drop me a line at oliver@iamthebestman.co.uk and I’ll happily help.

One last thing: whilst I do work with a number of these companies, this research is absolutely based on an independent review of the experiences I had. I’ve tried to make the assessments constructive because whether you’re a stag provider or, like me, someone providing impartial advice to best men, we’re all looking to do the same thing, which gives the groom the most amazing send-off imaginable.