It’s easy to understand why a city might want to deter tourists and grooms-to-be from arriving en masse with a flock of drunken pals in tow.
Indeed, so much so that three popular destinations for pre-nuptial frivolities have tried to put measures in place to ban stag-dos.
Amsterdam, for example, launched a campaign in 2023 aiming to discourage UK tourists from sex, drugs and booze-filled trips.
The Dutch capital told tourists planning drug and alcohol-fuelled parties at the time to ‘stay away’ – especially young British men.
Similarly, Prague tried to ban evening pub crawls, hoping to deter rowdy tourists.
And Albufeira in Portugal launched a strict code of conduct, cracking down on rowdy, drunken behaviour.
But despite these efforts, the three cities remain on the stag-do map.
Huge numbers of Brits are still booking stag and hen parties across the cities.
Despite a crackdown on stag-dos, many European cities have seen a rise in popularity
Amsterdam remains a must for many groups of young men celebrating upcoming nuptials
The new rules have hardly succeeding in preventing stag-dos in the hotspots, according to stag and hen do organiser Last Night of Freedom.
Matt Mavir, managing director at the company, told the Express: ‘Rules, fines and huge publicity campaigns – authorities in each of these cities have thrown everything at trying to discourage revellers from choosing their city to party, but it hasn’t done a fantastic job.
‘Our customers aren’t being scared off and the numbers prove it. In fact, these destinations are becoming more popular than ever.’
Plus, the three have even seen an increase in bookings in 2025.
On Last Night of Freedom’s list of popular spots, all of the European cities climbed the ranking for this year.
Prague has climbed from fifth to third most sought-after destination, and is a best-seller for the company.
Meanwhile, Amsterdam has risen from ninth to seventh.
Albufeira has finally joined the list this year, in sixth place – an impressive debut.
Albufeira in Portugal has also attracted a growing number of parties and stag-dos
It comes as a new study has revealed the European cities offering the best value-for-money for stag and hen celebrations in 2026.
To uncover the best budget-friendly options, group party specialist Funktion Events analysed Numbeo, Livingcost, and TripAdvisor data for popular hen and stag do locations across Europe to uncover the cheapest destination for a pre-wedding bash.
The findings were based on the price of beer and a meal at an inexpensive restaurant, as well as the number of nightlife establishments such as pubs and clubs in each location, to reveal the top 10 European destinations for a value-for-money stag and hen do in 2026.
Prague takes the top spot with pints priced at just £2.17 and meals averaging £8.12.
Budapest follows in second with £2.30 beers, £8.97 meals and 241 nightlife venues.
That’s followed by Tenerife, Sofia in Bulgaria and Seville in Spain.