Hen weekends in Europe: which city suits which group, the activity prices and the rules that catch groups out

💡 The Short Version: Our judgement, not a ranking. For boats, cocktail classes and a show, Barcelona: sunset sailing with cava is €33, a cocktail class €38 and a flamenco show €25. For a day on the water and a baking class, Lisbon: a sunset boat party is €19 and a pastel de nata class €55. For a spa day, Budapest, where Széchenyi is HUF 13,200 on a weekday and Rudas opens for night bathing on Fridays and Saturdays. For paella, tapas and sangria, Seville (book March to May or October, because July averages 36.0°C) or Valencia (paella classes at €65 and €70). For afternoon tea and a tasting, Edinburgh (gin tour £28, afternoon tea with castle views £54) or Dublin (afternoon tea on a vintage bus €57). The rule that catches groups out: Barcelona and Prague ban or fine the organised pub crawl, and in Dublin drinking in any public place is an offence.

⚠️ Drinking outdoors is fined in Dublin and Barcelona, and organised pub crawls are banned in Prague and Barcelona. Dublin’s bye-laws make it an offence to drink in a public place, with a €75 fixed-payment notice; Barcelona fines drinking in public where it bothers people €30 to €100 and organising or promoting a pub crawl up to €3,000; Prague has banned organised night pub crawls since October 2024. A bottle on the riverbank or a prosecco in the park is the usual way a group meets the rule, so keep the drinks to a bar or a licensed terrace.

Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price for one adult in the local currency, and they move with the date and the group size. The rules are the cities’ own.

The cities side by side

The cities are in the order of the entries below. Each is a link to the city’s own guide.

Cities for a boat, a class and a show

This grouping is our judgement. In these four cities the day is a sail, a cooking or cocktail class and an evening show, and the prices start low.

Lisbon

Sunset boat party €19 · sailboat with a drink €34 · pastel de nata class €55 · fado show €15

The Sunset Boat Party Cruise with DJ and Open Barad is €19 for 1½ to 4 hours and has 14,352 reviews; the Sailboat Sunset Tour with a Drinkad is €34 for 2 hours. The Pastel de Nata Baking Class from Scratchad is €55 for 2 hours, run by Homecooking Lisbon near Belém, and ends with the tarts, coffee or tea and Port wine. The fado show with winead is €15 for 50 minutes. Lisbon food tours compares the classes, the walks and the fado rooms.

Lisbon charges a tourist tax of €4 per guest per night for up to 7 nights in a row, which the hotel collects and shows on the bill (Deco Proteste). Price it for the whole group: 10 people for 3 nights is €120.

The Praça do Comércio, Lisbon. Photo: Carlos Costa, European Commission, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

The Lumiares Hotel & Spa has apartment-style rooms in Bairro Alto, from studios to a two-bedroom suite, and is in the booking section below. Lisbon lists what to book, and where to stay in Lisbon compares the areas.

Barcelona

Sunset sailing with cava €33 · cocktail class €38 · flamenco €25 · organising a pub crawl fined up to €3,000

The Sunset Small-Group Sailing with Cava and Snacksad is €33 for 2 hours and has 2,328 reviews; the Midday or Sunset Sailing with Open Bar and Snacksad is €44. For a class, the Cocktail-Making Class with Patatas Bravasad is €38 for 2 hours, and the Cocktail Masterclass by a Mixologist with Tapasad is €45 and has 1,072 reviews. The Flamenco Show at the City Hall Theatread is €25 for an hour, and Las Brujasad is €16 for 50 minutes in a close-up room. Barcelona flamenco shows compares the rooms, Barcelona food tours has the paella classes from €65 and Barcelona boat tours sets the boats side by side.

Barcelona’s new coexistence ordinance has been in force since 15 February 2026. The council prints fines of up to €3,000 for organising and promoting pub crawls, €30 to €100 for drinking in public where it is not authorised and bothers people, and €100 to €600 where it seriously disturbs the peace. Visitors are notified of a fine on the spot (Barcelona City Council).

Sant Jordi Hostels Sagrada Família has dorms of 4 to 10 beds, and the EnjoyBCN Gaudí apartments are 12 flats near the basilica; both are in the booking section below. Barcelona lists what to book, and where to stay in Barcelona compares the areas.

Seville

Flamenco €21 · tapas walk €77 · sangría and spritz workshop €30 · July highs 36.0°C

Teatro Flamenco Sevillaad is €21 for an hour and has 21,136 reviews, and Casa de la Memoriaad is €24. The 4-Stop Tapas, Taverns and History Walking Tourad is €77 for 3½ hours, for groups of up to 12. For a class, the Sangría and Spritz Cocktail Workshop with Tapasad is €30 for 2 hours, with 37 reviews so far, and the evening paella class with tapas and sangría is €70 for up to 12 (Seville food tours). Seville flamenco shows compares the rooms.

July averages a high of 36.0°C and August 35.5°C, the only months above 35°C (AEMET, 1981 to 2010), so a group planning a day of walking and classes should choose March to May or October. Andalusia has no tourist tax (Seville where to stay). The Semana Santa processions run from 21 to 28 March 2027 and the Feria de Abril from 12 to 18 April; our judgement is to avoid those weeks for a group booking (when to visit Seville).

Plaza de España, Seville. Photo: Wzwz, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Zenit Sevilla has six apartments that sleep up to four, with a pool, about 1.1 km from the Cathedral; it is in the booking section below. Seville lists what to book, and where to stay in Seville compares the areas.

Valencia

Paella class €65 to €70 · sunset catamaran from €15 · Las Fallas 1 to 19 March 2027

The Paella Cooking Class with Central Market Tourad is €70 for 3 to 3½ hours and has 1,258 reviews at 5.0, and the Evening Guided Paella Workshop with Tapas and Drinksad is €65 for 3 hours. On the water, the Sailing Catamaran Cruise with Sunset Option and DJad is €15 for 1 to 1½ hours, and the Sunset or Daytime Catamaran Cruise with Drinkad is also €15. Paella in Valencia compares the classes and the restaurants, and Valencia food tours covers the rest.

Las Fallas, the March fire festival, runs from 1 to 19 March 2027, with the Cremà on the night of Friday 19 March, and it closes streets in the centre (Las Fallas 2027). Valencia has no tourist tax: the regional government rejected one in May 2026.

The River Hostel and Purple Nest Hostel are in the booking section below. Valencia lists what to book, and where to stay in Valencia compares the areas.

Cities for a spa day and a set evening

This grouping is our judgement. In these two cities the group’s day is a bath or a beer spa, and the evening is a dinner or a night out.

Budapest

Széchenyi from HUF 13,200 · Mandala day spa HUF 17,629 · drinks cruise HUF 9,110 · Rudas night bathing Friday and Saturday

A thermal bath is the Budapest hen activity. Széchenyi is HUF 13,200 on a weekday and HUF 14,800 from Friday to Sunday, with three outdoor pools, indoor thermal pools and ten saunas and steam rooms in the City Park. Rudas is HUF 12,000 on a weekday and HUF 15,000 from Friday to Sunday, a 450-year-old Turkish bath with a rooftop wellness area, and its night bathing runs from 22:00 to 03:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, with tickets sold only online (Budapest thermal baths). The Mandala Day Spa and Luxury Pool Experiencead is HUF 17,629: a private day spa, which suits a group that wants a quieter room than Széchenyi. The unlimited drinks cruisead on the Danube is HUF 9,110 for 75 minutes and has 50,907 reviews, and the chimney-cake workshop, where each guest rolls and bakes a kürtőskalács, is listed on the food tours page.

The big baths do not admit anyone under 14, so a younger relative cannot join the bath day. For the night out, District VII’s ordinance 25/2020 says bars must stop guests taking drinks out to the street, and shops that are not catering venues may not stay open from 22:00 to 06:00 unless they stop selling alcohol in those hours (Erzsébetváros ordinance, in Hungarian). Drink inside, and do not carry a glass onto the pavement.

NH Collection Budapest City Center has a kitchen in every room, and Danubius Hotel Helia has four indoor pools; both are in the booking section below. Budapest lists what to book, Budapest thermal baths compares the baths and where to stay in Budapest compares the areas.

Prague

Beer spa CZK 1,930 · medieval dinner with unlimited drinks CZK 1,565 · organised night pub crawls banned

A beer spa is a bath of warm water with brewer’s yeast and hops, with beer to drink while you soak: The Largest Beer SPAad is CZK 1,930 for an hour. The medieval dinner at U Pavouka is from CZK 1,565, with shows every day at 16:30 and 20:00 and unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks. Prague beer tours compares the tastings and the beer spas.

In October 2024 Prague changed its market order so that organised pub crawls are banned at night; the only groups allowed are guide-led ones with commentary, between 06:00 and 22:00 (Prague 1 district office, Radio Prague International). A group drinks bar to bar on a route it picks itself.

Czech Inn is a design hostel with dorms and private rooms on Francouzská, and MOOo by the Castle has 13 apartments with no lift; both are in the booking section below. Prague lists what to book, and where to stay in Prague compares the areas.

Cities for tastings and afternoon tea

This grouping is our judgement. In these two cities a tasting or afternoon tea is the main booking, and the rule is about drinking outdoors.

Edinburgh

Gin tour £28 · Scotch Whisky Experience £25 · afternoon tea with castle views £54 · drinking banned in designated public places

The Edinburgh Gin Distillery tour and tastingad is £28 for 75 minutes, with six gins and gin liqueurs in a glass-fronted distillery in the Old Town and then a rooftop bar. The Scotch Whisky Experiencead is £25 for 50 minutes. For afternoon tea, the Vintage Bus Tour with Afternoon Tea or Ginad is £48 for 1½ hours and the Afternoon Tea with Castle Viewsad is £54, with 23 reviews so far. At the hotels, the Witchery is £60 from Monday to Friday and not in August, and Prestonfield House is £70 (Edinburgh afternoon tea). Edinburgh whisky tours covers the tastings and the age and ID rules.

The council’s byelaw bans drinking alcohol in public places it has designated, not across the whole city, and the penalty is a fine of up to level 2 on the standard scale (City of Edinburgh Council). Edinburgh’s 5% visitor levy on the first five nights applies to everyone, so it goes on the group’s bill too.

Fraser Suites has 75 apartments about 80 m from St Giles’ Cathedral, and BrewDog DogHouse has 20 apartment-style rooms and more than 30 craft beer taps; both are in the booking section below. Edinburgh lists what to book, and where to stay in Edinburgh compares the areas.

Dublin

Afternoon tea on a vintage bus €57 · traditional music pub tour €67 · Jameson €31 · street drinking €75 fixed payment

The Afternoon Tea Vintage Bus Tourad is €57 for 75 minutes and has 2,848 reviews. The Traditional Music Pub Tour with a Local Musicianad is €67 for 3 hours and visits three music sessions in city-centre pubs, and the Jameson Distillery Tourad is €31 for 45 minutes; Jameson Bow St. is a visitor experience, with production in Midleton. Traditional music pubs lists the sessions by night, and Dublin whiskey distillery tours compares the tastings.

Dublin City Council’s Intoxicating Liquor Bye-Laws 2008 make it an offence to drink, or to hold drink intending to drink, on a road or in a public place in the city, which includes the Liffey boardwalk, the canal banks and the parks. The fixed-payment notice is €75, otherwise up to €1,900 in court, and gardaí can order you to leave, confiscate the drink and arrest without a warrant. Seats and tables outside a licensed premises are exempt (Dublin City Council).

Zanzibar Locke is an aparthotel with studios and suites with kitchens about 140 m from Temple Bar Square; it is in the booking section below. Dublin lists what to book, Temple Bar covers the pubs and where to stay in Dublin compares the areas.

Booking a group

Book the beds first. Our judgement: agree the dates, then book the accommodation before the activities, because apartments or a hostel with enough beds for the whole group are the part with a limit. Some hostels and apartment hotels set a minimum group size or take a deposit, so email the property for its group terms before you pay anything. Fix the dates away from the city’s big weeks: Las Fallas in Valencia (1 to 19 March 2027) and Semana Santa and the Feria in Seville (21 to 28 March and 12 to 18 April 2027).

Book the activities next. Most of the activities in this guide show free cancellation on GetYourGuide, which lets a group lock a date and drop out a member later; check each product’s cut-off. Our judgement: book the activity that depends on a fixed slot, such as a sunset sail, a flamenco show or a spa night, first, and fit the rest round it. Rudas’s night bathing is sold only online, and Széchenyi sells tickets 180 days ahead.

Split the cost one way. Our judgement: one person pays each booking and the others transfer their share the same day, with a spreadsheet of who owes what. Price the weekend per head before anyone commits. For example, in Barcelona the sunset sailing with cava (€33), a cocktail class (€38) and a flamenco show (€25) come to €96 a head, before beds, food and drinks.

Apartments, hostels and spa hotels on Hotels.com

These are the apartments, aparthotels, hostels and spa hotels already on our stay pages. Each links to Hotels.com for the group’s dates.

Each city’s stay guide compares the areas: Lisbon, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Budapest, Prague, Edinburgh and Dublin.

Other cities and other trips

For a stag weekend, see best cities for a stag do, which has its own order and the pub-crawl rules for Amsterdam. For a trip with young children, see best city breaks with kids, which has the free ages and the step-free transport. For a trip for two, see romantic city breaks for couples, which has an evening plan and a table to book in each city. For other purposes, see cheap city breaks in Europe, winter sun city breaks, solo city breaks and food city breaks. For the rest of the cities, see Compare cities; for two cities head to head, see Prague vs Budapest. For the weather and what else is on in each month, see where to go each month.