If we look back and ask around our mates, we can see that most stag groups have travelled to one of the usual stag cities in Eastern Europe to enjoy their stag weekend. Recently this trend has changed, most people stay back home and choose a destination that is inlands and incurs less costs. But is a stag weekend spent in the UK (inland travel) really more cost effective than travelling abroad? To get a precise answer for this question we need to consider the most significant factors determining the overall cost of a trip. Flight tickets, accommodation, activities and general price level of a country are the main determinants without any doubt. But we need to count in several other 2nd line factors that can make a similarly large impact on costs and the perception of the value of the money spent.
Timing of the stag weekend is quite important, ideally there is at least 3 months time for the trip at the time of booking. Flight tickets’ prices depend on seasonality – high season being April to September – but the more in advance we book our tickets, the more probability there is that we still find the cheaper tickets for a given flight, no matter when we would like to fly. So unless the boys are in a big hurry to get everything organized before the wedding, we can spare a lot by booking in time.
Accommodation can often make up a big chunk of the total costs if we don’t know our options. Hotels as we mostly choose are a lot more expensive than apartments. The hotel rooms’ lowest costs are around 30 Euros per person per night, whereby apartments can be 30 – 40% cheaper. Budapest is great for apartments, there is plenty of centrally located 3 or 4 star quality apartments that are ideal for groups and allow for larger groups to be split in units of maximum 6 to 8 people. Bars, Restaurants, fast food places are literally at the doorstep, should you want to get a kebab or have a last beer before passing out on your bed, you surely won’t need to look very long.
Lately the price level has become a central issue when travelling. It is unfortunately a fact that Eastern Europe has become a lot more expensive in the last years. Therefore it may not be as cheap to get a beer anymore as it used to be. We shouldn’t however forget, that a lot has changed in the last years. The level of services has grown, choices have widened, and the consuming class of people driving the services industry has become stronger raising the bar for the quality of services. If you look around however, you will be able to find examples for both the cheaper services and the more posh ones. You may come to Budapest and switch to budget spending which you couldn’t do in the UK at the same level. You will find restaurants where you get 3 courses with a beer for 10 Euros. Would you get that in the UK?
The interesting thing is however that people always want to spend little money but would like to be part of the best there is. They don’t want to go to the average clubs and restaurants but to the ones that are famous. This unfortunately will always be like that, but luckily people learn that although the trip is a little more expensive at the end than previsioned, by making the right choices the experience rectifies the venues and their prices.
When comparing the inbound travel in the UK and a Budapest weekend, there is not a clear answer to which comes down to cheaper. As I tried to explain, a quality weekend, the discovery of a new city can mean a lot more than saving a few pounds. If you choose the right company to organize your trip, receive the right advice on what to do and where to go in a given city, get guest list entry to the top clubs in town and save money by choosing tour operators instead of agencies I’m just not sure you would spend a lot more overall as opposed to staying inlands.