It’s that time of year again when everyone wants to book their holidays and hen weekends so that they’ve got something to look forward to later in the year and with anything like this, the sooner you start thinking about what you want to do and get it booked the better. To help you come up with some great ideas for your hen party here’s some of our favourite packages, which you can book straight away for a no-fuss hen do or you can use them as inspiration for your own bespoke hen weekend.

Vintage Harrogate – 1 night central 3* hotel, 2 hour spa session, wine tasting, dinner reservation and VIP nightclub entry
Spend a relaxing couple of days in the beautiful northern town of Harrogate with an indulgent session in a fantastic spa coupled with some sophisticated wine tasting to help you appreciate the finer points in your favourite wines. End your first night in style with queue jumping VIP entry to a top nightclub and stay in your conveniently located 3* hotel.
from £109pp

Grease Lightning (Cardiff) – 2 nights 2* central hotel, grease dancing lessons, casino, private karaoke session, 2 VIP nightclub entries
This package is great for any hens that have ever wanted to be one of the Pink Ladies as you’ll get to learn the dance moves from your favourite scenes in the classic film and in the evening you’ll have a karaoke session all to yourselves so you can all get up and have a go without worrying about the audience reaction! You could reprise some of the numbers from your dance class or go for some other karaoke classics before properly hitting the town in the happening Welsh capital.
from £119pp

Brighton Beauty – 2 nights 3* central hotel, comedy club, spa session, 3 course Italian dinner, VIP nightclub entry
The exciting seaside town of Brighton is always a hit with stag and hen parties because of the great party atmosphere. This package starts your weekend with a night at a top comedy club which is always a good way to start off a hen weekend because it gets the girls all laughing together from the start.
from £199pp

click for more hen weekend packages

If you’re a hen group with a lust for life and sense of adventure then you might want something a bit more thrilling than traditional spa hen parties. Action activities aren’t just for the stags and there’s a great selection of activities to get the adrenaline going!

Paintballing has always been a favourite with stag and hen parties and goes down really well every time. It’s a great way to let off steam and just have a laugh with the girls. If you’re a bit worried about the marks and bruises that might be left by the paint pellets, then there’s always laser warfare, which is like paintball, but without the projectiles. Maybe the idea of shooting appeals to you, but you want something with a bit more ‘oomph’ than a paintball gun. If this is the case then you might want to consider clay shooting where you will be armed with shotguns or you could go target shooting in Europe where you can choose from an arsenal of hand guns and semi-automatic rifles!

If you want a bit more adventure then you could go horse riding, parasailing, sphereing or gorge walking. There are many activities that you do for your hen party that enable to push the boundaries and maybe step outside your comfort zone whether it’s heights or climbing over rocks and through rivers or hurtling down a hill at high speeds in a giant inflatable ball!

Click for more action hen party ideas

On your hen party you get the chance to have a go at doing something that you wouldn’t normally do and it’s always great fun to try something a little bit different with the girls. Currently one of the most popular kind of hen party activity is dance classes and theres a good range to choose from. There’s film themed classes so you can learn to recreate some of your favourite dance routines from Grease, Dirty Dancing or Coyote Ugly. You can also try something a little more exotic like belly dancing, can can, pole dancing or burlesque dancing or if you want something a bit more traditional then you could go for a TV-inspired strictly come dancing experience or some salsa dancing. For a hen party with a retro theme there’s the back to the ’80s dance class and the Madonna experience. As you can see, there’s a dance class for pretty much every kind of hen group that wants to learn a few new moves on their hen weekend and you’ll be able to dazzle on the dancefloor when you head to the clubs on your big hen night out!

If you’ve got a theme to your hen party then you could choose a dance activity based on that and it always helps if you all look the part whilst strutting your stuff. If you don’t fancy dance classes then there’s plenty of other options from the extreme to the relaxing, click for more hen party ideas.

A great way of spending a hen weekend with a difference is to book your own self-catering accommodation whether you want to go for a countryside retreat or be in the heart of town, you’ll be able to find something to suit your hen party.

If you want to get away from it all with the girls and spend some time in the peaceful countryside there’s a great range of stunning properties to choose from. From converted barns to grand country houses, you can be in the lap of luxury with all mod cons as self-catering properties can include giant plasma screens or sometimes projectors, games rooms and you can also find properties with indoor or outdoor swimming pools! To help you all relax that little bit more you could consider booking a professional masseur to come and massage you all.
If you go for a countryside retreat you don’t have to be completely cut off from it all, if you want to hit the town for some serious partying you can hire a minibus to take you out and bring you back again.

There’s also the option of booking apartments in the town centre and there’s some fantastic luxury apartments available. You’ll be within easy reach of all the bars, shops and restaurants so will all be able to experience the big city life on your hen weekend.

Click for more details on self-catering hen weekends

With the cold weather and snow that’s currently been taking the UK by storm, it really helps to have some sunshine to look forward to later in the year to help you get through it! It’s also during these winter months that the more sun-soaked destinations start to look even more tempting – who wouldn’t want a weekend in the sun on the horizon? If you’ve got a hen weekend to plan then you might want to look at some of the warmer destinations available.

Spain has always been popular with Brits in search of sun and with good reason – during the summer you can expect some scorching temperatures! The two Spanish destinations that are most recommended for hen dos are the former Olympic host Barcelona and the clubber’s paradise of Ibiza. Barcelona is a stunning city with buzzing nightlife as you’d expect from the fiery Catalonian capital. Barcelona has everything from breathtaking architecture, beautiful beaches and some of the best bars and restaurants around. If you’re a group that likes to have it large then you’ve got to consider Ibiza – the reputation of the Mediterranean party capital is well-deserved and you won’t be disappointed. If you want a big celebration on your hen weekend and the idea of partying well into the night and relaxing on a beach during the day then Ibiza will be perfect for you.

Staying in the Mediterranean area, there’s also the Italian capital of Rome for a more cultured experience with stunning works of art and historic monuments everywhere and, of course, the two things the Italians do like no one else: food and fashion! Rome has some of the best restaurants in Europe and is also a great place for picking up the trendiest threads around.

Click for more ideas for hen weekends this summer.

No hen weekend is complete without at least one great hen night and it’s always best to plan these things in advance. You don’t want to be searching for ages trying to find a good bar and then ending the night queuing for ages to get into a packed club (or queuing to get into an empty club!). If you’re going somewhere you’re not familiar with and especially if it’s somewhere overseas you’ll want to get some recommendations for some good bars (or if you’re going abroad, you could get a local guide to give you a bar tour) and pre-arrange your entry to a night club so you don’t have to queue outside in the cold. You’ll also need to get the restaurant sorted with reservations for the group or you might end up in McDonalds after being unable to find anywhere with enough room!

You might also want to consider doing something a bit different on your hen night and there’s plenty of alternative options from casino to cabaret and medieval banquet to murder mystery. You could also just go for an unusual method of transport with a fire engine limo or a party bus.

Click for more hen night ideas

Once Christmas and New Year are out of the way, you’ll probably want to start thinking about organising your upcoming hen party and you won’t be alone – January and February are often the busiest periods for organising stag and hen weekends, so you’ll want to start thinking about what you want to book so that you can get in whilst the availability is still there.

You’ll need to get some feedback from the girls about what everyone wants to do, which they’ll hopefully be really enthusiastic about because it will give them something to look forward to that will help them get through the bleak winter months! New hen party activities, destinations and great offers are being added all the time, so 2010 is going to be a great year for memorable hen weekends.

Click for some great hen party ideas to help you come up with the best hen do for the girls in 2010.

GoHen have just released a list of the top packages for European hen weekends to help out with ideas for your weekend away. If you want to go for an overseas hen party, but are short on inspiration and need some help then look no further! Entries in the top 10 include the classic Eastern European hen destination of Prague, the sun-soaked hot spots of Ibiza and The Algarve, the chic Paris and the fun-loving Dublin.

Here’s a few picks from the list:

Prague Perfection is a great value package which includes two nights 3* accommodation in the centre of Prague, airport transfers, VIP nightclubbing and a three course meal starting at just £132 per person!

Complete Hentertainment in Paris is a the perfect way to see the super-stylish French capital on a hen weekend. On the first night you will have a guided tour of the top cocktail bars in Paris and on the second night you and the girls will go to the world famous Moulin Rouge! From £195pp

Barcelona Belles is the number 1 European hen weekend package and it’s not difficult to see why hen weekends in Barcelona are so popular – it’s a beautiful city that gets fantastic weather all summer long and it’s just a short trip away. This package has private airport transfers that will take you to your luxury apartments where you’ll find a chilled bottle of Cava waiting for you! Each morning you’ll have a full English breakfast at a nearby bar and on the first night you’ll have a guided tour of Barcelona’s best bars. The package also includes a cocktail making masterclass and transfers back to the airport at the end of the weekend. From £145pp

Click for the full top 10 European hen packages list or view all hen weekend packages here.

If you’re looking for a hen destination that has it all, amazing hotels, the best activities, unrivalled nightlife and fantastic value for money then look no further than Nottingham. Nottingham hen weekends offer everything you could possibly need to make that all important weekend one to remember.

Nottingham boasts more restaurants, pubs, bars and clubs in a square mile than any other European city so it comes as no surprise that a Hen weekend in Nottingham remains such a firm favourite for so many Hen groups every year.

As you would expect from such a fantastic location a Nottingham hen do will also offer an abundance of day time activities with something to suit groups of all shapes and sizes. If it’s action and adventure your after for your Nottingham hen weekend then why not include a day at one of our incredible outdoor sites hidden away in deepest darkest Sherwood forest where you and the girls can race around in quads, karts, hovercrafts or even tanks! If you and the girls are looking to learn a new skill then why not try one of our many classes available from cocktail making to pole or even burlesque dancing. Or if those sound too energetic for your Nottingham hen do then why not just spend a day relaxing in one of our fantastic spas.

Nottingham ticks every box for the perfect hen party with packages available to suit all groups. Why not check out some predesigned Nottingham hen do packages, or click to find out more about what’s available for a Nottingham hen weekend.

Oxford is rapidly becoming one of the most popular destinations for a luxury Hen weekend. The University City has a wide range of fantastic day time activities. Cocktail making at one of the trendiest bars in Oxford is the perfect way to start the Saturday night in style. In the summer punting is part of the quintessential Oxford experience. Why not combine this with a delicious picnic, and a bottle of Champagne! If you fancy an adrenaline pumping off road activity, you’re spoilt for choice. Clay shooting, hovercrafting, quad biking and rage buggies are all available. Alternatively if you just want to kick back and relax, the spa is ideal. Full access to great spa and leisure facilities, including heated indoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi, steam room and Swedish sauna can be arranged as well as arrange pre booked spa treatments.

The nightlife in Oxford continues to bloom. The area of Jericho is packed with vibrant and trendy pubs and hosts a number of award winning cocktail bars. The perfect way to start the night! To finish off the weekend, Oxford is blessed with some incredible nightclubs. All lively and playing a wide range of great music, the nightspots in the city centre will leave all the girls wanting to stay till the end and complete a fantastic experience that no one in the group is likely to forget.

Click for more information on Oxford hen weekends

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Cocktail making is one of the most popular activities for hen weekends. This activity is a real laugh and creates a number of great photo opportunities!

This activity is great for all ages as everyone can get involved. The session starts with an amusing explanation of the origin of cocktails, followed by some shots and then down to business!

You will be shown how to make your favourite cocktails and then get the chance to demonstrate this in front of the girlies. Of course you then have to sample each others creations – nothing like some friendly competition!

You’ll get to enjoy 3 to 4 cocktails each, not to mention a shot or two to really inspire your creative side!

By the end of this session you will certainly know your Mojitos from your Woo Woos, however you might not be able to pronounce them as well as you could at the start!

If this sounds like an activity that would suite you and the ladies then click for more information on cocktail making hen parties.

The year round events in and around the town of Bournemouth offers something for everyone in its top entertainment venues. The Bournemouth stag weekends delivers fine bars and clean stretches of beach which is always engaged to make your fun-time the best of the lot. The party planners comes up with innovative and sparkling ideas to make both the stag parties and hen parties enjoyable.

The activities stretches out throughout the day as well as nights. The Day Hen activities offers are numerous in Bournemouth. You can take lessons on belly dancing, Burlesque, cheer leading and many more. Exclusive and one-of-a-kind activities are delivered to both the stags and the hens. The universally acclaimed Cabaret Shows of Bournemouth are unique and the nights of Bournemouth are lighted up with live music that turns out to be magical.

A multitude of lively restaurants and night clubs that cater to even the most discerning stags and a long list of tourist attractions, places and beaches, live entertainment hubs and sports facilities make for great Bournemouth Stag and Hen Weekends.

]]> http://londonhenweekend.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/london-hen-weekends/ Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:04:35 +0000 londonhenweekend http://londonhenweekend.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/london-hen-weekends/

More information about London Hen Weekends, please visit http://www.gobananas.co.uk/

While it’s not always as exciting as a summer hen weekend, you can still have a great time as long as you plan properly and think about where you want to go and what you want to do. Watersports are obviously not a great idea unless you all want to catch pneumonia. Indoor activities are always a safe bet and learning a few dance moves is a great way of keeping warm, so the popular pole dancing lessons, burlesque classes, grease dancing and dirty dancing lessons are a fantastic choice all year round.

You can always take advantage of the cold weather and head for the slopes in Slovenia. Maribor and Ljubljana are perfectly positioned with great access to incredible slopes at the Kravec ski resort. If you’ve always wanted to have a go at skiing or snowboarding or maybe you’re already a keen skier then your winter hen weekend is a great chance to hit the slopes. There’s also various other winter sports available such as toboganning, bobsleigh, curling and snowmobiles, so you have a range of options that you wouldn’t get in the summer.

If you want to head to a winter wonderland for your hen weekend then you might want to try Tallinn or Prague (which both have great Christmas markets) – you could go for a white hen weekend in the snow, just don’t forget to wrap up warm!

Click for more ideas for hen weekends

You can never have too many ideas for a hen party because you’ll have more options to choose from to create the perfect hen do – and there’s always plenty to think about! Do you want a fancy dress hen party? What kind of activities do you want to do? What do you want to do in the evening? Where do you want to stay? Do you want to plan any surprises for the bride-to-be? In this post we’re going to look at some possible themes, so here’s a few hen party ideas for you:

Film theme – does the hen have a favourite film? This could be a great basis for a hen party – you could dress as characters, come up with dares related to the film (just as long as her favourite film isn’t Thelma & Louise!) – maybe giving each girl a line from the film that they have to fit into conversation as often as possible throughout the party. If the hen’s favourite film happens to be Grease, Dirty Dancing or Moulin Rouge the you’re in luck as hen party dance classes can be arranged to learn dance routines from Grease or Dirty Dancing and you can also do can can or burlesque dancing to get into the Moulin Rouge spirit!

Place theme – does the hen have a favourite country/holiday destination? Maybe you all have great memories of a girls’ holiday away in a particular place? You could have a spicy Spanish night with Flamenco dancing and San Miguel. Or you could go Swedish and spend the day in a sauna and go to a karaoke bar in the evening to sing Abba songs and if there’s any spare time you could assemble some flat-packed furniture. A Hawaiian theme could also be great fun with palm trees, grass skirts and flowers and the fruitiest cocktails you can buy!

Colour theme – simple, but effective. Is there a colour or colour combination that the bride-to-be particularly likes? For example for a red hen party you all have to wear red with red accessories (balloons, sashes, feather boas – be creative!) and everyone drinks things like red wine, vodka & cranberry, cosmopolitans or bloody marys. It’ll be easy to find each other in a crowd and you’ll certainly all make an impact when you arrive somewhere!

Keep following for more ideas, in the meantime click for plenty of hen party ideas

Hen parties have come a long way in the last few years and you have a lot more options these days and a hen party can now be put together to suit any kind of taste.

Relaxing hen party – you could spend the day in a spa getting various pampering treatments such as massage and sauna and follow it up with some afternoon tea with the girls followed by a meal in a great restaurant before going for a few quiet drinks together for a low-key chilled out send off for the bride-to-be. Also, if you go for a coastal destination for your hen weekend then you can of course intersperse these activities with relaxing spells on the beach.

Classy hen party – a day at the races rubbing shoulders with high society types is certainly one of the more classy ways to start off a hen party or you could have a day of wine tasting learning how to fully appreciate a good vintage. You can follow up your daytime activities with a meal at a top restaurant before being whisked off in a limo to the trendiest bars in town. You can end the night in a late-night bar or with VIP queue-jump nightclub entry before you get the limo back to your 5 star accommodation (which, if you book in advance doesn’t have to break the bank)

Wild hen party – well, it is a hen party after all, so it is the best excuse you’re going to get to party like it’s going out of fashion. Get off to a flying start with pole dancing lessons, can can lessons or perhaps even burlesque dancing to really get the girls loosened up for a night of fun. Start the night off with a hens host waiting on you hand and foot and serving you champagne before hitting the town for some drinks, some dancing and maybe even some karaoke if you’re up for it! There’s no better way to end a hen night than with guestlist entry to a top nightclub where you can all dance the night away to your favourite tunes.

Click for more hen party ideas.

Organising a hen weekend always has the potential to be a stressful affair, but fortunately GoHen are on hand to help out with putting together a great hen do and generally making things a lot easier on you. In addition to all this, they are giving away a free hen party planning guide to everyone who enquires through the online form. All you have to do is fill out the enquiry form with details of what you want to do on your hen party and you’ll receive your planning guide as a pdf followed by your personalised hen party quote with a detailed itinerary AND an invitation email template that you can send to the girls with all the details of the hen do to really get the ball rolling!

So you’ve got a guide to help you through the stages of organising, your itinerary is secured and you’ve sent out invitations to all the girls so they know what’s going on so you’ll be able to find out who’s coming and who isn’t – that’s a lot of the work done already with a minimum of effort and all the girls will be really impressed with how well organised you are!

If you and the girls want to go to Budapest for your hen party, then you’ll be pleased to hear that GoHen have a great flight offer with Malev Hungarian Airlines to get 20% off your flights from Gatwick airport to Budapest. To take advantage of this offer, make sure that you book by 31 December 2009 – full details can be found on the Budapest hen do flights page.

Budapest is a fantastic destination for a hen weekend away and you can currently get a pretty good exchange rate on the Hungarian Forint and with the range of great hen packages in Budapest, you can easily sort out a great value hen party in Budapest for the girls.

Budapest is a great choice no matter what kind of hen weekend you’re looking for, it’s home to some amazing spas that will suit hens looking for some pampering and also has some of the best activity sites in Europe to cater for thrill-seeking hen groups. The Budapest nightlife will also be sure to please with everything from traditional pubs to the trendiest bars and there’s plenty of clubs to party the night away in.

With a great offer on flights, an exchange rate in our favour and fantastic value packages there’s never been a better time to go, click for more on Budapest hen parties

There are plenty of great activities available for hen weekends and if you’ve been on a few then you’ll be familiar with the traditional pampering weekend with spa treatments and saunas or the action hen party with paintballing and go karting, but if you’ve got another coming up you might want to try something different. Here’s our selection of some of the more unusual hen party activities:

Sumo Wrestling – how many chances do you get to put on big inflatable suits and try and shove each other out of a sumo ring? Not many – and it’s worth doing it if you can as it’s great fun both for the participants and spectators!

Can can lessons – if you’ve ever watched the can can dancers in Moulin Rouge and thought ‘I wish I could learn to do that on a hen weekend’ then this is the perfect activity for you!

Riverbugs – maybe you’ve been on a few hen dos and found the activities a little bit tame, or maybe you didn’t think you got wet enough then you might like to try this extreme watersport which is sort of a solo version of whitewater rafting.

Click for more hen party ideas

Definitely one of the best ways to avoid having to worry about the weather when you’ve got some outdoor hen party activities booked is to go for some watersports activities – you’re going to be getting wet anyway, so it doesn’t matter if it rains! Here’s a few of our favourite watersports hen party activities that are great for summer hen weekends whatever the weather:

Surfing – learn how to catch some waves with the help of our expert instructors who will take you through the basics so you’ll be able to have a go at heading into the water and seeing how long you can go without falling off!

Ringos – one that you may not be familiar with, it’s a bit like waterskiing in that you’re pulled around by a speedboat, but rather than standing on skis, you’re sat in a large inflatable ring. It’s one of the more unusual watersports activities, but it’s great exhilirating fun!

Whitewater rafting – one of the more extreme watersports activities – imagine hurtling down the rapids in an inflatable raft and going round twists and turns and over drops armed with just an oar! Not for the faint-hearted, but you’ll have a great time.

Click for more watersports activities for hen weekends – and don’t forget your towel!

It’s not every day that you go on a hen weekend and it’s always a good excuse to let your hair down and give the diet a rest for a few days!  Here’s some of the top indulgent activities for your hen do:

Wine tasting – a great chance to sample some fantastic wines and learn how to really appreciate a good glass of wine. It’s also a great excuse to have a few glasses during the day, but be sure to pace yourselves if you’re planning a hen night out after or it could all get a bit messy.

Chocolate making – it’s great fun learning to make delicious chocolates and getting to eat them afterwards isn’t too bad either! You can take your creations home to share with the family if you want, but no-one’s going to make you!

Cocktail mixing – another great educational activity for your hen weekend. Learn about some of the history of cocktails and how to make some classic drinks and, of course you’ll get to try them all as well.

Click to find out more about indulgent hen weekend activities

The Times has recently published a list of the top 10 stag and hen cities along with some details about the how the different groups are spending their money at the moment. Here’s the top 10 hen weekend destinations:

1. London
2. Brighton
3. Edinburgh
4. Devon/Cornwall
5. Bath
6. Cotswolds
7. Lake District
8. Barcelona
9. Liverpool
10. Newcastle

London is always a top destination and is also number one on the stag cities list. At the moment hens are watching their spending a lot more than stags – the hen top ten only has one destination from abroad compared to four for the stags. Hen parties are more keen on scenic surroundings with Devon, Cornwall, the Cotswolds, the Lake District and the UNESCO world heritage city of Bath.

European hen weekends don’t have to be expensive and if you can get some cheap flights and pick a destination with a good exchange rate (the pound is doing well against the Polish zloty at the moment) then you can still have a great hen weekend away without breaking the bank.

If you agree or disagree with the list or you have some suggestions of your own, please let us know in the comments!

If you’ve got a hen night coming up and particularly if some of the girls don’t already know each other, then it’s a good idea to have a few hen party games prepared as they make great ice breakers and really get the group having a laugh together. Over at GoHen there’s some great suggestions for hen party games including ‘I have never’, ‘The handbag’ and ‘About the wedding’ as well as some others. ‘I have never’ in particular is a great one for getting to know each other and you may find out a few new thing about the girls that you’re already friends with!

Also at GoHen there’s some ideas for the all-important hen party accessories as you’ll need to fully kit out the bride-to-be on her hen do. There’s also ideas for custom hen party badges and what to put in the hen goodie bags from the fun to the practical to the ridiculous! Getting custom accessories or gifts is a great way for everyone to have a souvenir of an amazing girls night out!