Plenty places to go for eating and drinking, lots of different types of music to listen to live plus the great outdoor is but a stone's throw away. A post-pub hike up Arthur's Seat is recommended if in Edinburgh.

God No. Mrs Crout reads this.
This one doesn't involve me or people being chained naked to park railings.
avoid anything that involves wearing the same T-shirt as the other "guests".
Here in Barcelona there was a stag Night that turned up from Burnley,I think,,about 40 blokes.
All wearing the same Polo shirts. apparently they had already intimidated most of the people on the flight over. About 20 got into a fight at baggage reclaim and got arrested. Then the others who had made it into town,got into a fight whilst checking in at their hostel and were also deported.

I posted this elsewhere, before I read this thread, but it seems appropriate here too:

Don't know what music you are in to, but this link may help:

http://www.thefestivalcalendar.co.uk/

to Edinburgh which was about 40% composed of a rugby team from Swansea. Three of them were arrested at the airport for pissing on the airport. Once that was cleared up, one of them jumped out of the taxi to full on snog a female tramp he'd seen slumped against a wall. He got back in claiming she had "breath like a thousand pubs". We had by then realised that we might have been dealing with some kind of intergalactic species.

Later that night, we'd been in the nightclub for about twenty seconds before I saw them running naked, letting off smoke grenades (don't ask). They had also paid the bouncer forty quid to throw the groom's cousin out (he kept telling them to behave), smashing up his phone for good measure. They managed to get hold of some speed and stayed up all night drinking champagne in the hotel bar, although had taken the time to smash the groom's room up into tiny, tiny bits, fill his car with it all and turn it upside down.

We got the train back to London, thankful that it was all over. As I was staring down the platform, I saw an approaching figure, running towards the train. It was one of the Swansea boys, the self styled 'ultimate human'. As the train was pulling away, he jumped aboard and climbed in through a window. He'd taken a liking to me and thought that I might like him to come and stay.

The others kidnapped the groom and held him hostage in Edinburgh for a week. I had to send him some money so he could escape.

Is that the sort of thing you're after?

Can't people just go to the pub with a few friends and have a drink? Why do blokes feel the need to don crap t-shirts and lay waste to Krakow?

The Loaded generation have a lot to answer for.

Find a property near a decent venue.

My brother did a decent job for my stag do. Rented a place for a weekend, went to Alton Towers with a couple of friends, and BBQed in the evening with 'just' the right amount of beer and wine.

In fact, use the Landmark Trust even if you're not doing a stag do; they're a great organization.

For my stag do, being not of the get legless and chained to a lampost naked brigade, myself and about 10 friends went to Paris for the weekend. This included a very nice meal out in a good restaurant and a trip to the Louvre. A really memorable weekend with good laughs, a bit of culture and cusine. What could be better.

Do what you want to do not what is dictated by fashion. But you already knew that!

I can't relate to this thuggery at all. A nice meal and a gig, maybe a with a couple of shants does me fine. The rest is antisocial intimidation and worse. Great British thuggery on our High Streets revolts me (and yes, Jeremy Sociology A Level, that does include the Bullingdon Club and bankers with bonuses).

6 mates, five pints and one memorably fiery vindaloo. I was neither stripped nor tricked in any way.It was brilliant. I went home satisfied and feeling lucky to have such top mates, while looking forward to married life. (I was 36 ,mind)

To answer the OP, Joe, Galway is the coolest town in Ireland - and you'd be AMAZED at how vibrant the club scene is. You're a short hop from some of the most hikeable, wild and gorgeous scenery in the world (no exaggeration)

I was there for 2 days at Christmas to see if itd chamged much in the 20 years since i graduated from nui and could have stayed indefinitely.. The pubs are characterful and friendly, especially naughtons and the Quays..

Btw, find out how the groom feels about pranks.... A lot of blokes really DO
NOT want one played...

and take or hire a car. If you fly to Knock it's a couple of hour's drive. Take some sounds and a couple of tents and your sleeping bags, a box of fine wines and beers, and a grand picnic to this beach:

where all that sits between you and North America is about 1800 miles of wild Atlantic ocean.

It'll be the best place on earth to experience a chilled and beautiful night with friends before a wedding. If it's clear, the sky's to die for.

If you go for this option, drop me a line and I'll tell you how to drive to within a ten minute walk of this very spot.

Sláinte!

There's a music festival from the 14th to the 17th July in Castlewellan County Down. You can camp in Castlewellan Forest Park whcih has a beautiful lake and some superb walks. You are also right beside the Mourne Mountains and only 5 miles from Newcastle where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.

1) Going out for a curry
2) Heading to a Northern Soul club
3) Some dancing
4) Me getting quite drunk.

You know what? It was brilliant. Mainly because it was my first night out for ages with people I've known for years but haven't got together because of work and family commitments. That was more important than doing a lot of stupid stuff frankly.

Was a couple of desultory pints of guiness in a back street strip club in las Vegas about an hour before the wedding, at the insitance of my best man (there was only him and me there). I was glad to got out into the bright sunshine, glad to cab across town to the little white chapel and most of all glad to see my wife to be arrive.

North Devon. Saunton. Bit of golf, a few pints here and there, fine slap up fish 'n' chips out of the paper sitting in a park, then more beer.

I was dressed as a woman for most of the time.

a few pints with some of my oldest and dearest friends
followed by a ruby
followed by coming back to my house with the best man
having a few more beers
talking complete bollocks
to bed

Great evening - who needs to end up in Prague or with a stripping policewoman ???

5 days with 5 mates in NYC. Rock N Roll Landmark tour and Karaoke with a live band behind me at the awesome Arlene's Grocery. Few Brooklyn Ales here and there but the city was intoxicating enough.

I cannot recommend this highly enough.
http://www.wild-in-scotland.com/

We went for a few nights in February 2009. Was snowy and cold, but truly amazing.
We had a mini-bus with 8 of us, and were driven around the highlands and the Isle of Sky, stopping off at picturesque places, visiting the occassional historic location and staying in a couple of different locations.
The best night was staying in an old station masters house, on the edge of a loch in Stromeferry. The 'Wild In Scotland' staff stayed with us and we sat around in a house with a log fire, eating food and drinking, while a few of the guides (plus some of my friends) played on the many instruments in the house and formed a little impromptu band for one night only.
Woke up the next morning with mist over the loch and an amazing sunrise.

I would recommend Fynefest. A 2 day beer and music festival at Loch Fyne North West of Glasgow. Takes place this year on 2nd and 3rd June. Fantastic setting in the hills beside Fyne Ales Brewery. Very remote, everybody takes their tents, the fast food stalls was organic venison and oysters, mussels and salmon from the Loch Fyne Oyster Co.

In excess of 30 cask ales from around the UK and music throughout the day and night, mostly cover bands/blues band type stuff.

Great fun last year and I'm going for 2 nights this time.