If you want to take your hen party abroad, start by finding a flight and accommodation as those are likely to be the most expensive of the things to organise. To try and make it cheaper, consider camping. The tips below can be applied to a hen party in the UK, should you decide to stay at home.
Do your research. Look up every possible thing you will need before you get there. If you are going to camp, you will want to find out what time their curfew on noise is. A lot of campsites will ask guests to keep the noise down from about 9pm or 10pm. You and your mates could sit around in the tent keeping everyone up with your laughter, or you could book taxis to the nearest town where the bars are open late. Look up taxi companies for the area you will be staying in and make sure you are able to communicate what you want to them.
Look up activities in and around the area. If you are by the beach then perhaps there are jet skis or peddalos you can take out. Or maybe you can get surf lessons or diving lessons. Failing that, you can always go crabbing (dropping lines with bait on them to see how many crabs you can catch. Surprisingly fun, plus you can turn it into a competition to see who can catch the most).
After researching activities in the area, get to work organising your own, homemade, activities.
Prepare a treasure hunt or murder mystery or both. For the treasure hunt, try to get a map of the campsite and surrounding area before you leave so you can work out where to put everything. Take some paper and dunk it in water stained with tea so you get ‘aged paper’ for your map and clues.
Accumulate some small prizes to hide along the route you place the clues along to make it more fun.
Arrange for some third party participation to make the experience more involving. This can be the people in the campsite shop who allow you to hide a clue in there so the hen has to ask the people for clues to find the clue. Or it could be the partner of one of the girls on the phone for the hen to speak to and extract information from. Make sure the third party people agree to get the hen to work hard to get information from them though – it’ll make it more fun.
When you arrive at the site, arrange for one person to go and hide the clues and treasure while the other girls entertain the hen.
The prize at the end of the treasure hunt should be something edible, drinkable or a ticket for that evening or the next day’s event – perhaps a massage for everyone or a spa experience or one of the sea-based activities.
Sophie Collard (@QunoSpotter) writes about fascinating places to visit and people she’s met while on her travels. She’s travelled in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia and loves the sense of distance and changing landscapes.