Thirty bachelorette party destinations, priced per head
NashvilleTennessee
$1,240per headLive music from the morning on Broadway and a downtown you can walk. The wrong answer if the bride wants a spa, and the best one if she does not.
ScottsdaleArizona
$1,170per headOne house, one pool, and a group that never really leaves it. Cheap in summer for the obvious reason, and genuinely good from October to April.
CharlestonSouth Carolina
$1,290per headThe prettiest city on this list and the one where the money goes into food rather than into a night out. Book the Saturday table eight weeks ahead, not four.
New OrleansLouisiana
$980per headCheaper than its reputation because the nights cost almost nothing and the flights are short from most of the country. Avoid it entirely from June to September.
Palm SpringsCalifornia
$1,420per headOnly works as three nights, which is why it is expensive. A house with a pool, nothing booked, and the whole weekend happening in one back garden.
ChicagoIllinois
$1,220per headThe right answer when the group is flying in from six different places, and one of very few cities where a table for fifteen is not a problem.
AshevilleNorth Carolina
$880per headThe city we send groups to when somebody is pregnant, sober or exhausted. Mountains, long breakfasts and a night that ends when people want it to.
SavannahGeorgia
$950per headWalkable, cheap, and open considerably later than people expect. The best value on this list for anybody within a five-hour drive.
MiamiFlorida
$1,690per headThe costliest way to do this, and the one where the gap between what a group planned to spend and what it spent is widest. Go with a hard number agreed first.
Fort LauderdaleFlorida
$1,090per headThe same coast Miami sits on, for about three hundred less a head. The only city on this list where chartering a boat for the day is the cheapest thing you do rather than the splurge.
New YorkNew York
$1,540per headOne of the few cities here where hotel rooms beat a rental, and one where nine people cannot walk into anywhere. Two bookings ten weeks out and the rest of it improvises beautifully.
Myrtle BeachSouth Carolina
$930per headOne of the cheapest beach weekends here and the only city that takes eighteen people without any of it becoming difficult. Unfashionable, which is exactly why it is cheap.
HoustonTexas
$1,010per headOne of the few cities here where dinner is the largest line on the bill, and not because it is expensive. No walkable center, so the neighborhood you book is the whole weekend.
OrlandoFlorida
$890per headCheap flights from anywhere and a house with a private pool that sleeps fourteen. No other city on this site gives you both, and the parks are optional.
DallasTexas
$1,090per headThe one Texas city with a district you can walk, which is why the hotel beats the house here. Uptown is the reason to come and the reason it costs more than Houston.
San FranciscoCalifornia
$1,590per headThe best eating of any city here and the second most expensive. The easy mistake is trying to fit both the city and Napa into two nights.
AtlantaGeorgia
$1,040per headThe cheapest city in America to fly a scattered group into, with a real night out and food that is not priced like a food city. Neighborhoods rather than one strip.
CharlotteNorth Carolina
$1,010per headThe value alternative to Nashville, and the only city here with a real outdoor adventure inside its own limits. Raft in the morning, rooftop by seven.
Atlantic CityNew Jersey
$1,140per headMost of what Las Vegas does at a quarter of the travel, an hour from Philadelphia. The night is good, the daytime is only good in summer.
Hilton HeadSouth Carolina
$940per headA house, twelve miles of beach and bikes instead of cars. Bars but no district, so a group that wants a night out drives to Savannah.
MilwaukeeWisconsin
$820per headWalkable, on a lake, and one of the cheapest weekends on this site. No covers and no bottle service, so a group of fourteen costs what a group of six does elsewhere.
Los AngelesCalifornia
$1,320per headExcellent city, hostile geography. A fifth of the trip can go on rides between neighborhoods, so plan the weekend inside a two mile radius.
RaleighNorth Carolina
$870per headOne of the cheapest cities here, one walkable strip with no covers, and an airport twenty minutes out. Excellent inside a four hour drive and pointless outside one.
IndianapolisIndiana
$840per headThird cheapest here and a downtown small enough to walk end to end. The risk is the date: race month and the convention schedule move the rooms hard.
WilmingtonNorth Carolina
$890per headA walkable riverfront downtown with a real beach twenty minutes east. Cheaper than Charleston, and you have to choose which half the weekend is built around.
GatlinburgTennessee
$880per headA cabin with a hot tub up a mountain road, a national park ten minutes away, and no night out at all. Settle who is driving before you book.
PortlandOregon
$1,060per headWalkable, a train from the airport, and no state sales tax so the label is the price. Four reliable months of weather and a long flight from the East.
Thirty of forty-seven shown. Narrow the list with the filters above. Every city page carries the month it was last updated in its header.
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Bachelorette party destinations by region, and what each is good at
Browse by region if the group is choosing within a short flight or a drive.
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The South
from $740 a head9
The West
from $890 a head8
The Northeast
from $920 a head8
Midwest and mountains
from $830 a head02
The three kinds of bachelorette party destination, side by side
Every destination on this site is one of these three. Picking the wrong one is how a weekend goes badly in a perfectly good city.
| Walkable city | House and pool | Beach day | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per head, on this site | $950 to $1,290 | $1,170 to $1,420 | $890 to $1,090 |
| Where the money goes | Food and one night out | The rental house | The day, then a quiet evening |
| What has to be booked | One Saturday table | One dinner | Almost nothing |
| The evening | A dinner that becomes two bars within four blocks | A garden and a bottle of something | A long sunset and one bar that is fine |
| Examples | Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans | Scottsdale, Palm Springs | Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, the Gulf coast |
| It fails when | The bride wanted a pool | The group wanted a night out | The weather turns |
A walking group in a pool town spends three days waiting for the evening. A pool group in a walking town spends the weekend on sidewalks.
4
Questions decide the city
Everything else is preference, and preference is what makes this take six weeks.
How much can the least comfortable person spend, who has to fly, does the bride want loud or quiet, and is anybody pregnant or not drinking. Answer those four and the forty-seven become a short list.
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Top bachelorette party destinations in the US
Popular bachelorette party destinations and what each does best, with where to stay. Every one has a full bachelorette party guide with a per head estimate.
Nashville, Tennessee
Live music on Broadway, honky tonks, line dancing and a downtown you can walk. A top pick for nightlife and a last rodeo party. Stay in a house in East Nashville or near the Gulch. Nashville bachelorette party guide.
Scottsdale, Arizona
Pool houses, spas, desert hikes and Old Town bars, at its best from fall to spring. Stay in a pool house near Old Town. Scottsdale bachelorette party guide.
Charleston, South Carolina
Historic streets, southern restaurants, rooftop bars and nearby beaches, for a walking and eating weekend. Stay in a historic district rental downtown. Charleston bachelorette party guide.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jazz, food, Frenchmen Street and a nightlife scene that runs late. Stay in a hotel in or near the French Quarter. New Orleans bachelorette party guide.
Miami, Florida
Beaches, pool parties, rooftops and clubs, for a glam weekend. Stay in South Beach or Brickell. Miami bachelorette party guide.
Austin, Texas
Rainey Street bars, live music, barbecue and a day on Lake Travis. Stay near South Congress or East Austin. Austin bachelorette party guide.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Shows, pool clubs, restaurants and nightlife in one walkable Strip, and easy flights from most of the country. Stay in a suite on the Strip. Las Vegas bachelorette party guide.
Palm Springs, California
Mid-century houses with pools, desert views and a relaxed pace. Stay in a rental house with a pool. Palm Springs bachelorette party guide.
San Diego, California
Beaches, breweries, a mild climate all year and a real city behind the sand. Stay near the beach in Pacific Beach or in the Gaslamp. San Diego bachelorette party guide.
Chicago, Illinois
Restaurants, rooftop bars, architecture boat tours and a lively summer lakefront. Stay in River North or West Loop. Chicago bachelorette party guide.
New York City
Restaurants, shows, rooftops and nightlife in every neighborhood. Stay in a hotel in Manhattan or Williamsburg. New York bachelorette party guide.
Mountain and lake weekends
A cabin in Gatlinburg or Asheville, or a lake house near Austin or Traverse City, for a quieter bachelorette weekend with the girls, a hot tub and beautiful views. Gatlinburg bachelorette party guide.
Beyond the US
Cabo San Lucas and Tulum in Mexico and San Juan in Puerto Rico, where no passport is needed for US citizens. Cabo guide and San Juan guide.
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How to pick a bachelorette party destination
Start from the group's budget, the flights and the kind of weekend the bride wants, and the list shortens itself.
The best bachelorette party destination is the one that fits your group: what every guest can spend, where everyone is flying from, and whether the bride wants nightlife, a pool or a beach. Answer those first and a list of great cities becomes a short list.
What every guest can spend
Set the budget by what the guest with the least room can comfortably spend, not the average. Every city guide on this site gives a per head estimate for nine guests over two nights, so compare the bill as well as the photos.
Who has to fly, and from where
Flights are a per person cost that does not split across the group. Check which airports the guests are flying from and favor destinations with direct flights from most of them. If everyone lives within a few hours, a drivable destination removes the flight line from every guest's bill.
The kind of weekend the bride wants
Choose between three shapes: a walkable city for restaurants and nightlife, a house with a pool for a relaxed weekend, or a beach town for days on the sand and a quieter evening. Ask the bride which she would love before comparing cities.
When to go
Spring and fall are the most popular months in much of the country and cost more. The desert is best from fall to spring. Check each city's big events before booking, since a festival or golf week can raise the price of a house.
Where to stay
For a group of six or more, a whole-home rental keeps everyone together and is often cheaper per head than hotel rooms. Check that there is a bed for everyone, a table that seats the group, a kitchen and outdoor space, and read the party rules and the cleaning fee before booking. For a small group or a beach resort, hotel rooms can work well.
Nightlife, restaurants and activities
Book the group dinner first, since large tables fill up. Plan one main activity a day, such as a boat, a spa, a winery or a class, and leave free time. Each city guide lists the neighborhoods for nightlife and the kinds of activities that suit a bachelorette party.
Going abroad
An international trip adds passports, longer flights and more vacation days, which can keep some guests home. If the bride wants everyone there, a domestic destination is the safer choice.
Settle the budget before the city. Then pick the kind of weekend.
The destination ruleChoosing where to go
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When to go to each kind of bachelorette party destination
The desert runs on the opposite calendar to everywhere else, which is the part groups get wrong. The last column is the one that costs money, because a city event raises every price at once.
| Best months | Where the savings are | What doubles the house | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most of the country | April, May and October | Early December | The city's own big event |
| The south | April, May and October | November | CMA week in Nashville |
| The desert | October to April | February in the shoulder, July at the bottom | The Phoenix Open, both Coachella weekends |
Check the event calendar before the house.
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Bachelorette party destinations, answered
Five questions, answered at the length each one deserves.
What are the best bachelorette party destinations in the US?
It depends on the shape of weekend you want, and the honest answer is four lists. Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans for walking and eating. Scottsdale and Palm Springs for a house and a pool. San Diego and Miami for a beach day with a real night after it. Scottsdale, Las Vegas and Nashville if the group is over twelve.
Every one of the forty-seven destinations here is costed per head the same way, so you can compare the bill rather than the photographs.
What is the best bachelorette party destination?
There is no single best one, and any guide that names one is guessing about your group. The useful question is which of three kinds you want: a walkable city, a house with a pool, or a beach.
After that, the filter that saves the most money is which airports the group is actually flying from. A destination that is direct for most of the group beats a cheaper city where everybody connects.
What is the cheapest bachelorette party destination?
Whichever good city is closest to most of your group. That is not a dodge: flights are the second largest line on almost every weekend, and removing them saves more than any difference between cities. Galveston at $740 and Nashville, Indiana at $830 are the cheapest on our list, and both are cheap mainly because the people who go there drive.
Whichever of them the most people can drive to. Once the flight line disappears, almost any city on this list comes in two to three hundred dollars a head cheaper, which is a larger saving than the gap between the cheapest city here and the most expensive.
If everyone is flying, the cheapest workable destinations here run around seven to nine hundred dollars a head for two nights, and the savings come from arriving Thursday and staying one neighborhood back from the strip.
Which bachelorette party destination is best for a large group?
Cities with plenty of walkable restaurants and bars, such as Chicago, New Orleans, Nashville and Las Vegas, make it easier to seat and entertain a big group.
Above twelve people, book the group dinner first, since large tables are the hardest reservation.
Which bachelorette party destinations are best for a beach weekend?
San Diego for reliable weather and a real city behind the beach, the Gulf coast for the cheapest beach weekend on this list, and Miami if the group wants a beach day and a proper night out on the same day.
A beach bachelorette trip runs quieter in the evening than a city one. That suits some groups completely and disappoints others, which is worth asking about before booking.
Which bachelorette party destinations work in winter?
Scottsdale, Palm Springs, San Diego, New Orleans and Charleston all work between November and March, and the first two are at their best then rather than merely tolerable.
When is the best time of year to go?
April, May and October almost everywhere, which is also when they cost the most. The value is in the shoulder months: February in the desert, November in the south.
Check the destination's big event first. A golf week, a festival weekend or CMA week can push the price of a house far above normal.
Is a bachelorette party cheaper in the off season?
Often on the house or hotel, less so on flights and food.
Arriving Thursday instead of Friday can take money off the whole weekend rather than one line of it.
How many nights should a bachelorette party be?
Two, in almost every destination on this list. Three is right only where the travel eats a full day, which in practice means Palm Springs and most international trips.
Three nights in a destination that does not need the third is worse than two nights in the same place, so the extra night is not a free upgrade.
Where should we stay on a bachelorette party weekend?
One whole-home rental rather than hotel rooms for a larger group, one neighborhood back from the loudest street, which can be quieter and cheaper while still close to the bars.
Check four things in the listing: a real bed for everyone, one table that seats the group, a usable kitchen, and outdoor space. Get all four right and the weekend is noticeably better.
Airbnb or hotel for a bachelorette party?
An Airbnb or similar whole-home rental for any group over six. It is cheaper per head and it keeps the group together on the first evening and the last morning, which are the two blocks that matter most.
Check two things before booking: whether the listing allows parties, because a rental that does not will end the night early, and the cleaning fee, which on a two-night stay can be a fifth of the total.
Should we go abroad?
Only if attendance is not the priority. An international bachelorette party costs more per head and needs a long planning runway, and guests with young children or few vacation days may not be able to come.
If the bride wants everybody there, a domestic destination with a great house beats a famous beach with three people missing.
Does a bachelorette party have to travel at all?
No. A weekend in somebody's home city, or in a house an hour from it, is a perfectly good bachelorette party, and it removes the flight line from every guest's bill.
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Where to go from here
The rest of the section, if a city is not what you came for.