Whether you’re planning a quick girls trip to the beach or taking a much-needed couples getaway, spending a few days away calls for a sturdy, stylish, and functional travel bag. We often turn to our favorite weekenders to hold everything we need for short trips and overnight stays. The best weekender bags are roomy enough to carry your clothes, toiletries, and a pair of shoes or two, but not so bulky as to slow you down while dashing to catch a train, or take up an exorbitant amount of space in your trunk. A separate compartment for dirty clothes or shoes is always welcome, too. To narrow down the styles that are worth your dollars (and storage space), our editors tested the most talked-about weekenders from top travel brands like Away, Béis, Calpak, Monos, and more. Below, the tried-and-true weekenders we’re packing on all our future getaways (and you should, too).
This article is part of Condé Nast Traveler’s second annual Luggage Week, for which dozens of suitcases, backpacks, and weekender bags were road-tested by our editors.
How we tested
To help us recommend the absolute best luggage to our readers, more than a dozen Condé Nast Traveler editors and contributors spent months (and in some cases, years) road-testing the newest and best-selling bags from top travel brands. These bags accompanied us near and far on planes, trains, buses, and cruises, from local staycations and Hamptons getaways to the Paris Olympics and Marlon Brando’s private island in French Polynesia. We packed these bags to the brim, stuffed them underneath tight airplane seats and into crowded overhead bins, and inspected every bump and scuff they endured. We considered each bag’s weight, capacity, functionality, price point, and how well it held up after several trips. We also identified smart design features that made each bag stand out from its competitors, like having a separate shoe compartment, an adjustable crossbody strap, or ample pockets. After traveling with each bag, we carefully reviewed them, keeping the aforementioned criteria in mind to determine which ones are worth the cost and a spot in our Luggage Week lineup.
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
