Whether you use it as a carry-on or pack it in your suitcase to bring back souvenirs, a quality duffel bag is a must for travel. It’s the perfect weekender, overnight bag or fill-in-the-blank catchall luggage for almost any traveler.
“The first thing I look at when choosing a duffel is the material, since airline workers may throw the bag around if I have to check it at the gate,” says Tom Wahlin, founder of the blog Pack Hacker. “Durable fabrics like nylon and polyester are ideal because they’re abrasion-resistant, and a durable water-repellent coating, like TPE, is great if you plan on camping or taking your bag outside.”
Another thing to consider when choosing a travel duffel bag is the strap and carry handles. “The larger the bag, the better the strap needs to be,” Wahlin says. “That means plenty of padding for comfort since all the weight is centralized on a single shoulder or in your hand.”
While some duffel bags come with backpack straps, Wahlin says they aren’t always the most comfortable, so he doesn’t consider it a strong selling point but rather a perk.
As for organization, Wahlin recommends looking for a bag with a few extra pockets to store small items like headphones or your passport. After all, nobody likes digging around in a black hole.
With this in mind, here are 15 duffel bags that can replace your luggage.
The 15 best travel duffel bags
Away's The Weekender bag is a stylish and functional duffel made from durable cotton canvas with leather accents. It offers ample storage and superb organization, including a padded laptop sleeve and various pockets. Its sleek design makes it ideal for weekend getaways and business trips, though its weight and size may be challenging for extended carrying or fitting under airline seats.
This duffel converts to a backpack for easy, hands-free travel, a boon when you’re rushing to catch a flight or traveling with kids. An exterior water bottle pocket makes it easy to stay hydrated while sightseeing, and water-repellant fabric and plenty of zippered and padded pockets keep everything safe, dry and accessible.
Halfday's Garment Duffel is perfect for overpackers with its spacious, lightweight design that can hold several days' worth of clothes and its clever garment-to-duffel conversion feature. Its durability, water resistance and efficient packing layout make it ideal for quick and easy travel, despite being slightly bulky for longer trips.
The Nomad Lane Bento Bag Classic is a versatile and durable carry-on duffel made out of lightweight ballistic nylon. It has numerous pockets for easy organization of travel essentials. It has a multifunctional design, which opens like a suitcase and fits under airplane seats.
It's hard to beat The Amazon Basics Large Nylon Duffel Bag at its price point. It's a lightweight and durable option ideal for travel or storage. With a roomy interior exceeding 6,000 cubic inches, it features zippered pockets for quick access to smaller items, a 50-pound weight capacity and a collapsible design for easy storage.
The New Pursuits Cotswold Weekend Bag is a luxurious travel bag made from durable, anti-stain cotton drill canvas with waxy cowhide trims. We love its quintessentially English aesthetic. It features internal padding for structure, reinforced leather on the zip opening, jacquard lining, a detachable crossbody strap and inner slip pockets.
If you can’t leave home without multiple pairs of shoes, the Calpak Stevyn Duffel is for you. It's roomy and stylish, featuring a large bottom compartment designed for shoes. A luggage trolley sleeve lets you attach it to your suitcase handle, lightening your load. Interior pockets, a lightweight design and the option to upgrade to a rolling version make this duffel a winner.
If sustainability is your priority, the Catalina is an excellent choice in recycled polyester and eco-friendly canvas. It comfortably holds at least two outfits and accessories with a convenient bottom pocket for separating dirty clothes. It includes a removable padded tray for stability to ensure the bag stands upright. A back panel sleeve means you can quickly attach it to your luggage, and there's a detachable messenger strap with a memory foam pad.
The Just Right Wheeled Duffel combines wheeled luggage convenience with the versatility of a traditional duffel bag. It features spacious compartments tailored for tech items, including multiple padded slots for tablets and laptops and a zippered pocket equipped with a USB port and wireless charging capabilities. For hands-free carrying, a removable neoprene strap adjusts to your preference and its "SmartSleeve" lets you attach the duffel to your luggage.
Durable, weather-resistant and made with 100% recycled fabric, lining and webbing, this duffel is for travelers who work hard, play hard and travel hard, too. It’s roomy with plenty of zippered and mesh pockets to keep small items tucked away. The bag's large wheels make maneuvering the bag easy, even through crowded airports.
The distressed look and feel of this duffel give it an Indiana Jones vibe that screams “tough.” Made of 100% real hunter buffalo leather, it’s one of the best-reviewed duffel bags on Amazon. Two outside buckled pockets and two large zipper pockets on each side give you plenty of places to store smaller items, while the main packing area can hold several days’ worth of clothing.
We love this duffel bag for its versatile design — it converts into a backpack and features stable side handles. It has an adjustable divider in the main compartment for organizing gear and clothes, with dedicated pockets for a laptop and smaller items. Available in eight colors, it's a fashionable addition to your luggage collection.
If you're looking for a hybrid between a rolling checked bag and a duffel, this is it. Away's take on the rolling duffel bag has a massive 85-liter packing capacity, is made from water- and abrasion-resistant materials and has a hard-shell back. We also like how the bag collapses for easy storage.
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