Your Expert Guide to the Best Travel Gear in the UK
Picture the scene at the baggage belt. Out slides your four-year-old’s rucksack, flattened and grubby, with a mystery stain you’d rather not investigate. Now picture the alternative: a hard shell children’s suitcase that looks the same at arrival as it did at departure, give or take a scuff that wipes off with a damp cloth. … Read more
Picture the departure lounge. Your four-year-old has sprinted off with a bag nearly as big as they are, the handle is bending the wrong way, and you’re working out whether it counts as hand luggage. Choosing the best children’s suitcase is less about cute animal faces and more about size, weight and airline rules colliding. … Read more
Lightweight kids luggage is any child-sized case or bag, whether a trolley, a backpack-trolley hybrid or a ride-on, that weighs roughly 1.4–2.1 kg empty. That lets a small traveller pull or carry it without a parent stepping in. The aim is to save your child’s strength and your airline allowance for things that matter, like … Read more
The letter comes home on a Tuesday, crumpled at the bottom of a book bag. It ends with the line every parent dreads: please pack everything in one holdall or small suitcase that your child can carry themselves. Suddenly you’re staring at a kit list, a cupboard of wrong-sized bags and a nine-year-old who has … Read more
Picture the scene. You’ve cleared bag drop, the gate is a ten-minute march away, and your three-year-old has just discovered that legs are optional. This is the moment a ride-on kids suitcase earns its keep. It’s a hard-shell case holding a day’s worth of toddler essentials, with a sturdy shape on top. Your child rides … Read more
Picture the departure lounge. A four-year-old has decided the family suitcase is a fortress, a bed and a very slow vehicle, and nobody is going anywhere. Now picture the same child gliding past duty free, towing a case that is theirs, a backpack bobbing behind it carrying the one stuffed rabbit that cannot, under any … Read more
What is the best kids luggage? The best kids luggage is a child-sized bag that your child can pull or carry themselves, that weighs very little when empty, and that fits your airline’s cabin or hold rules. It should also be tough enough to survive years of airports, sleepovers and grandparents’ spare rooms. Cute is … Read more
A convertible laptop bag for commuting is a padded bag that switches between carry modes, usually backpack, briefcase and shoulder bag, using hideaway straps, detachable handles or a rack-mounted pannier hook system. One bag copes with the bike, the bus and the boardroom without you swapping kit at the station. Here’s the problem it solves. … Read more
A 2-in-1 laptop bag is a single bag that switches between two carry styles, usually backpack and briefcase and sometimes messenger or tote. It does this with hideaway straps, a removable shoulder strap, or both. A padded compartment protects your laptop while the bag changes its personality to suit the commute, the meeting or the … Read more
A laptop bag backpack briefcase combo is a single convertible bag that switches between hand-carried briefcase, shoulder bag and backpack using tuck-away or removable straps. It pairs a padded laptop compartment with adaptable carry styles, so one bag covers the train, the meeting room and the weekend away. Picture the Monday-morning shuffle. Rucksack on the … Read more