Best bachelorette party destinations, priced honestly.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.