Whatever your travel style a travel towel is a key item in your travel packing list. Whether you need a backpacking towel, a towel for an overland adventure, or just a lightweight, compact towel to take to the gym you’ve come to the right place. You’re likely to use this type of towel each day while you’re travelling, so you should make sure that it’s the best travel towel you can buy to suit your needs.
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Best Travel Towels at a Glance
- Mountain Warehouse Clip Large Travel Towel
- Lifeventure Softfibre Travel Towel
- Mountain Warehouse Micro Towelling Travel Towel
- Cacala Turkish Cotton Towel
- Trespass Bamboo Antibacterial Travel Towel
- Fit Flip Microfiber Towel
- Green Foster Linen Towel
We’ve hunted out, bought and tested the worst and best towels for travel to bring you a selection of the top travel towels. Our criteria for a great travel towel is that it should be compact and quick drying. You should also have lightweight towels for travel. The best towel for travelling also needs to be effective in drying the user too!
Quick Comparison of the Best Travel Towels
| Which Travel Towel | Size | Weight | Fabric Example | Fabric/Material | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Warehouse Clip Large Travel Towel | 130cm x 70cm 50 in x 27.5 in | 110 grams 3.9 oz |  | Softfibre | Check Price Now |
| Mountain Warehouse Microtowelling Travel Towel | 150cm x 85cm 59 in x 33.5 in | 400 grams 14 oz |  | Microtowelling | See it Now! |
| Lifeventure Softfibre Travel Towel | 150cm x 90cm 60 in x 35 in | 280 grams 10oz |  | Softfibre | Get latest pricing! |
| Green Foster Linen Towel | 150cm x 71cm 59 in x 30 in | 190 grams 6.7 oz |  | Flax Linen | Check Pricing now! |
| Cacala Turkish Cotton Towel | 175cm x 95cm 69 in x 37 in | 290 grams 10 oz |  | Turkish Cotton | See your options now! |
| FitFlip Microfibre Travel Towel | 200cm x 100cm 79 in x 39 in | 410 grams 14.8 oz |  | Microfiber | Get Pricing on Fit Flip Travel and Sports Towel |
| TresPass Bamboo Travel Towel | 120cm x 60cm 47 in x 27.5 in | 365 grams 12.9 oz |  | Bamboo | Check Reviews of TresPass Bamboo Towels Now! |
How To Find the Best Travel Towel
I’ll be upfront. I hate travel towels. With a passion. I like nothing better than wrapping myself in a big huge white fluffy Eygptian cotton towel. But that’s usually bigger than my backpack, so for me, finding not just a good, but a great travel towel was really, really important.
So the qualities that quick-drying beach towels need to get me on the road are:
- It needs to dry me. That’s the most important criteria to me. I positively detest the old travel towels that were just like suede and moved water around, got very wet and then just smelled.
- After it’s dried me it needs to dry quickly. I don’t mind carrying it on the outside of my backpack, but a quick-drying towel is absolutely key.
- It can’t weigh much. While I love thick heavy towels when I’m in a really nice hotel, I don’t like carrying them.
- It needs to be both big enough to wrap around me it must be a small towel for travelling, and so small enough to pack into my 40-litre Osprey Farpoint backpack with all my other stuff.
- It needs to be anti-microbial. It’s going to live with me and in close proximity to me and in my bag for months at a time.
Best Travel Towel Reviews
Best Softfibre Travel Towel Review – LifeVenture Travel Towel Review
At 150cm x 90cm (60 inches x 35 inches) this is a decent sized towel.
The Lifeventure Towel packs down relatively small too, to 19 x 12 x 5cm (7.5in x 4.7in x 2 in) and weighs 280 grams (10 oz). The material is silky, it dries really well and is a good cover up too. The zip container keeps it all together and away from your other items.
The loop of fabric lets it attach to your gear or a washing line easily. Click for pricing, more information and other reviews
Best Compact Travel Towel Review – Clip Travel Towel Review
Best Microtowelling Travel Towel Review – Mountain Warehouse Travel Towel Review
A really great option for a travel towel if you prefer a towel like material. Great as a swimming towel or for the gym. Dries fast, 4-6 times faster than a normal towel, weighs just 400 grams (14 oz) for the giant size. The giant size Mountain Warehouse Microtowel is 150 cm x 85 cm (59 in x 33.5 in) It folds into a mesh bag. This travel towel dries me really well.It’s the closest to a real towel that we’ve found. Has a fabric loop and clip, so it won’t fly away if you attach it to anything! Packs small, but if you are really tight for space this isn’t the one for you. That said we easily carried it around Central America for four months as our only towel. It’s big enough to wrap around you (carefully), has good drying capabilities. Downside: Not great as a beach or outdoor towel as it picks up bits easily. Click for pricing, more information and other reviews
Best Bamboo Travel Towel Review – Trespass Bamboo Travel Towel Review
Best Turkish Cotton Travel Towel Review – Cacala Cotton Turkish Towel Review
Best Linen Travel Towel Review – Green Foster Linen Travel Towel Review
Best Microfiber Travel Towel Review – Fit Flip Travel Towel Review
The fit flip sports and travel towels are rated as the best microfibre travel towel in Germany, the Fit Flip Towel comes in a variety of sizes from 50cm x 30cm up to 200cm x 100cm and a huge variety of colours. Two small 50cm x 30cm towels including the carry bag weigh 140grams. The Fit-flip microfibre towel has a hanging hook on these towels and they come with a bag to keep them in. Click for pricing, more information and other reviews. on Fit Flip Towels
How to Pick the Best Travel Towel
There are a number of criteria to review travel towels against when you’re ready to buy one. The weighting you apply to each criterion depends on your ultimate use for you. These key buying criteria for travel towels are:
Will a Travel Towel Dry Me?
Does the travel towel just move water around? Is a travel towel actually going to dry you? Is it absorbing the water? > For me this is hugely important.
How Long Does a Travel Towel take to dry?
How long your travel towel takes to dry is key. Most folks will shower in the morning, dry themselves, have breakfast and then stuff their travel towel in a bag. Wet towels in bags stink after a short time. The smell also invades other items in your bag. Then they start to go mouldy. For us, a quick-drying travel towel is key. Cut to the chase and check out our best quick dry towels for travel This compact quick-dry towel takes just 15 minutes to dry when left outside in the UK (no sun) – it’s our best quick dry towel for travelling. Obviously, that time reduces in warmer, dryer climates.
What Are You Using your Travel Towel for?
Travel towels aren’t just for travel! We use our travel towels to go to the beach – we sit on them, wrap them around us to keep the sun off, and then dry off on them. Our travel towels become the best camping towels when we camp, when they’re dry they’re an extra blanket or a pillow. We use travel towels as window coverings, as sarongs, to sit on at the beach or as a table cloth on benches. We think the prettiest ones for multi-use are made of Turkish cotton – Click to see more information on Turkish Cotton Travel Towels
Many folks also take travel towels along as it saves the environment – most hotels wash towels every day. You can find out how much this costs here.
Alternative Uses for Travel Towels
Travel towels, because they tend to fold down quite small are also great for swimming, diving, snorkelling and any type of water sports. They’re great for hiking, as they take up little space and can dry off the back of a backpack while you’re trekking.
Travel towels can become yoga towels, gym towels, pillows and sarongs. They don’t have to just stay in your travel gear!
Don’t forget to check out our Guide to the Best Filter Water Bottles Too!
Top Travel Towel Brands
You’ll find endless numbers of travel towels to buy on the internet or in stores. However, the top 9 travel brands around the world are (in no particular order)
- Lifeventure – See Reviews & Information on Lifeventure Travel Towel
- Youphoria – Find out more about Youphoria Travel Towels
- Mountain Warehouse – Explore Mountain Warehouse Travel Towel Options
- Cacala – for Turkish Cotton – Find More About Cacala Travel Towels in Turkish Cotton
- Dock & Bay Beach Towels – See More Dock & Bay Towels Reviews here
- Fit & Flip Towels – See Reviews on Fit & Flip Travel Towels
- PackTowl – See More Information on PackTowl
- Sea to Summit – Click here to see reviews on Sea to Summit Travel Towel
- Shandali Microfiber Travel Towels – Find more Information on Shandali Travel Towels
- Linen Towels from Green Foster – find out more
Travel Towel Material
Travel towels have changed significantly in the last few years and there’s now a wide choice of materials to select from. I’m generally a travel towel hater and have been through ALL of them until I found a type that I could live with. Strike that, actually, I love my travel towel now, but it took me years to find it.
The best travel towel material is a VERY personal choice. What do you like? Here are your options.
The majority of travel towels available today are made from microfiber. This is a quick-drying and extremely lightweight material. It’s synthetic and they tend to be the cheapest towel material to buy. There is some difference in terminology, so you’re going to want to look at the texture of the towel. Some brands call it microfiber, some call it soft fibre and some call it micro towelling. The terms are often used interchangeably. Here’s our explanation of which is which.
You can also buy travel towels made from cotton, linen and bamboo. Read on for more on each of these travel towel material options.
Microfiber Travel Towels Travel Towels
This is the material that the majority of travel towels are made from. Microfiber is synthetic and very lightweight. Sometimes they take a little getting used to after normal towels, , although the material is soft. They dry quickly.
Get the best prices on the top microfibre travel towel
Soft Fibre Travel Towels
This is a lighter weight than microfibre, although you may find the terms used interchangeably between manufacturers. Think of microfibre as more of a suede type feel and softfibre is a more silky feel.
Best soft fibre travel towel Lifeventure Towel reviews
Microtowelling Travel Towels
Micro towelling travel towels are similar to microfiber travel towels but have a more traditional towel feel. Microtowelling is the terminology used by Mountain Warehouse to describe what I think are their best travel towels. This material is also called microfiber by some other brands. This is my favourite fabric for travel towels if I have space for it.
Get pricing for the Mountain Warehouse Microtowelling Travel Towel
Turkish Cotton Travel Towels – Peshtemal Towels
Turkish cotton travel towels are the most popular type of travel towel after a microfiber towel. They’re made of very thin cotton. I think of them more like a tea towel. Turkish cotton towels are also known as Peshtemals. They take up a small amount of space because they’re so thin. They don’t dry so quickly though. Turkish cotton travel towels are great for absorbing water and getting you dry. You can also use them as a scarf or a wrap and if you get a big one they’ll wrap all the way around you. It’s pretty similar to when I use my thin cotton sarong as a towel for my hair.
Best Turkish Cotton Travel Towel – Best Peshtemal Prices
Linen Travel Towels
Linen travel towels tend to be thin, but fast drying. They’ll pack down small and are naturally antibacterial travel towels – so they’re good on not smelling. They will also take the moisture off you very well too. You may find the surface a little uncomfortable, especially when they’re new. Linen towels tend to be more expensive than other materials.
Our recommendations for the best linen travel towels are here
Bamboo Travel Towels
Bamboo is naturally antibacterial and a sustainable material. Despite what you’re thinking bamboo is actually a lot softer than linen. Bamboo towels dry easily and quickly, but they don’t compact too well and they are usually a more expensive option when it comes to purchasing a bamboo towel that compacts well.
Find the best bamboo travel towel
Travel Towel Size
There are two sizes of travel towels that you need to consider when you’re buying one. The size that it extends to when you’re using it and the size it packs down to in your bags. Most folks will just look at the size it extends to, but if you can’t pack it down small, then you’re taking up valuable space in your luggage.
Unfortunately, there are no standard sizes for travel towels, in terms of actual measurements. The primary buying decision to make when looking at the size of a travel towel is how and what you’re going to use it for and how you will manage with it.
If you’re ok coping with a hand towel sized travel towel for all your dying needs, then that’s easy. We find the bath towel sized travel towels are the most flexible so aim for that size and then ensure that we’ve bought ones that pack down small, dry quick and dry us quickly. If the size is of a premium, then look no further than our best compact travel towel – Check out prices and sizes of the best compact travel towel.
If this towel is going to be your main towel then go big. It gives you more flexibility. At the end of the day, you can always cut it down to size if the larger size is too much for you! We travelled for 4 years backpacking with a 40-litre Osprey Farpoint (amazing backpacks, check them out now!) with a bath-sized travel towel as part of our luggage.
Travel Towel Packed Size
Packing down to a small size is a requirement for travel towels. The smallest pack downsized towel is our compact travel towel, which fits in the palm of my hand. Buy yours now. We took our travel towels with us when we trekked to Everest Base Camp – they were part of our Trek Gear List – check that out too if you’re hiking in Nepal.
Travel Towel Size in Use
For general travel, I like a bath-sized towel. I like one that I can wrap around me so that when I come out of the shower, it wraps around me. When I’m travelling and don’t have access to regular showers, I prefer smaller travel towels, as I won’t be jumping out of the shower most days. My compact towel still fully wraps around me in the bathroom.
Travel Towel Weight
The weight of your travel towel is also important. There’s no point packing it down to a small size if it’s adding a kilo to your bags. The lightest material for travel towels is soft fibre.. The best lightweight travel towel we found was the Clip Travel Towel from Mountain Warehouse – click here to see latest prices.
It weighs just 110 grams (3.9 oz) including the mesh bag and clip that comes with it.
Travel Towel Additional Useful Features
A Loop Of Material or a Clip
After 4 years on the road, I would NOT buy a travel towel that didn’t have a loop of material on it. Preferably 2 loops. I’ve trekked in Nepal, New Zealand and Central America with my travel towel. I’ve spent many days with it attached to the back of my backpack. It’s hung from a hook inside a tent in Central Asia. And throughout SE Asia, it’s been attached to an elasticated washing line by the loop, so that it didn’t blow away while drying. If you’ve bought one without a loop on, just sew one on, it makes a huge difference!
A Stuff Bag for your Travel Towel
I don’t always use my travel towel stuff bag, but if I do need to put a slightly wet towel into my bag when traveling, I always use the stuff sack, to ensure that the towel and any potential stinkiness is kept separate from everything else.
How to Clean a Travel Towel
You still need to wash your travel towel. While bamboo and linen travel towels are naturally antibacterial and certain synthetic travel towels contain antimicrobial materials they still need to be cleaned.
- Always wash your towel before use. Separately from other clothing. It ensures that any colour doesn’t run. It also increases any water absorbency that the towel has.
- Wash your towel as you do your other clothes. We recommend the Scrubba Laundry System, which saves us a fortune on laundry around the world. Be sure if you’re using laundry services that you ask them to use a low dryer setting, or natural drying, especially if you have a microfiber travel towel
I hope you’ve found our reviews and comparisons of the best travel towels useful. Which is your favourite? Do you just have one? Or do you have multiple towels for different uses? We believe that we’ve covered the best towels to buy for travelling. Let us know if you think differently!
PS If you’re wondering if using and reusing towels does make a difference to the environment, then read this article. And buy your own towel.
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One thought on “Buy the Best Travel Towels – Reviews & Comparisons”
Thanks for this thorough article. I’ve shared it far and wide!