12 Best Packable & Lightweight Travel Towels
There are tons of travel towels out there that promise to get the job done without taking up too much space in your bag. But which towels actually deliver on this promise and are worth your hard-earned money? Well, we’ve done the research and made a list of the 12 best travel towels that’ll help you explore in comfort and style. Keep reading to learn more.
We’re reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission (at no extra cost to you). These are products we’ve heavily researched and stand behind. You can read through our full affiliate disclosure here.
12 best travel towels for 2024
1. Best overall travel towel: Nomadix
Nomadix likes to say their Original Towel is “the only towel you need” thanks to its versatility and high performance. This go-anywhere, multipurpose design is perfect for travel, yin yoga, or a relaxing day at the beach. Made from 100% recycled materials (i.e. post-consumer plastic), this towel is compact and comes with an innovative no-slip backing. Reviewers love that this purchase is super absorbent, funk-resistant, and dries 4x faster than traditional cotton towels.
Price: starting at $38
Read our full review of The Original Towel from Nomadix here.
2. Best budget travel towel: Rainleaf
Looking for a high-quality travel towel that’s also kind to your wallet? Rainleaf has you covered. Their signature microfiber towel starts at less than $10 a pop, but it has tons of practical features you can put to good use. This design is quick-drying, skin-friendly, and absorbs a whopping 5x more water than its own weight. It also comes with a hanging loop to help in the drying process, as well as a carrying bag you can reuse as many times as your towel.
Price: starting at $9
3. Best beach travel towel: Dock & Bay
If there’s a beach getaway in your future, you should definitely add this Dock & Bay towel to your packing list. Pros of this design include its eye-catching colors, eco-friendly fabric, and sand-repelling properties (to make sure your luggage doesn’t look a mess). Customers say they love this towel’s durability, and the fact that it's a lot more compact than your standard beach blanket. As an added bonus, this pick comes with its own pouch for super convenient storage.
Price: starting at $30
4. Best camping travel towel: Wise Owl Outfitters
Whether you’re hiking through the mountains or doing some backcountry camping, a quality towel can go a long way in making your trip more enjoyable. We recommend this design from Wise Owl Outfitters to keep you feeling fresh and clean when you need it the most. This towel is lightweight and packable, and leaves an ultra-soft/suede feel after each use. What’s more, this pick is made with interlock stitching that's strong, yet delicate on all different types of skin.
Price: starting at $12
5. Best odor-resistant travel towel: PackTowl
Let’s face it: you don't want to use a towel that retains odors from your travels. You’re much better off using an odor-resistant product that preserves its own freshness — which is exactly why we’re recommending this design from PackTowl. Not only does this towel come with a Polygiene® odor control treatment, it also has outstanding absorbency and an antimicrobial finish to (doubly) ensure that stinky microorganisms don’t take root in its fibers.
Price: starting at $13
6. Best minimalist travel towel: Shandali
This microfiber towel from Shandali is the perfect choice for minimalist travelers. Available in small (40” x 20”) and medium (48” x 24”) sizes, this towel is wonderfully lightweight, absorbent, and compact enough to be stored in your travel backpack pocket. On top of all that, this towel also boasts a high thread count — which means it’s velvety soft but extremely durable at the same time. Starting at just $10 per towel, you’ve really got nothing to lose with this purchase.
Price: starting at $10
7. Best plush travel towel: Sea to Summit
The Tek Towel from Sea to Summit is made from recycled polyester and nylon, which gives it a super plush/terrycloth feel. In other words, this towel is snuggle-worthy soft. But on top of being so cozy, this design is also lightweight, quick-drying, and highly packable — meaning it won’t take up tons of room in your suitcase. Even better, this pick comes in 5 sizes (XS to XL), and has a zippered storage case plus built-in loop for easy hanging (and drying) purposes.
Price: starting at $15
8. Best multipurpose travel towel: OlimpiaFit
Our final recommendation is actually 3 towels for one low price. That’s right — this is a multipurpose set that has 3 different-sized towels, though they’re all made from the same high-quality microfiber materials. The versatility of the small, medium, and large sizes means you can use these towels at the beach, campground, gym (and nearly everywhere in between). In addition, you get a handy mesh bag that helps you carry all your towels in one fell swoop.
Price: starting at $8
9. Best ultralight travel towel: Matador
The Ultralight Travel Towel from Matador is *exceptionally* compact, meaning it can easily fit in a carry-on, backpack, or travel daypack if you have plans to hit the trail. Along with that, this space-saving design offers maximum absorbency and quick-drying properties to make sure you never have to pack something soggy. And if that wasn’t enough, this towel is sold with a powermesh storage bag that’ll look super sleek next to your other travel essentials.
Price: starting at $36
10. Best ultra-absorbent travel towel: Youphoria
This travel towel from Youphoria is all kinds of versatile. You can take it with you while you’re camping, backpacking, hitting the gym, or enjoying a day on the water. Regardless of where you go, you can count on this towel to be ultra-absorbent — it’s designed to hold up to 5x its weight in water. Impressive, right? This all-purpose towel also comes in 3 convenient sizes, and has a quick-snap hang loop you can attach to a towel rack, branch, or even your beach umbrella.
Price: starting at $13
11. Best sustainable travel towel: Lava Linens
Lava Linens’ Classic Towel has a pretty extensive resume. So even though this towel is heavier than some other recommendations, its long list of features more than make up for it. This design is debris-resistant, stain-resistant, antistatic, hypoallergenic, biodegradable, and naturally antimicrobial (since it’s made from responsibly-sourced flax linen). But our favorite part? Lava Linens uses recyclable/compostable shipping materials on all their orders. We love to see it!
Price: starting at $98
12. Best durable travel towel: Outlier
If you need a towel that can withstand a rugged adventure, you can’t go wrong with this design from Outlier. Because this towel is made from linen (which is created using flax fibers), it’s naturally durable and doesn’t hold on to sand, dirt, or similarly tiny particles. Instead, this debris falls right off the fabric any time you pick the towel up. How cool is that? While this pick isn’t quite as *fluffy* as others on our list, it will get softer and softer over time/with more use.
Price: starting at $75
Travel towels - common FAQs
What is the best size for a travel towel?
The best size for a travel towel depends on what you’re using it for. A small towel (roughly 40” x 20”) is great for things like washing your hands, drying your dishes, or cooling off post-workout. By contrast, a large towel (around 60” x 30”) is ideal to use at the beach or after a shower.
Are microfiber towels good for travel?
One of the most popular materials for travel towels is microfiber since it's lightweight but still has amazing absorbency. Along with that, microfiber lasts a lot longer than cotton, too. It can be washed hundreds of times before it loses its effectiveness and ability to absorb.
Should travel towels be antimicrobial?
While it’s not required that travel towels be antimicrobial, it’s a big bonus when they are. Antimicrobial properties help to slow (or stop) the spread of certain germs, and they leave your towels a lot fresher since they prevent obnoxious odors/odor-causing bacteria.