MICROFIBER TOWELS: Best Overall | Best Ultralight | Best for Beach | Best for Yoga | Buyer Guide
While Microfiber Travel Towels aren’t the most thrilling topic, they should be on any traveler’s packing list. Travel pros always travel with a microfiber travel towel, and you’ll never see me travel without one.
Let me tell you exactly why.
Microfiber towels are made of travelers’ dreams. They are made with quick dry material, they pack super small, and they are relatively inexpensive.
In a nutshell – microfiber travel towels were literally made for backpackers and travelers.
But in my experience, not all microfiber travel towels are created equal, so I wrote this epic guide so you can quickly and easily find which travel towel best suits your needs.
Believe me, you’re going to love your travel towel 🙂
Quick Answer: the Best Travel Towels for Backpacking
- Active Roots Travel Towels
- Sea to Summit Drylite Towel
- Waves Gear Quick Drying Beach Towel
- Yogaphoria Sport
- Jump to –> Travel Towel Reviews
Table of Contents
- Quick Answer: the Best Travel Towels for Backpacking
- Microfiber Travel Towel Reviews
- Overall Best Microfiber Towel for Travel
- Best Ultra Lightweight Backpacking Towel
- Best Travel Beach Towel
- Best Backpacking Towel for Yogis
- What is Microfiber material?
- What to look for in a Microfiber Travel Towel
- Backpacking Travel Towel Sizes
- Microfibre Travel Towel Comparison
- Other Travel “Towel” Options
- Conclusion: The Best Microfiber Towels for Travel
Microfiber Travel Towel Reviews
Check out our extensive review on our top four favorite quick-drying microfiber travel towels reviews below…
Overall Best Microfiber Towel for Travel
Active Roots Travel Towels are one of the best value microfiber towels for travel around. They come in three sizes – medium, extra large, or the combination set, and each weighs just a few ounces. The combo pack comes with an XL towel and a smaller face towel, a great addition to a toiletry kit. Both towels guarantee you will a quick dry towel for travel.
All Active Roots towels come up with snap loops for drying and mesh carrying bags.
Active Roots offer a 100% lifetime guarantee so if you’re not happy with the product, you can send it back for a full refund.
If all of the specs weren’t cool enough, your purchase helps support a Great Cause: A portion of each microfiber towel sale is donated to the Elephant Conservation Center in Laos, who are dedicated to protecting and rehabilitating the endangered Asian elephant population.
It’s an easy pick for the best quick dry towel for travel.
Best Ultra Lightweight Backpacking Towel
Sea to Summit is known for making ultralight camping and backpacking gear, so it makes sense that they make a lightweight backpacking towel. The soft, quick-drying towel is compact and comes in three sizes. The small towel is 32” by 16”, the large is 48” by 24” and the extra large is 60” by 30”. All these towel sizes weigh under 7 ounces. This is a good choice for the traveler constantly on the trail when every oz makes a difference.
The drawback? The XL is expensive for a microfiber towel and pricier than the other towels on this travel towel review.
Best Travel Beach Towel
Our pick for the best travel beach towel
I like this towel because it’s big (36×60 inches), but because of the lightweight microfiber material, it packs down much better than a normal beach towel.
This is a great towel for lounging beachside. While not as lightweight or as the Active Roots or Sea to Summit, the Waves Gear has large dimensions and is still a great choice for a microfiber travel towel, and an easy pick for best travel beach towel.
Best Backpacking Towel for Yogis
This is a yoga specific towel, but I think it makes great use as a backpacking towel as well because it’s highly absorbent and can hold up to 5X its weight in water. I also find yoga towels to have an extra soft feel and are less likely to attract lint.
They also tend to pack down even smaller than other backpacking towels. The downside is that its largest size weighs more than the other choices on this list. However, for all the yogis out there who plan to travel with a yoga mat anyway, this is a great choice.
What is Microfiber material?
Microfiber is a synthetic fiber, usually made out of polyesters, polyamides, or blends. The grabby texture of microfiber makes the towel more absorbent.
What to look for in a Microfiber Travel Towel
- Lightweight – As with anything in your travel backpack, it’s important to invest in a lightweight travel towel. Less weight = awesome.
- Compact – A microfiber travel towel should take up as little room as possible. They should fold up smaller than a tank-top.
- Quick Drying – The best travel towels for backpacking must have quick dry material for travel.
- Absorbency – Even if a microfiber travel towel is lightweight and dries quickly, it’s useless if it doesn’t actually absorb liquids.
Special Features to look for when Choosing the Best Travel Towels for Backpacking
- A loop makes it easy to attach the microfiber travel towel to your backpack as you hike, or hang it on a clothes hanger at your hostel.
- A storing pouch for your microfiber towel helps you keep your backpack organized.
Backpacking Travel Towel Sizes
Microfiber travel towels range between XS-XL, and the dimensions vary as well! Different brands will have different dimensions of their sizes, so be sure to check the dimensions!
Small or Medium: Often used as a washcloth, hand towel, or to bring along for workouts. These make a great addition to your toiletry bag.
Large: Hair towel or small bath towel.
XL: Best recommendation for a full bath towel.
It’s worth investing in both an XL towel, and a small washcloth sized towel for your toiletry bag (washing your face, taking off makeup, etc.).
This is the definitive guide to the best travel towels for backpacking and travel
| Product | Key Features: | Price: | Weight: | Size: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Active Roots | Good value; combo pack; comes with snap loops and mesh bag. Find out more | $ | 1.3 - 8.1 oz | M to XL |
Sea to Summit | Ultra lightweight; great for hikers. Find out more | $$$ | 1.3 - 4 oz. | XS to XL |
Waves Gear | Great replacement to beach towel; large dimensions. Find out more | $$$ | 10.4 oz | XL |
Youphoria | Yoga towel and bath towel; good value. Find out more | $ | 2.4 - 12 oz | 20-40" 28-56" 32-72" |
Other Travel “Towel” Options
Along with a microfiber towel, it’s totally worth packing a fashion-friendly sarong or large scarf to double as a large beach towel.
My boyfriend uses his scarf for a beach towel, to protect his neck from the sun, warm up in the cold, shield from dust, etc. I always travel to beach destinations with a sarong to double as a towel and beach cover-up.
Conclusion: The Best Microfiber Towels for Travel
Microfiber towels are a more logical alternative to your good old fashion bath-towel for a billion reasons, but all you need to know are these 5: they’re compact, lightweight, durable, absorbent, quick-drying towels for travel.
Our favorite microfiber travel towel is the Active Roots travel towel because of its quality, price, and combo pack deal!
Let us know what you think about our epic review to the best microfiber towels for travel in the comments below!
Need More Inspiration?
- Review on Active roots Travel towel
- The Ultimate Backpacking Packing List
- Why You Should Travel with a Hammock
Yay for transparency! The links in this post are affiliate links. That means if you buy any of the products using our links we’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Never fear, we actually use and/or want all of these things. We don’t endorse crappy stuff!
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