While using microfiber towels for traveling 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 towels were literally made for backpackers and travelers.
But in my experience, not all towels are created equal, so I wrote this epic guide so you can quickly and easily find which microfiber travel towel best suits your needs.
Believe me, you’re going to love your new accessory.
Quick Answer: What are the best towels to take traveling?
- Active Roots Travel Towel – Best Overall Travel Towel
- Sea to Summit Drylite Towel – Best Backpacking Towel
- Waves Gear Quick Drying Beach Towel – Best Microfiber Beach Towel
- Youphoria Sport Microfiber Travel Towel– Best Towel for Traveling Yogis
- Nomadix Towel – Best Non-Microfiber Towel for Travel
- ECCOSOPHY TRAVEL TOWEL– Honorary Mention
- Jump to –> Travel Towel Reviews
Real Quick – What is Microfiber Material?
Microfiber is a synthetic fiber, usually made out of polyesters, polyamides, or blends. The grabby texture of the microfiber makes the towel more absorbent which, in turn, makes it great for swimming, traveling, exercising, any activity that makes you wet.
- Microfiber Travel Towel Reviews
- Overall Best Travel Towel – Active Roots Microfiber Towel
- Best Towel for Backpacking – Sea to Summit DryLite Towel
- Best Microfiber Beach Towel – Waves Gear Quick Drying Towel
- Best Travel Towel for Yogis – Youphoria Sport
- Best Non-Microfiber Towel for Travel – Nomadix
- Honorable Mention – ECCOSOPHY Microfiber Towel
- Why Invest in a Travel Towel?
- 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 Travel Towel – Active Roots Microfiber Towel
- Great price!
- Comes with a loop and packing sack
- Two towels for the price of one
Active Roots Travel Towels are one of the best value microfiber towels for traveling 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 will perform wonderuflly as quick drying 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 travel towel.
Best Towel for Backpacking – Sea to Summit DryLite Towel
- Comes in multiple sizes
- Very lightweight
- A bit more expensive
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 Microfiber Beach Towel – Waves Gear Quick Drying Towel
- Better than a typical cotton beach towel
- Very packable
- Perfect size
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 quick drying towel for travel, and an easy pick for best travel beach towel.
Best Travel Towel for Yogis – Youphoria Sport
- Holds moisture well
- Softer + more comfortable than others
- Bit heavier than others
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.
Best Non-Microfiber Towel for Travel – Nomadix
- Made from recycled materials
- Very tough
- Very expensive for a towel
For the environmentally-conscious traveler, the Nomadix travel towel is about as ideal as it gets. This towel is made of 100% recycled materials – fibers from plastic bottles are processed into effective and comfortable nylon and polyester threads. These towels do not involve any sort of polymer-based microfiber yet they are still very good at what they do.
Nomadix towels are quick-drying, tough, and very packable. Coming in at a very reasonable 1 lb, these make for great towels to take traveling. Thanks to it’s anti-microbial and non-slip qualities, the Nomadix is very popular at yoga retreats and camping but you could conceivably use this towel anywhere: at the beach, gym, kitchen, and more.
The Nomadix is a bit more expensive than other towels and quite larger as well. That being said, the larger price tag is more than justifiable – this towel will last longer than most and you will definitely get more use out of it.
Honorable Mention – ECCOSOPHY Microfiber Towel
- Very cool designs
- Double-sided
- Much larger than other beach towels
I’d give this beach towel props just for being so damn good lookin’! Look at those patterns! So bold and colorful! Who says a microfiber travel towel has to be flat-colored and boring, anways?
But it’s not just beautiful; the ECCOSOHPY beach towel is also useful, of course. Since it’s made of microfiber, you’ll get the absorptive qualities as well as the quick drying. It packs well enough although, given it’s size, it’s going to be much larger in your bag than most other towels.
I would also like to add that this towel would be fine for both sexes. ECCOOPHY markets it has a lady’s towel on their Amazon page but, honestly, I’d rock this anytime and anywhere in the world.
It may seem like an insignificant item to pack, but a good towel will be one of the most useful items in your backpacker arsenal.
In our normal lives, we use towels on a daily basis, really; to wash the dishes, ourselves, the car, when cleaning the house. Yet, we take them from granted because they’re always there and in a multitude! Thanks to industrialization, we have a cloth or rag somewhere nearby, buried in an old drawer or conveniently hanging on a hook or rack.
Unfortunately, backpackers usually don’t have this option. Because they are constantly going from place to place and because they are living out of a backpack (finite space), they don’t have the convenience of carrying a lot of towels on them. Hell, most backpackers are grateful just to get a free towel at their hostel!
Having your own towel for traveling the world can be immensely useful. Going to the beach? The towel will keep the sand off your ass and out of your portable speaker. Want to have a spontaneous yoga session? Throwdown your towel and chaturanga away. Need to dry out those hiking boots after a long walk? Use that towel to soak up any leftover moisture in those boots (maybe do that after washing yourself though)
Trust me: you will get a lot of use out of your towel while traveling, more than you might know right now. That means you need to have a good towel – the tougher it is and the better it is at absorbing, the more useful it will be. Luckily, it’s not so difficult to pick out a good one; you just need to refer below for some tips.
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.
- Well constructed – There is such a thing as a good microfiber and bad microfiber.
- Quick Drying – The best towels for backpacking and traveling must have quick dry material.
- Absorbency – Even if a microfiber travel towel is lightweight and dries quickly, it’s useless if it doesn’t actually absorb liquids.
- Special features – A loop makes it easy to attach the quick drying towel to your backpack as you hike, or hang it on a clothes hanger at your hostel.
- Additional accessories – A storage pouch for your microfiber towel helps you keep your backpack organized.
Towel Sizes
Quick drying 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.).
Active Roots
- Price > $
- Weight > 1.3 – 8.1 oz
- Size > M to XL
Sea to Summit
- Price > $$$
- Weight > 1.3 – 4 oz.
- Size > XS to XL
Waves Gear
- Prize > $$$
- Weight > 10.4 oz
- Size > XL
Youphoria
- Price > $
- Weight > 2.4 – 12 oz
- Size > 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.
Middle Eastern style scarves, traditionally referred to as keffiyehs or shemaghs, are also super adaptable pieces of kit that can be used as a towel. Granted, their primary purpose is more for keeping sand out of one’s eyes and the cold out at night, but many people also use them as beach towels as well.
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 five: they’re compact, lightweight, durable, absorbent, quick-drying towels for travel.
Our favorite microfiber travel towel is the Active Roots because of its quality, price, and combo pack deal!
Let us know what you think about our epic review to the best quick dry towels for travel in the comments below!
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I’m looking for a medium bath towel, wash cloth combo.
I just ordered 2 combo packs for our RV. Bath towels for me and the mister, a small one for the dog and one for the kitchen. A great deal at $18!
Awesome! Enjoy Adriana 🙂
This is awesome! Thanks for the heads up on the Active Roots. I have never heard of this brand and it looks perfect. My friend Brian & I are going to backpack the John Muir part of the PCT during the summer of 2018 for 10 days and I was looking for a new backpacker towel that works but is light and doesnt break the bank!