The Best Travel Towels: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)

RBE top pick

Matador NanoDry Packable Beach Towel

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Matador wins the trade this category exists to make: a full-size towel at 155 grams that packs to the size of a sandwich, with both figures published. Dock and Bay publishes a full specification and is the more pleasant towel to actually dry yourself with.

A travel towel is judged on two numbers and almost nobody prints both. Packed size decides whether it goes in the bag or gets strapped to the outside, and weight decides whether you notice it. Everything else, absorbency, fibre blend, how it feels against skin, is a matter of preference that the marketing will happily discuss instead. The spread here is large: the full-size towels in this comparison run from 155 grams to 485 grams.

RBE top pick

Matador

NanoDry Packable Beach Towel

Buy it

A full-size towel at 155 grams that packs into its own pocket.

Best for: Carry-on travel and hiking, where the towel has to disappear into the bag.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• 5.5 ounces or 155 grams for a full 60 by 30 inch towel, about a third of the 16 ounces Nomadix publishes for its longer Original Towel.
• Packs to 6 by 5 by 1.8 inches into its own integrated pocket, so there is no separate pouch to lose and no strap on the outside of your bag.
• Quick-drying nanofiber that absorbs twice its weight, stated PFC-free, with a zip pocket for stashing keys, a phone or a card while you swim.

Know before buying

• Absorbs twice its weight where Nomadix claims four times, so it needs wringing out on a full-body dry.
• Nanofiber is thin against the skin and feels nothing like a bath towel.
• Offered in a single colour, charcoal, with no size options in this model.
• Matador's product page lists a one-year warranty.

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Dock and Bay

Quick Dry Towel

Buy it

Every dimension and weight published, for the towel and for its pouch.

Best for: Beach and pool trips, and anyone who wants to know exactly what they are packing.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• One of the fullest specifications here: 83 percent recycled polyester and 17 percent recycled polyamide, with Large at 160 by 90 centimetres weighing 360 grams and Extra Large at 200 by 90 centimetres weighing 485 grams.
• Pouch dimensions published alongside each size, at 24 by 14 centimetres and 28 by 15 centimetres, so you know exactly what goes in your bag.
• Complete care instructions: cold machine wash at 30 degrees, tumble dry low or air dry, no bleach, and specifically no fabric softener because it reduces absorbency.

Know before buying

• At 360 to 485 grams it is between two and three times the weight of the Matador.
• Absorbs twice its weight, the same as the Matador and half the Nomadix claim.
• Only two sizes, both large, with nothing hand-towel sized in this line.
• Flat microfibre rather than a pile, so it feels efficient rather than comfortable.

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Sea to Summit

Tek Towel

It depends

A deep pile that actually feels like a towel, at the cost of drying speed.

Best for: Longer trips and campsites where the towel gets used daily and comfort starts to matter.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• Deep pile construction with a soft terrycloth feel, which is the only towel here that does not feel like a technical fabric against the skin.
• 80 percent RCS certified recycled polyester and 20 percent nylon, with the certification named rather than the recycled content merely claimed, and an EVA pouch.
• A hang loop with a snap closure on every size so it dries on a hook or a line, in a moulded zippered EVA case, with packed weight and packed size both published.

Know before buying

• The deep pile that makes it comfortable also holds more water, so it dries more slowly and packs larger than a flat microfibre towel.
• Sea to Summit states the towel is not colourfast dyed and must be washed separately for the first few washes.
• Fabric softener must be avoided because it reduces absorbency.
• No absorbency multiple is published, where the other three all state one.

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We'd skip it

Nomadix

Original Towel

Skip it

The most absorbent towel here, and at a published 16 ounces close to three times the Matador.

Best for: Beach and yoga use where absorbency and size matter more than what it weighs.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• Absorbs four times its weight in water, which is double what any other towel in this comparison claims.
• A long towel at 72.5 inches by 30 wide, in 90 percent post-consumer recycled polyester, with Nomadix stating that one towel uses the equivalent of 30 plastic bottles.
• Odour-resistant and sand-resistant as well as quick-drying, which is a genuinely useful combination for a towel that lives in a bag.

Know before buying

• Nomadix publishes a weight of 16 ounces, which is heavy for a towel that has to live in a travel bag.
• The published pack size of 3.75 by 6.75 inches gives no depth, so it is hard to judge how much bag space it takes.
• The Original comes in one size; Nomadix sells smaller towels, such as its Mini Towel, as separate products.
• Nomadix charges a return label fee on returns, which is stated on the product page.

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How we judged the field

A travel towel is a compromise between drying you and disappearing into a bag, so we started with the two numbers that describe the second half: weight and packed size. Between them they decide whether the towel travels or stays home. Matador publishes both to the tenth of an inch, Dock and Bay publishes both for two sizes, Sea to Summit publishes them in a spec table for four sizes, and Nomadix gives a weight and a pack size without a depth.

After that, absorbency, expressed as a multiple of the towel’s own weight, which is the only performance figure this category offers and which has to be read against the weight to mean anything. Then fibre and construction, because flat microfibre and deep pile are genuinely different products and the choice is about how the towel feels rather than how well it works. Then the practical fittings: a hang loop for drying, a pouch or a pocket for carrying, and any extras like a zip pocket for valuables. And finally care guidance, which matters more here than in most categories because fabric softener reduces absorbency and three of the four say so.

The Matador NanoDry Packable Beach Towel wins the argument this category exists to have. It is a full-sized towel at 60 by 30 inches, or 153 by 76 centimetres, and it weighs 5.5 ounces, which is 155 grams. For comparison, Dock and Bay’s Large weighs 360 grams and the Nomadix a published 16 ounces. Packed, it measures 6 by 5 by 1.8 inches and goes into its own integrated pocket, so there is no separate pouch to lose and nothing dangling from a carabiner. The material is quick-drying nanofiber, stated PFC-free, and it absorbs twice its weight in water. There is a zip pocket for keys, a phone or a card, which on a beach towel is the feature you appreciate the one time you need it. The compromises are the ones that come with 155 grams. It absorbs twice its weight where the Nomadix claims four times, so a full-body dry means wringing it out partway through. Nanofiber is thin and slick rather than soft. There is one colour and one size in this model. Care is covered in Matador’s FAQ: machine wash cold, tumble dry low, no bleach and no fabric softener.

The Dock and Bay Quick Dry Towel publishes as much as anything in this comparison, and it publishes the right things. The fabric is given as 83 percent recycled polyester and 17 percent recycled polyamide. Both sizes are fully specified: Large is 160 by 90 centimetres, packs into a 24 by 14 centimetre pouch and weighs 360 grams, while Extra Large is 200 by 90 centimetres, packs into a 28 by 15 centimetre pouch and weighs 485 grams, and Dock and Bay notes the Extra Large is big enough to cover a sun lounger. It dries twice as fast as cotton, absorbs twice its own weight, and comes with full care instructions: cold machine wash at 30 degrees, wash similar colours together, tumble dry low or air dry, no bleach, and explicitly no fabric softener because it reduces absorbency. That last line is the mark of a company that understands its own product. The costs are weight and feel. At 360 to 485 grams it is two to three times the Matador, it absorbs the same multiple, there is nothing smaller than a large towel in the range, and flat microfibre feels efficient rather than nice.

The Sea to Summit Tek Towel is the one you would actually choose to dry yourself with. The construction is a deep pile with a soft terrycloth feel, achieved through a blended microfibre, which puts it in a different tactile category from the three flat towels here. The fabric is 80 percent RCS certified recycled polyester and 20 percent nylon, and naming the Recycled Claim Standard rather than simply saying recycled is a meaningfully stronger statement. Every size has a hang loop with a snap closure so it goes on a hook or over a line, which is the single most useful fitting on a towel that has to dry between uses, and it ships in a moulded zippered EVA pouch rather than a fabric bag. Sea to Summit publishes both a packed weight and a packed size. The trade-offs come directly from the pile. More surface area means more water held, which means slower drying and more bulk packed, and Sea to Summit is the only maker here that does not publish an absorbency multiple. The care requirements are also the strictest: the towel is not colourfast dyed and must be washed separately for the first few washes, and fabric softener is out.

The Nomadix Original Towel is the skip and it is a shame, because the towel itself sounds good. It absorbs four times its weight in water, which is double what anyone else here claims and would make it the most capable towel in the group. It measures 72.5 inches by 30, it is made from 90 percent post-consumer recycled polyester with Nomadix stating that each towel uses the equivalent of 30 plastic bottles, and it is odour-resistant and sand-resistant as well as quick-drying, which is a genuinely well-chosen set of properties for something that lives damp in a bag. The problem is weight. Nomadix publishes 16 ounces, close to three times the Matador and not far from Dock and Bay’s Extra Large, and a pack size of 3.75 by 6.75 inches with no depth given, so this is a heavy towel to carry in hand luggage every day. The Original also comes in one size, so anything smaller means buying a separate Nomadix towel such as the Mini, and Nomadix states on the page that returns carry a return label fee, which matters if the size turns out to be wrong.

Matador NanoDry Packable Beach Towel vs Dock and Bay Quick Dry Towel: which should you buy?

Matador against Dock and Bay is the clearest choice in this comparison and it depends entirely on how the towel travels. The NanoDry is 155 grams and packs to roughly the size of a paperback, into its own pocket, with a zip compartment for your keys. If the towel is going in hand luggage or a rucksack you carry all day, nothing else here is competitive, and Matador publishes both numbers so you can check it against your bag.

Dock and Bay is between two and three times the weight, and it gives you a great deal more in return: two sizes both fully specified with their pouches, a named fibre blend to the percentage, a towel large enough to cover a sun lounger, and full care instructions, including the warning about fabric softener that keeps the towel working. It is also a more substantial piece of fabric to dry yourself with. Buy the Matador if weight and packed size are the constraint. Buy the Dock and Bay if the towel goes in a suitcase or a car boot and you would rather have the better towel.

What to look for

• A published weight: it is half the reason to buy a travel towel, so compare it per size.
• A published packed size: either the folded dimensions or the pouch dimensions, since that is what has to fit in the bag.
• An absorbency multiple, read against the weight: four times the weight of a light towel may be less water than twice the weight of a heavy one.
• Flat or pile construction: flat dries fast and packs small, pile feels like a towel and does neither.
• A hang loop: the single most useful fitting, because a towel that cannot dry between uses will smell.
• Care instructions, specifically about fabric softener: it coats the fibres and destroys absorbency, and the good makers warn you.

Our final take

Travel towels live or die on two numbers, weight and packed size. The Matador NanoDry is the one to buy: a full 60 by 30 inch towel at 155 grams that packs to 6 by 5 by 1.8 inches into its own pocket, with a zip compartment for valuables. The Dock and Bay Quick Dry Towel publishes as much as anything here, gives you two fully specified sizes with their pouches, and tells you how to wash it without wrecking it. The Sea to Summit Tek Towel is the nicest to use, with a deep pile that feels like terrycloth and certified recycled content, as long as you accept it dries slower and packs bigger. And the most absorbent towel in the group weighs a published 16 ounces, which is a lot to carry for a travel towel.

Deciding between the top two? See our head-to-head: Matador NanoDry Packable Beach Towel vs Dock and Bay Quick Dry Towel.

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