You might be a digital nomad, your office a coastal cabana in Colombia. Or, an avid thru-hiker whose eyes become starry at the thought of completing the Santiago de Compostela. Perhaps you dream of white sand beaches and plan to explore Southeast Asia on a shoestring budget.
Either way, you won’t get very far without the perfect travel backpack.
You may be of the opinion that booking a return flight is oh-so-passé. However, we would argue that choosing the best travel backpack deserves a little more forethought. Things like comfort, capacity, and style are of crucial importance since you’ll rarely be without your backpack on the road.
Don’t know where to start? We’ve already done the groundwork for you and compiled a carefully curated list of the best travel backpacks for every scenario. All you have to do is pick one.
BellroyTransit Plus
A quality backpack that's got your back in every way.
RimowaNever Still
An investment into a lifetime of sophisticated travel.
TroubadourElemental Backpack
Featherweight carry with the toughness of a trail pack.
Why you can trust Luxe Digital? After living the digital nomad lifestyle for the past two years, I have a very personal relationship with travel backpacks and the enormous impact that they have on our journey. Some leave us with countless chiropractor bills, while others are the perfect hands-free travel companion. Lucky for you, at Luxe Digital, we rigorously test and review elevated essentials, and go the extra mile to unearth gateway-ready gear that go the distance and brands that we believe will go places. Our list of the best travel backpacks is our takeaway.
After living the digital nomad lifestyle for the past two years, I have a very personal relationship with travel backpacks and the enormous impact that they have on our journey. Some leave us with countless chiropractor bills, while others are the perfect hands-free travel companion. Lucky for you, at Luxe Digital, we rigorously test and review elevated essentials, and go the extra mile to unearth gateway-ready gear that go the distance and brands that we believe will go places. Our list of the best travel backpacks is our takeaway.See how we test products and learn more about our HAPPY philosophy (read: Honorable Craftsmanship, Aesthetic Design, Positive Impact—on People and the Planet, Purpose, and Function, and Yielding Value) for buying luxuries.
Flying in style? See which carriers made our list of the best first-class airlines and don’t forget a good passport holder.
12 best travel backpacks
- Bellroy Transit Plus: Overall best travel backpack
- Rimowa Never Still: Best luxury travel backpack
- Troubadour Elemental: Best lightweight travel backpack
- Beis The Travel Backpack: Best value travel backpack
- Calpak Luka: Best mini travel backpack
- Troubadour Apex: Best travel backpack for commuting
- Nomatic Travel Pack: Best overnight backpack
- Calpak Terra: Best travel backpack for day hikes
- Bellroy Lite Travel Pack 30L: Best travel backpack for weekend adventures
- Horizn Studios SoFo: Best travel backpack for city breaks
- Hyperlite Unbound: Best travel backpack for multi-day hikes
- Osprey Fairview 65: Best backpack for backpacking
Bellroy Transit Plus: Overall best travel backpack
Trying to sum up this extraordinary backpack into a short, objective review seems an impossible task. So with limited words, we’ll cut to the chase.
Made from water-resistant, recycled materials, the travel backpack is just as durable as it is sustainable. We’ve tested ours in the most rugged terrains and can confidently report that the backpack is designed to tackle unexpected rainstorms, brutal cabin hauls, and an overpacked interior alike.
The Transit Backpack Plus is for the person who reads articles on the ‘7/10/20 Habits of Highly Organised People’ and actually takes the advice on board. It features a laptop sleeve, padded sunglasses pouch, key clip, and external passport slips. No more frantic rummaging around to produce your laptop and liquids for the check-in process.
But perhaps the most rave-worthy point is its unparalleled comfort. With cushioned adjustable straps and breathable back panels, you really can wear this lightweight travel backpack all day without resenting it by the end. In fact, we love ours so much, it doubles up as our best gym bag when we’re not jetsetting to new cities.
Rimowa Never Still: Best luxury travel backpack
If you travel regularly—whether for business or pleasure—it’s worth investing in a superior travel backpack to make your experience more enjoyable.
Made from durable canvas with premium leather trims, the high-performance backpack is a masterclass in functional fashion. Rivaling even the best Gucci bags, the sophisticated exterior speaks to a polished exterior fit enough for any boardroom and elegant enough for any chic jetsetter.
But the Rimowa Never Still isn’t just a pretty face. Featuring a 13” laptop sleeve, internal drawstring and readily-available side pockets, it’s designed to make a life in motion effortless. While a cushioned back and straps promise a first-class journey in comfort and convenience.
Personally, we love the small size for quick trips, but if you need more space, this compact travel backpack also comes in large.
Check the other soft bags from the German travel brand in our RIMOWA Never Still collection review.
Troubadour Elemental: Best lightweight travel backpack
Most “lightweight” backpacks get there by cutting corners: thinner fabric, flimsier zips, a laptop sleeve you’d rather not trust. The Troubadour Elemental takes the harder route.
At 1.8 lbs (0.8 kg), you’ll barely notice the bag. And yet it still takes a 17” laptop plus 25 liters of everything else. The shell is a 210D ripstop nylon that Troubadour developed in-house, and instead of being stitched, the panels are fused together with high-frequency welding. Fewer needle holes means fewer ways for rain to get in, and a cleaner silhouette.
The shoulder straps borrow their geometry from running vests, spreading the load across your chest and shoulders rather than pinching at two points. A detachable chest strap and hip belt come out when the load gets heavier. Built-in compression cords keep everything tight without a tangle of dangling straps.
Inside, the laptop sleeve is waterproof and removable. Dedicated pockets for sunglasses and an AirTag, a key clip and a luggage sleeve for your carry-on finish a bag that looks as right at the airport as it does at the trailhead.
The one trade-off: at 25 liters, it’s a generous daypack rather than a one-bag solution for a week away. Pair the Troubadour Elemental with a carry-on and you’re set.
For our hands-on verdict, read our full Troubadour Elemental review.
Beis The Travel Backpack: Best value travel backpack
Affordable travel gear usually asks you to compromise somewhere: the zips, the straps, or how long it lasts. At $118, the Beis Travel Backpack asks for far less compromise than its price suggests.
The best feature is the one you notice first. A full zip lets it open flat like a suitcase, so you pack it in layers instead of dropping everything in from the top and digging for it later. Inside, a padded compartment takes laptops up to 16”, and a larger front compartment keeps your chargers, passport and small essentials organized. The front pocket locks, which is reassuring in a crowded terminal.
The small details are well thought out. The water bottle pockets expand when you need them and flatten when you don’t. A built-in key leash ends the end-of-trip rummage at your front door. And a trolley pass-through slides the bag onto your carry-on handle, so your shoulders get a break between gates.
With 28 liters of space, it covers a weekend away as easily as a workday. It’s made partly from recycled polyester and comes in five colors, from classic black to a soft Atlas pink.
One thing to know before you fly: at just over 18 inches tall, it’s bigger than many airlines’ personal-item limits, so check your carrier’s rules if you plan to slide it under the seat. For everything else, the Beis Travel Backpack is hard to beat for the price.
Calpak Luka: Best mini travel backpack
There are carry-on travel backpacks designed to carry the full load of your journey. And then there are the compact versions designed to accompany your carry-on. If that’s all you need for your upcoming getaway, we highly recommend this small travel backpack by Calpak.
Cute and compact, it’s a backpack for women, although we don’t see why men should carry a heavier load than necessary either. Made from durable polyester, it’s scratch-resistant and water-repellent, while the cushioned material protects your valuables from crash landings. Plus, it’s unbelievably lightweight, so you’ll barely remember it’s there.
Perfect for sightseeing, day hikes and daily errands, this mini backpack fits into every situation. And we love that it comes in an array of vibrant and classical hues, adding a personalized edge to your unique journey.
Troubadour Apex: Best travel backpack for commuting
Travel isn’t only the trip you’ve been planning for months. It’s also the 8:15 train, the cycle across town in a light drizzle, and the meeting you walk straight into. The Troubadour Apex is built for those in-between hours.
Now in its fourth generation, the Apex holds a 17” laptop in a suspended, padded sleeve (Troubadour calls it the CrashPad Cocoon), with 22 liters left over for a sweater, a charger pouch and lunch. The fabric is spun from recycled plastic bottles and finished with a fluorocarbon-free waterproof coating, and the zippers and lining are waterproof too.
What wins us over for daily use are the small things. Two deep side pockets, one of which zips shut. A stretchy pocket on the shoulder strap for your phone or transit card. Lockable zippers and a luggage sleeve for the days the commute ends at an airport.
At 2.7 lbs (1.22 kg), it’s no featherweight, but the contoured, softly padded straps carry that weight well. And the clean, minimal lines of the Troubadour Apex look as at home under a boardroom table as they do on a bike.
For our hands-on verdict, read our full Troubadour Apex review.
Nomatic Travel Pack: Best overnight backpack
So often, we think that we can use our EDC backpack as an overnight bag, simply to learn (once again) that our beauty regimes and luxury sneakers tend to take up more space than we thought. That isn’t the case with this carry-on travel backpack.
With plenty of space for one to three days’ worth of clothes (depending on the weather), the 20-liter interior expands to 30 liters when necessary. The 16” laptop sleeve and tablet sleeve take care of all devices. RFID protection and hidden pockets protect your valuables from digital scammers and pickpockets. While water-resistant materials safeguard your gear against unexpected downpours.
We’ve used our Nomatic Travel Pack for all overnight stays—from business trips to bachelorettes—and it’s never failed to impress.
Calpak Terra: Best travel backpack for day hikes
With the intrinsic stresses of a fast-paced lifestyle, sometimes the best you can do to escape from it all is venture off on a single-day hike. There’s something to be said for taking some Time Out in nature.
As one of our favorite travel packs and an overall hiking hero, the Calpak Terra is more rugged and robust than other bags in the luxury brand’s collection.
Made from recycled ripstop, the sustainable material is just as light on the planet as it is on your shoulders. The adjustable, padded straps are light on your shoulders, while the all-important sternum belt helps to distribute weight evenly during exhausting ascents. We love that we could spend less time fixating on aches and pains, and more time soaking up the scenery around us.
The compression strap inside keeps your belongings in place over rocky terrains. And we appreciate the plethora of external pockets, making on-the-go snacks readily available. The Calpak Terra can also be worn as a duffel (doubling up as a daily gym bag when back to lower altitudes), although we would suggest placing your water bottle inside if you intend to carry it by the shoulder strap.
Bellroy Lite Travel Pack 30L: Best travel backpack for weekend adventures
A weekend away shouldn’t require a suitcase. Two days of clothes, a toiletry bag, a book and a laptop: if that’s your packing list, the Bellroy Lite Travel Pack is all the luggage you need.
It opens like a suitcase, folding out flat so you can pack it properly rather than stuffing everything in from the top. Built-in mesh packing cells and zipped dividers keep outfits separate, then fold flat when you’d rather have one open space. A quick-access top pocket holds your passport and keys, the lower pocket takes a spare layer, and a discreet rear pocket with a cover flap fits a 16” laptop.
At 950 g (2.1 lbs), it’s remarkably light for a 30-liter bag and made mostly from recycled nylon.
Our favorite detail: the shoulder straps tuck away, turning it into a tidy carry-on for the overhead bin, or you can slide it onto your suitcase handle with the luggage pass-through. Need more room? The Bellroy Lite Travel Pack also comes in 38 liters.
Horizn Studios SoFo: Best travel backpack for city breaks
As huge advocates of Horizn Studios’ sustainable collection, we’ve already mentioned the SoFo Weekender as one of our best women’s weekenders, and it should come as no surprise that the SoFo backpack is one of our best travel backpacks—more specifically our best backpack for city breaks.
Featuring a large, expandable interior (from 29 to 34 liters), there’s plenty of room for camera equipment and a change of shoes (for when your most comfortable sneakers don’t quite fit the formal dress code requirement.) And we always appreciate the exterior pockets for on-the-go snacks or easily accessible selfie sticks.
Like all bags in the brand’s SoFo collection, the Horizn Studios backpack is made from recycled materials that are incredibly lightweight, durable and water resistant. So you need not worry about your all-important laptop, tucked neatly into its own padded sleeve big enough for a 16” device.
Hyperlite Unbound: Best travel backpack for multi-day hikes
If we’re going to spend our vacations scaling mountains, we’re going to ensure it’s as effortless as possible. Comfort is absolutely paramount when setting off on a hike, carrying a weighty pack with all you need for daily life, plus emergencies. Plus your temporary home. And your luxuries. Wait, don’t let us put you off.
We hunted for the lightest, most comfortable 40-liter hiking backpack out there. And after trying many affluent labels, very few came close to the Dyneema Hyperlite Unbound. What instantly grabbed our attention was how comfortable the cell-closed straps were in comparison to others, while the sternum strap and waist belt helped distribute the weight of the bag evenly.
The rolltop closure ensures waterproofing, safeguarding your gear against downpours, while external pockets also provide easy access to snacks and GoPro. All in all, the Hyperlite Unbound actually makes us want to hike more often—and that’s saying something.
Osprey Fairview 65: Best backpack for backpacking
Off on a rite-of-passage gap year around South America, a Working Holiday in Australia or hitchhiking the West Coast of the US? You’ll need a hardy, durable backpack with plenty of space for your possessions.
The carry-on travel backpack is ideal for backpacking; offering 65L of capacity, you can rough it out in a hostel without compromising your style. However, the real hero of the bag is its dual carrying. And while the padded straps, waist belt and the breathable mesh lining, make it incredibly comfortable to carry on your back, we love that you can also wheel the backpack when the terrain allows for it.
The Osprey Fairview also has plenty of pockets and sleeves to make your unplanned, soul-searching excursion that much more organized.
Buying guide to travel backpacks
Yep, all backpacks are conveniently hands-free by nature, but not all backpacks are created equal. There are many things to consider before picking the companion that is likely to be glued to your back for the entirety of your trip.
Duration of stay
The duration of your travels will largely impact the backpack size you go for. If it’s just an overnight trip, a smaller (15-20L) version will likely suffice. If it’s a weekender, you’ll likely want to opt for something larger (30-50L). And if it’s an extended trip, you’ll want a backpack that is large enough to hold your capsule collection (50-70L) but is still light enough on your shoulders.
Of course, your travel backpack doesn’t have to be the only bag you’re taking. You may simply want a compact, everyday carry to accompany your daily excursions.
| Backpack Type | Capacity | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Mini/Small Backpack | Less than 10L | Days out, errands |
| Daypack | 10-30L | Commuting, day walks, exploring the city, day hikes, overnight trips, International travel (as a personal item) |
| Medium Backpack | 30 - 50L | Camping trips, weekend trips (city breaks), ultra-light thru-hikes, international travel (as carry-on) |
| Large Backpack | 50L + | Expeditions, multiday hikes, backpacking, extended trips |
Type of travel
How you intend to travel with your backpack should also influence what features you look for. If it’s intended as a carry-on, it should meet airline cabin restrictions and a luggage sleeve is often handy. If it’s intended as a check-in, a backpack duffel is a popular choice and wheels are a win. If you intend to catch a lot of trains, look for a backpack with grab handles. And if you intend to do lots of walking, it’s imperative that you prioritize lightweight materials and comfortable shoulder straps.
Reason for travel
Why you’re traveling also plays a role in the type of backpack you choose. If you’re traveling for business, a professional aesthetic and laptop sleeve are recommended. And you may want to consider special features such as RFID protection and TSA-approved locks. If you’re traveling for leisure, think about your destination. If you intend to use your backpack for day hikes, make sure it’s lightweight and water-resistant with plenty of pockets. And if you intend to use your backpack for gear-intensive trips, find one with spacious, cushioned compartments.
Things we specifically looked for:
While we appreciate the many differences and features in our favorite backpacks, there are a few key benefits that distinguish the best from the rest:
Packing capacity: Our best backpacks have enough space to perform their specific functions. If it’s a weekender backpack, it has room for two night’s worth of clothes. And if it’s an everyday carry, it has room for the daily essentials.
Dimensions: We tried to prioritize travel backpacks that fit into the ever-shrinking cabin requirements of most airlines.
Materials: We looked for materials that are lightweight, durable, sustainable, and water-resistant.
Carrying comfort: All our best backpacks are extremely comfortable to carry thanks to aspects like: lightweight materials, grab handles, luggage sleeves and breathable back panels. As well as padded, adjustable back; sternum; and waist belts.
Organizational features: We love travel backpacks that are effortlessly organized with well-placed pockets, padded laptop sleeves, shoe compartments and space for our trusted packing cubes.
Main compartment access: We paid careful attention to how easy it was to access the main compartment, be it from the top, back, front or side.
Extra features: RFID protection and TSA-approved locks are always a bonus.
Frequently asked questions about the best travel backpacks
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