Best travel backpacks for men and women (2024 guide)

Choosing the right backpack is one of the most important decisions you will make before travelling. As frequent travellers ourselves, we know how challenging it can be to find one that suits your needs. You move from country to country, city to city, hostel to hostel – but your backpack stays with you, carrying everything you own. It’s a home away from home! To help you make the right decision, we have compiled and compared the best travel backpacks and daypacks for long-term trips, including the latest options for both men and women.

This is not a sponsored post: we have not been paid by any of the brands featured in this article. The backpacks we recommend are based on our own research and testing. If you make a purchase after clicking a link, we may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Why do you need a backpack for travel?

The thing we love most about travel is the freedom it brings – and nothing embodies this better than a backpack. To have all of your worldly belongings strapped inside a 70-litre piece of canvas, with the ability to wake up on any given day and go wherever you like with it, is a wonderful thing.

But, you may ask, why is a backpack better than using a suitcase or other wheeled luggage? When travelling long-term it’s likely you will be on the move frequently, and the greatest freedom that a backpack provides is mobility.

Whether you’re trekking in Peru, schlepping across Bangkok after arriving at 6am, or simply jostling through a busy train station – a backpack makes it so much easier to get around.

You will walk along gravelly roads, cobbled backstreets, up and down hills, and navigate countless flights of steps. With 15 or 20 kilograms of stuff to carry, it’s much better to have the weight spread across your shoulders, back and hips than to drag it behind you.

Since returning from our long-term travel career break, we’ve found that our backpacks are great for shorter trips too. We take them hiking, on short breaks in Europe, or even on long weekends visiting friends. A backpack is something that will stay with you for years, and become one of your most cherished possessions.

So, where do you begin when it comes to finding your perfect backpack?

Don’t miss our ultimate guide to taking a travel career break

How to find your perfect travel backpack

When beginning your search for a travel backpack, there are a few basic essentials you should consider. First of all, though, you should identify what will be most suitable to you as a traveller. Each of the six factors we highlight below are important, but you should think about them in the context of your travel style and what you’re planning do do.

For example, if you’re planning a few months in Southeast Asia and intend to spend most of it island hopping, on beaches and exploring cities leisurely, then you won’t need as much packing space, and a 35-litre backpack would probably be fine.

However, if you’re heading to somewhere like New Zealand or Chile and you’re planning a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and camping, then you will need more space to carry heavy-duty gear. You’ll probably need at least 60 litres.

1. Size matters

In addition to your travel style and the activities you are planning, there are some other considerations when it comes to backpack size. Here are three more questions you can ask:

What backpack size will be most compatible with your build? If you are short and have a small frame, for example, hoisting a large and heavy backpack around is likely to cause you back pain. If you’re unsure about this, drop into an outdoor gear store and try a few backpacks on to see how they feel.
What forms of transport are you planning to use? If you will be flying frequently, for example, you may want a backpack that can be used as carry-on. The dimensions and volume limits vary, so check the policies of the airlines you’re planning to use.
What are your general packing habits? Do you like to travel light, are do you tend to take multiple outfits even on short trips? Usually, the more someone travels, the more they learn to pack light – but give this careful consideration. Maybe trying packing an old suitcase with what you will take on your travels to give you an indicator.

2. Weight matters too

Sometimes you will need to carry a backpack for several hours at a time when travelling; even several days at a time if you’re hiking. If you have too much weight on your back, it will cause you much pain and discomfort.

While the weight of the backpack itself will have an effect, and the lighter it is the better – the way a backpack distributes weight is more important. The contents of your backpack will be much heavier than the backpack itself, and how that load is balanced is vital.

A hip belt is essential feature of a large backpack for long-term travel, and ideally you want one that is padded and moulded. Also look out for padded shoulder straps, chest straps and harnesses. The more effectively the load is spread around your body, the more comfortable you will be.

3. Accessibility

When you’re looking for a travel backpack, you are likely to come across the terms ‘top-loading’ and ‘front-loading’. But what do these actually mean?

Basically, top-loading refers to backpacks that only have one main opening at the top, usually with a drawstring. This isn’t ideal, because it means when you need to get something that’s stuffed down at the bottom, you need to take everything else out to reach it.

A front-loading backpack gives you quick access to your belongings, typically with a zip on the front or side. This will make your life a lot easier. It may seem like a minor consideration, but trust me, you won’t think that after you’ve had to stop and rummage through your entire bag fifty times.

4. Water resistance

While it’s not vital for a backpack to be completely waterproof, you will need at least some protection from the weather. If it’s made of water-resistant materials then that’s a bonus, but at the very least you should choose a backpack that has a water cover.

You never know when you will be caught in the rain, and you don’t want all of your clothes to get soaked through, not to mention your electronics.

5. Storage flexibility

A good backpack has plenty of pockets, compartments, attachment straps, nooks and crannies for organising your gear. How much of this you need depends on your personal travel style, but pay close attention to the storage capacity and flexibility when choosing your ideal backpack.

Some backpacks have the potential to carry extra capacity through external storage. For example, mesh pockets or panels, extendable top lids and lower straps can allow you to stash things like bottles, sleeping bags, mats and towels on the bag’s exterior.

We would highly recommend buying some packing cubes as an accessory for organising your belongings inside your backpack too. This is one of the best things we bought for our travel career break, and now we never travel without them!

6. Durability

You will probably use your backpack every day, and you need it to last a long time. That means it needs to be made of material that is strong and durable. You don’t want something that’s going to rip the moment you brush past a tree or fall over on a slippy track.

If there’s one piece of travel equipment you should never go cheap on, it’s a backpack. In general, you get what you pay for, and if you go too cheap you’ll probably get a backpack that falls apart quickly. As a benchmark, you shouldn’t look too far below $100. Needless to say, the backpacks we recommend below are all made of sturdy materials and pass the durability test.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at our picks of the best travel backpacks currently available…