Skip to main content
A woman wearing a blue Osprey travel backpack stands outside a pottery vendor in a Morocco market. Credit: Reviewed / Séamus Bellamy

The Best Travel Backpacks of 2024

Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed's editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

A woman wearing a blue Osprey travel backpack stands outside a pottery vendor in a Morocco market. Credit: Reviewed / Séamus Bellamy

Why trust Reviewed?

Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.

Learn more about our product testing
Editor's Choice Product image of Pacsafe Venturesafe EXP45
Most Secure

Pacsafe Venturesafe EXP45

Check Price at Pacsafe

This travel pack may be heavy, but it features slash-resistant construction, a tough zipper lock system, and a tether for securing the pack to other objects. Read More

Pros

  • Hidden, lockable zippers
  • Reasonably comfortable
  • Slash-resistant construction

Cons

  • Heavy
  • Narrow opening of some pockets
Editor's Choice Product image of Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L
Best for Photographers

Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L

Check Price at Amazon

This versatile travel pack is perfect for photographers. However, it's difficult to secure the bag's contents. Read More

Pros

  • Highly adaptable
  • Straps fold away
  • Ideal for photographers

Cons

  • Camera cubes sold separately
  • Difficult to secure contents.
Product image of Tom Bihn Techonaut 45

Tom Bihn Techonaut 45

Check Price at Tom Bihn

Well-made and versatile, this travel backpack is a great option for urbane travel, hopping on and off of planes, trains and airplanes, frequently. Read More

Pros

  • Comfortable
  • Easy access to main compartment
  • Multiple carry options

Cons

  • No excursion pack included
Product image of GoRuck GR3

GoRuck GR3

Check Price at GoRuck

This rough and tumble backpack has its niche, but it's not the best option for most travelers. Read More

Pros

  • heavily padded shoulder straps
  • incredibly tough construction
  • Main compartment can be customized

Cons

  • Uncomfortable to wear when fully loaded
  • Customization demands investment in pricey add-ons
Product image of Osprey Farpoint 40 Travel Backpack

Osprey Farpoint 40 Travel Backpack

Check Price at Amazon

Whether you’re hiking on vacation or rushing to catch a bus, this lightweight and durable pack is made to keep up with fast-pace travelers. Read More

Pros

  • Lightweight
  • Adjustable fit
  • Comfortable

Cons

  • None that we could find
  • Most Secure Pacsafe Venturesafe EXP45
  • Best for Photographers Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L
  • Tom Bihn Techonaut 45
  • GoRuck GR3
  • Osprey Farpoint 40 Travel Backpack
  • Patagonia Black Hole MLC Bag
  • Cotopaxi Allpa 42L Travel Pack
  • Topo Designed Global Travel Bag
  • How We Chose the Best Travel Backpacks
  • What You Should Know About Travel Backpacks
  • More Articles You Might Enjoy

For business travels, flights home for Thanksgiving, or a resort vacation, a good suitcase or carry-on bag will serve you well. However, they’re not well-suited for hopping on and off buses and trains or walking long distances over uneven terrain.

If this latter type of adventure sounds like your bag (sorry), then you’ll want to invest in a carry-on travel backpack. If the security of your belongings is most important, the PacSafe Venture EXP45 Anti-Theft Carry-On Travel Pack (available at Amazon) is a great choice for protecting all of your travel gear and clothing. Photographers will want to consider the versatile Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L (available at Amazon).

After examining several top picks for backpacks, we've found the best backpacks for traveling that you can buy online right now.

A person carrying a blue PacSafe backpack with his hand down an escalator.
Credit: PacSafe

It's like a Fort Knox that you can wear on your back.

Most Secure
Pacsafe Venturesafe EXP45
  • Size: 21.7 in. x 13 in. x 7.5 in.
  • Weight: 3.97 pounds
  • Material: Recycled Polyester
  • Top features: slash and water resistance, space

If you’re the sort of security-minded traveler who automatically loops a bag strap around the leg of a chair when you sit down in a restaurant, the Pacsafe EXP45 is for you. It’s a 45-liter travel pack designed, from the ground up, to relieve all your security concerns. The EXP45 is constructed of slash-resistant eXomesh fabric designed to deter thieves from cutting into your backpack to steal your valuables—an asset for anyone traveling in crowded areas where pickpockets are known to operate. It's also water-resistant, but you'll still need a rain cover in heavy downpours.

The Pacsafe EXP45 also has stab-proof zippers and the best zipper lock protection of any pack that we tested for this guide.

The EXP45’s two zippers—one for its main compartment and one for its laptop/admin pocket—are both designed to mate with a thick, stainless steel bar sewn into the front panel of the pack. This bar can be secured with a standard TSA-approved cable lock, making the backpack far more trouble to break into than a thief may think it’s worth.

The backpack’s laptop and admin compartment is large enough to hold a 15-inch laptop and includes smaller pockets, ideal for a smartphone, USB battery pack, and other travel essentials. Unfortunately, in the name of security, the compartment only opens up to a depth of five inches. We found that this narrow opening made for limited access that could cause users difficulty if they need to find a smaller item, such as a passport, in a hurry.

The main compartment, which uses up the majority of the backpack’s 45-liter volume, unzips to open up like a suitcase to make for easy packing. A mesh compartment that takes up the entire inside of the main compartment’s lid is ideal for packing bulkier items, such as pants or a sweater. Compression straps sewn into the cargo compartment make it possible to cinch packing cubes into place. However, we found that they were not as effective in securing loose clothing. We loved how easy the light-colored fabric on the interior of the pack made it easy to find what we were looking for, even in lowlight conditions.

As pleased as we were with the level of security that the EXP45 offers, we were disappointed by its shoulder straps and hip belt, which were not as adjustable as those we’d worn while testing other backpacks and were not as comfortable—strange, considering how thick and comfortable the pack's two handles were to hold.

Pros

  • Hidden, lockable zippers

  • Reasonably comfortable

  • Slash-resistant construction

Cons

  • Heavy

  • Narrow opening of some pockets

Buy now at Pacsafe

Buy now at Amazon

$269.95 from Walmart
A model holds a Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L by one of its handles.
Credit: Peak Design

The Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L will appeal to enthusiast travel photographers and those who appreciate a well-made bag.

Best for Photographers
Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L
  • Size: 22 in. x 13 in. x 6.5 in.
  • Weight: 4.52 pounds
  • Material: Canvas
  • Top features: packable, storage-friendly, versatility

The Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L is an outstanding, versatile bag, all on its lonesome. However, when paired with one of the Peak Design's Camera Cubes to keep your camera's body and lenses safe as you roam, it becomes a traveling photographer's best friend.

It will easily fit in the overhead bins of most major airlines and weighs 4.52 pounds. If you don't need the maximum amount of storage space that this bag provides (its overall dimensions are 29 x 22 x 33-inches), it can also be snapped and zipped down to 35L or 30L.

At 30L, the Travel Backpack could be used as a day pack, albeit a heavy one, as you explore your destination with a camera and a few basic necessities.

The pack's comfortable shoulder and sternum straps as well as its waist belt can be stowed away underneath magnetically-sealed flaps built into the bag's back panel. It’s a nice feature to have if your airline decides that the bag needs to be stored in your flight’s cargo hold—less possibility of straps getting caught in an airport luggage conveyor translates into a longer life for your bag.

The bag's main compartment is subdivided by a panel that can be zipped away to create one large storage area. The panel has two built-in pockets that offer zippered access from either side of the divider—a nice touch that allows you to tailor The Travel Backpack 45L to suit your packing needs. In the back of the main compartment, you'll find a padded laptop sleeve, along with a built-in pocket, sized for tablets 11 inches or smaller.

The bag's exterior hosts a microfiber cloth-lined pocket, ideal for storing items like your passport, sunglasses, and watch while you pass through airport security. A pair of large pockets flank both sides of the bag and are ideal for stashing a large water bottle or travel tripod. If you have the bag's hip belts deployed, you'll discover two pockets sewn into them that are well-sized for snacks or a few lens filters. I was surprised to find that there was a pair of straps hidden under a flap at the bottom of the bag, which can be used to lash a rain jacket, for example, to the exterior of the bag.

However, it's not perfect, especially when focusing on security. Peak Designs makes accessing this bag, while traveling, just a little too easy. I needed four travel locks to secure all the different zippered access points into the main compartment.

The other downside to this bag? Depending on the size of the camera cube you use, the Travel Backpack 45L may not have enough room to store all of the clothing and sundries needed for a longer trip.

Pros

  • Highly adaptable

  • Straps fold away

  • Ideal for photographers

Cons

  • Camera cubes sold separately

  • Difficult to secure contents.

Buy now at Amazon

$299.99 from Best Buy

$299.95 from Walmart
Product image of Tom Bihn Techonaut 45
Tom Bihn Techonaut 45
  • Size: 21.9 in. x 14 in. x 9.1 in.
  • Weight: 3 pounds
  • Material: Nylon
  • Top features: comfort, carry-on friendly

The Tom Bihn Technonaut 45 is an iteration of one of our favorite travel pieces of carry-on luggage, the Aeronaut 45. As its name suggests, the Technonaut is a 45-liter bag, designed to fit into the overhead bins of most major airlines.

This bag is built to perform, primarily, as a travel backpack. During testing, I found that its edgeless, 1/2-inch thick backpack straps were well made and comfortable to wear over a long distance while carrying a heavy load. Alternatively, in situations such as navigating airport security, or waiting to hand off the bag to be stored on a bus, the Technonaut can also be hauled around by its built-in duffle handle or, using a shoulder strap.

I found that its padded, ventilated back panel was comfortable and thick enough to keep any hard-sided items inside of the bag from poking me in the back. The back panel provides some structure to the bag, but not as much as I’d like. Adding an internal frame to the mix goes a long way towards correcting this issue. What’s more, the frame panel acts to protect the contents of the Aeronaut's laptop compartment, which can hold devices as large as a 16” MacBook Pro.

The Technonaut's main storage compartment is accessed via a large, suitcase-style U-shaped opening, equipped with water-resistant zippers. If you’re using packing cubes with the Technonaut, the U-shaped like makes it possible to locate what you’re looking for inside of the pack, without having to remove every last item before you find it. For those who prefer to forgo packing cubes, you’ll find compression straps inside of the main compartment to help you keep your clothing and other goods in place. The Technonaut's end pocket is well-sized for a pair of hiking running shoes. Quick access pockets, located on opposite sides of the exterior of the bag, provide space for stashing a passport and larger items such as a water bottle.

The only complaint that I can level at this travel pack is that it doesn’t come equipped with a smaller excursion bag to use as you explore the area surrounding your destination.

Pros

  • Comfortable

  • Easy access to main compartment

  • Multiple carry options

Cons

  • No excursion pack included

Buy now at Tom Bihn
Product image of GoRuck GR3
GoRuck GR3
  • Size: 20 in. x 12.8 in. x 7.5 in.
  • Weight: 4.3 to 5.15 pounds
  • Material: CORDURA®
  • Top features: water resistance, space

GoRuck makes Seamus’ favorite everyday carry rucksack, the GR1. So it's not surprising that he was excited to test their 45-liter travel backpack. The GR3 is made of the same, heavy-duty, water-resistant materials as the GR1, but boasts a large enough volume to carry everything a traveler might need for weeks or, if you wash your clothing frequently, even months of travel.

It boasts wide, padded shoulder straps as the company’s other rucksacks do, but also comes with a heavily padded hip belt designed to mitigate the weight of what you’re carrying. We were pleased to find that the hip belt was held in place with a generous amount of Velcro, making it possible to remove it for easier storage of the GR3 in a closet at home or in the overhead compartment of an airplane.

However, during testing, we found that while the hip belt helped to distribute the weight of the bag’s heft to Seamus’ hips, it quickly became uncomfortable. After an hour of wearing it, he discovered that the muscles in his lower back had been tweaked to the point that it took a long soak in a hot bath to unbind them.

Depending on your point of view, the inside of the GR3 will either make it the best travel pack you’ve ever used or one of the most disappointing. While it does boast a large mesh pocket and a built-in zippered pocket in the lid and at the top of the main compartment, respectively, the majority of the GR3’s internal space is a blank slate.

You’ll find a number of MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) attachment points and a back panel-wide swath of Velcro for attaching special-purpose pouches, like a first aid kit, or general use ones to help better organize your traveling life. Unfortunately, if you don’t already own a number of such pouches, like Seamus does, purchasing them will add to the GR3’s already substantial price. It is possible to use packing cubes with the backpack—GoRuck makes some good ones to fit the bag’s dimensions, exactly.

However, Seamus found that, unless the GR3 was packed to capacity, cubes made by other manufacturers such as Tom Bihn and Arc’teryx, tended to all slide to the bottom of the bag during transport, making for an unbalanced load that might well have been the cause of the pulled muscles he sustained during testing.

Despite our disappointment with this incredibly well-built backpack, it could be exactly the sort of travel backpack that someone who visits destinations where other backpacks might not survive is looking for.

Pros

  • heavily padded shoulder straps

  • incredibly tough construction

  • Main compartment can be customized

Cons

  • Uncomfortable to wear when fully loaded

  • Customization demands investment in pricey add-ons

$395.00 from GoRuck
Product image of Osprey Farpoint 40 Travel Backpack
Osprey Farpoint 40 Travel Backpack
  • Size: 21 in. x 14 in. x 9 in.
  • Weight: 3 pounds, 8 ounces
  • Material: Recycled Polyester
  • Top features: durability, comfort

Whether you’re hiking on vacation or rushing to catch a bus, this lightweight and durable Osprey Farpoint 40 pack is made to keep up with fast-pace travelers. It includes a mesh harness and hipbelt, as well as a torso adjustment feature. If comfort and speed is your priority, then this is the backpack for you.

Pros

  • Lightweight

  • Adjustable fit

  • Comfortable

Cons

  • None that we could find

$185.00 from Amazon
Product image of  Patagonia Black Hole MLC Bag
Patagonia Black Hole MLC Bag
  • Size: 22.8 in. x 8.6 in. x 14.5 in.
  • Weight: 3 pounds, 10.4 ounces
  • Material: Recycled Polyester
  • Top features: water resistance, space, carry-on friendly

Carry all of your belongings for a road trip, flight, or weekend away with this Patagonia Black Hole MLC Bag. At 45 liters, it passes most carry-on size requirements. The water-resistant and ripstop fabric makes this a durable bag that’ll last for years to come. You can easily store your tablet and other travel items in the spacious storage compartments.

Pros

  • Durable

  • Spacious

  • Water resistant

Cons

  • Expensive

Buy now at Patagonia
Product image of Cotopaxi Allpa 42L Travel Pack
Cotopaxi Allpa 42L Travel Pack
  • Size: 22 in. x 14 in. x 11 in.
  • Weight: 4 pounds, 2 ounces
  • Material: Ballistic Nylon
  • Top features: compartment space, packable

At first glance, the Cotopaxi Allpa 42L Travel Backpack appears to have its act together: It comes with a removable hip belt that’ll help to guarantee it won’t get caught up in the conveyor belt at an airport security checkpoint. It’s a feature we both appreciate. As for pockets and other organizational aids, the Allpa 42L is a neat freak’s dream. Inside of the pack, you’ll find two large, zippered mesh compartments and two sub pockets to keep your clothing, grooming goods, and other items easy to access.

The exterior of this travel bag is no slouch either, offering a laptop sleeve, a top zippered pocket to stow sunglasses, AirPods and other small items, sleeves for a tablet and one for a smartphone, and, finally, a number of lashing points where, with the help of a carabiner or a bit of twine, it’d be easy to attach a pair of sandals, wet rain gear or any number of other items to.

We really liked how easy it was to compress the Allpa 42L when it’s not in use: It can easily be folded up and placed into a drawer or the back of a closet to forget about until your next adventure.

All of this, however, couldn’t make up for how uncomfortable and hot the pack was to wear during testing. Part of what seemed to make it so uncomfortable for both of us to wear was unlike our main pick, the Allpa has a frame sheet that is only rigid over the wearer’s spine and comes with no internal frame.

This allows the contents of the pack to rest directly against your body, making for a sweaty, uncomfortable carry. We were also disappointed in how adjusting this backpack’s load lifters failed to make a noticeable difference to Allpa’s weight distribution or overall comfort.

Pros

  • Excellent interior organization

  • Removable hip belt

  • Stores flat when not in use

Cons

  • Uncomfortable

  • Poorly ventilated back panel

  • Load lifters don’t help weight distribution

Buy now at Amazon
Product image of Topo Designed Global Travel Bag
Topo Designed Global Travel Bag
  • Size: 20 in. x 12.5 in. x 7 in.
  • Weight: 2.6 pounds
  • Material: Recycled Nylon
  • Top features: packable, carry-on friendly

This Topo Designed Global Travel bag will make flying much more comfortable and convenient. Its 30-liter, carry-on size makes it easy to carry this bag onto a plane, while the suitcase attachment sleeve allows for hands-free travel. This bag can be carried three different ways to suit your favorite traveling style: with the shoulder strap, as a backpack, or grab handles. Plus, there are enough pockets to fit your carry-on essentials, such as a water bottle, and laptop.

Pros

  • Carry-on friendly

  • 3-way carry

  • Compact

Cons

  • None that we could find

Buy now at Amazon

How We Chose the Best Travel Backpacks

Our team of expert product reviewers chose the best backpacks for travel based on security, storage space, and comfort. Each travel backpack in this review is based on thorough market research and, in some cases, testing specific travel backpacks listed.

What You Should Know About Travel Backpacks

A person wearing a fully loaded Osprey travel backpack.
Credit: Reviewed /Séamus Bellamy

When fully loaded, the Osprey Ozone Duplex proved comfortable to wear.

Travel backpacks look suspiciously like hiking backpacks, such as the ones offered by popular brands like The North Face or Arc’teryx, on the outside: good ones come with the same load-bearing straps and are made from the same materials as a pack you’d feel comfortable bringing into the wilderness for a weekend trip camping. Inside, however, it’s an entirely different story. Set a travel pack down on its back, unzip its main compartment and it opens up like a suitcase, with all of the organizational aids that you’d expect to find inside of a piece of carry-on luggage. This combination of features makes them easy to pack and unpack, easy and comfortable to carry in a wide variety of situations.

What to Look for In a Travel Pack

When shopping for a travel backpack, here's what will make your life on the road a lot more comfortable:

  • A main, inner compartment that opens up flat, like a suitcase, to aid in packing and unpacking.
  • The inner compartment should boast at least one zippered pocket for organizing your clothes, toiletries and other sundries.
  • A main compartment with compression panels and straps to compress your cargo and keep it from shifting during transport is a bonus that allows the pack to be used with or without packing cubes.
  • An area that military types often call an "admin panel," which can store a laptop or tablet, pens, maps, tickets, passports, you name it. It's most helpful in the detachable part of a daypack, so you can carry valuables while leaving the cargo bag at their hotel.
  • Speaking of daypacks, travel backpacks that feature one are very handy.
  • A travel pack should come with an internal frame to help protect your belongings and keep your stuff from shifting around on your back while you travel.
  • A padded hip belt is a must: they’re designed to transfer the weight of your pack from your shoulders to your hips, helping to save you from discomfort and injury.
  • Whenever possible, load straps should be integrated into the pack’s shoulder straps to pull the pack closer to the back, transferring more of its weight to the hips.
  • Zippers that can be used with a TSA-compatible lock are essential for slowing down thieves and ensuring that none of your gear is lost while in transit. Some packs come with fabric loops for this purpose. You don’t want that. Metal zipper locks are where it’s at.
  • While there are few bags out there that are truly waterproof, you should at least look for one that's weather-resistant. Lacking that, invest in a rain cover to ensure the contents of your bag don't get soaked in a downpour.

Meet the testers

Séamus Bellamy

Séamus Bellamy

Senior Editor: Mobile Devices & Wearables

@@SeamusBellamy

Séamus Bellamy is a senior editor on Reviewed's Electronics Team. Before coming to Reviewed, his work was featured in The New York Times, The Globe & Mail, BBC World, Macworld and Maximum PC.

See all of Séamus Bellamy's reviews
Rebecca Boniface

Rebecca Boniface

Contributor

Rebecca Boniface is a certified PADI dive instructor, full-time nomad, and DIY enthusiast.

See all of Rebecca Boniface's reviews

Checking our work.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Shoot us an email

Up next