The 8 Best Travel Backpacks of 2024: Staff Picks

Impressive organizational features and packing prowess earn the best-selling Allpa 35 L Travel Pack from Cotopaxi rave reviews from REI Co-op members and staff alike. The pack sports a suitcase-style, 270-degree zipper that opens like a clamshell and provides effortless access to every nook and cranny. We’re not sure if Cotopaxi hired David Blaine to architect this pack, because it’s nothing short of magic how much you can fit into this 35-liter workhorse.

“The Cotopaxi Allpa's thoughtful compartmentalization makes the pack useful in many different scenarios where capacity and quick access are key,” said Matthew Eckberg, an REI architectural project manager who uses the bag both on trips for work and with family—in which the need to find snacks quickly for the kids is paramount. The right side of the pack features a large mesh compartment that’s primed for packing clothes, and it can be conveniently accessed via an external side zipper, too. The left is subdivided into three mesh compartments (two small, one medium), allowing travelers to customize pack jobs, organize easy-to-lose gear or even isolate dirty clothes.

“My Cotopaxi Allpa 35 is the pack I grab for any weekend getaway,” said Emily Schrick, REI senior operations specialist. “The dividers in the pack are perfect for organizing clothes without needing extra packing cubes, and the zippered top-front compartment is perfect for stowing a toiletry bag,” (or quick-grab items such as your passport, headphones or sunglasses, we’d add). “I love that there's a separate padded compartment for my laptop” that’s accessible via the side panel, Schrick adds.

Assuming you max out the Allpa’s impressive capacity, there’s no need to sweat. A combo of precisely curved shoulder straps, removable cushioned hip belt and mesh back paneling ensure comfy carrying. (Or consider the larger Allpa 42 L pack if you need more room or the smaller Allpa 28 L Travel Pack if you need less.) Scuffing and tearing are no concern either, as Cotopaxi crafted the pack from an ultra-durable combo of coated 1,000-denier polyester and 840-denier ballistic nylon. (Translation: It can handle being tossed around.)

While these are the main reasons that we love the Allpa, several additional travel-friendly details solidify this travel bag's pedigree. You can tuck away all straps and rely on the four built-in grab handles for snag-free transport—a boon when navigating security lines or hopping in a taxi. Plus, the zippers sport theft-proof webbing, and an undercover rain cover comes stashed in a secret compartment. Buy here.

For adventurers who want a durable, versatile travel backpack that doubles as a high-quality camera bag, look no further than the Travel Pack 45L from Peak Design. This sleek bag is our choice for intrepid explorers and digital nomads due to the brand's compatible line of camera cubes and accessories such as the Capture Camera Clip, a carrying device that launched the company in 2010. These accessories are sold separately, but gear geeks can customize this already-stellar pack and turn it into a dream travel companion.

But we recommend the Travel Pack even for travelers who don't tote a lot of camera gear. First off, we love the sleek lines of this travel bag—hallmarks of the brand's smart design ethos and aesthetic. More importantly, we appreciate the weatherproof, 100% recycled 400-denier nylon canvas shell that doesn’t show stains and scuffs, and is tough enough to withstand the rigors of travel.

That said, our favorite aspect of the Travel Pack is its customizable volume system. The standard configuration is a 35-liter backpack, which meets most airline carry-on regulations. But let’s say you want a lower-profile option to stash the Travel Pack under the seat in front of you, or you’re going out for a day hike. No problem. It converts into a slimmer, 30-liter daypack with the help of easy-to-use compression snaps located on the upper paneling. Planning a longer adventure? The side panels unzip and expand, turning the pack into a 45-liter gear hauler.

No matter which configuration you roll with, Peak Design makes sure that the contents of your pack are never out of reach. The Travel Pack has access points at the top, front, rear and sides, each of which is protected by secure, anti-theft zippers. “You can lash large and awkward items to the outside with hidden lash straps. You can get into the bag from every angle, and you can also lock down the bag to make sure it is secure,” raves one customer-reviewer. Grab handles at every turn make it easy to toss the pack in taxi trunks or overhead bins.

If you love to stay organized on the road, the Travel Pack has more pockets, pouches and compartments than a fly fisherman’s vest. Among them? Padded laptop and tablet sleeves, expandable water bottle (or tripod) side pockets, secret side pockets (perfect for stashing passports, cash and cards), a microfiber-lined top-accessed pocket for sunglasses and interior mesh pockets for further organization. A final note though: This pack is the heaviest one in our lineup, so factor that in if you're already planning on pushing bag weight limits. Buy here.

Shoulder a fully loaded Farpoint or Fairview travel pack from Osprey, and the brand’s backpacking DNA is instantly apparent. Both packs are built on a lightweight yet capable four-millimeter wire frame, which is bridged by a stout foam frame sheet. This combo efficiently shifts the load to a comfortable, supportive hip belt. Along with the harness, the hip belt is crafted from breathable mesh that can be stowed for headache-free air travel.

Factor in the mesh-lined, sweat-wicking AirScape back panel—a feature you’ll find in many of the outfitter’s backpacking packs—and the Farpoint and Fairview are go-to picks for travelers who value comfort on extended trips of a week or longer. Take it from seasoned traveler Matthew Trinkle, assistant category merchant for travel gear at REI. “It’s the most comfortable non-backpacking pack that I have,” says Trinkle. “The harness fits really well, and the overall design is just phenomenal.”

While the Farpoint and Fairview clearly take after their backpacking brethren in the fit and comfort departments, Trinkle points out that the features will speak to international travelers more than thru-hikers. In addition to the stowable harness and hip belts, the Osprey packs sport a ton of travel-friendly features, including a capacious main compartment guarded by lockable zippers, with internal compression straps and multiple mesh pockets for organization while on the go.

Heather Young, senior manager of product copy at REI, routinely steals her husband’s Osprey, taking it on trips across the country and overseas, including New York, the Netherlands and Germany. Young particularly likes the zip-off daypack. “It’s the perfect size to use as a carry-on; it stows under a coach airplane seat and still leaves room for your feet!” Young says. “The little satellite is more heavily featured than some detachable packs (breathable mesh on back!) and ideal if you plan to do day hikes at your destination and want something more than a glorified string pouch.” Buy here.

Love the concept but want to tweak the capacity or add wheels? Osprey also offers 36-, 40- and 70-liter versions of both the Farpoint and Fairview as well as wheeled travel packs in the 36- and 65-liter versions.

The Black Hole line from Patagonia now includes everything from hip packs and packing cubes to backpacks and rollers. But it first became famous among gear lovers two decades ago when the pioneering outfitter released a TPU-coated, water-resistant duffel. Thanks to the thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) coating, the game-changing duffel became burly enough for expedition use. The bag was also remarkably cavernous—hence its “black hole” moniker.

Following the footsteps of the Black Hole duffels, the MLC, short for “maximum legal carry-on,” is crafted from a TPU-laminated, 300-denier post-consumer recycled polyester. Not only can this material handle getting crammed into overhead bins and buried in packed taxi trunks, it’s water-resistant, too. If you find yourself waiting for a bus in the rain, traveling by jet boat or hiking through a misty rainforest, the MLC is the pack for the job.

Unlike gear-swallowing duffels, the MLC is completely compartmentalized, offering travelers next-level organization. The 45-liter duffel has a clamshell-style zip, which gives way to a deep, spacious main compartment on one side and two shallower mesh organization pockets on the other. A secondary compartment with laptop sleeves and multiple organization pockets is located next to the padded back panel, protecting electronics and valuables in transit.

We like that Patagonia outfitted the travel pack with three carry options. There’s backpack mode, boosted by a breathable mesh harness and a padded hip belt. Next, the padded hip belt converts to a comfortable shoulder strap to make it a shoulder bag. Finally, you can tuck away the straps and rely instead on one of three handles.

Aptly named, the Maximum Legal Carry-on gives savvy travelers maximum packing volume, plus critical organizational possibilities and protection from precipitation. That said, a fully loaded pack may be over the carry-on weight limit for certain flights or airlines, so it’s always worth double-checking before you hit the road. Buy here.

If Instagram posts of picture-perfect pack jobs make you salivate, prepare to drool over the SEG45 Travel Pack from Matador. This pack-slash-duffel renders packing cubes redundant thanks to a segmented design (hence the “SEG” designation). Essentially, Matador equipped the pack with five front pockets that are stacked like a set of drawers. Each pocket is accessed via a single waterproof zipper, allowing travelers to efficiently organize garb, gear and gadgets on the go.

Behind that panel of segmented pockets, the Matador houses a roomy main compartment. It can be used to pack larger items such as shoes or bulkier outdoor apparel. “The most genius part is the under-section where you can stow your dirty clothes or shoes away from clean ones. As you fill the bottom up, you’re naturally trading that space from the top,” says one customer-reviewer. “This is my new long-term travel bag.”

While the overall storage schematics are what make this pack a solid pick for impassioned organizers, other details are similarly well-designed. Travelers will dig the slick, side-accessed laptop pocket, as well as a zippered water bottle pocket that eliminates chances of dropped or lost Nalgenes. As for carry options, the Matador can be a backpack when needed, then can transform into a duffel when its harness and shoulder straps are stashed. At 45 liters, the pack abides by most (but not all) airline carry-on restrictions.

Matador crafted the pack from a coated 420-denier waterproof nylon, with reinforced ripstop in high-friction zones. Not only is this fabric durable and weather-resistant, but it’s also remarkably lightweight, making the SEG45 the only pack in this guide that weighs under three pounds. Buy here.

Digital nomads, this one’s for you. Thanks to a subtle yet striking profile, tech-friendly feature set and supportive harness, the Aion Travel Pack 40 L from Thule is ready for everything from daily commutes and business trips to international adventures.

Our staffers think the Aion’s organizational features are on point. A discrete zippered top pocket is ideal for caching your passport. The large outer pocket is a bona fide organization station, with slots, sleeves, mesh pockets and padded compartments for laptops up to 16 inches and tablets up to 12.9 inches. Unzip the surprisingly spacious main compartment and you’ll find a couple of handy internal zippered pockets as well as compression straps to keep clothes from visiting the wrinkle factory in transit. "It has everything I want and still packs neatly away under the seat," notes one customer-reviewer.

One smart feature is the Aion’s removable, translucent, rolltop pouch. Crafted from tough yet easy-to-clean TPU material, the pouch is a smart stash spot for things like stinky socks or leak-prone sunblock. When it’s time to log off and opt outside, the water bottle pocket on the left hip pocket allows for quick hydration breaks while the recycled, bluesign®-approved, waxed P600 canvas fabric adds durability.

Lastly, the padded backpack straps are well-cushioned and ergonomically shaped. A sternum strap keeps the pack from overt bouncing. Note that the Aion doesn’t come with a hip belt, though. If that’s a nonstarter for you, you can always snag an aftermarket Aion Sling Bag. The fanny pack-style pouch can slip beneath the Aion Travel Pack’s back panel and function as a hip belt. Buy here.

While most of the travel packs on this list hover around $200 or above, the Base Camp Voyager Travel Pack from The North Face is the only one on our list that dips below that price point. However, you wouldn’t know it in a blind travel test. Indeed, the Camp Voyager goes toe-to-toe with pricier packs thanks to well-designed organizational elements, durable materials and a low-profile aesthetic that international travelers appreciate.

The main attraction of this travel pack is the main compartment. A 270-degree zipper provides easy access, and a nifty, adjustable horizontal divider partitions the space in two. If you’re tossing your running shoes in your pack, separating dirty clothes from clean ones or otherwise organizing your long-weekend wardrobe, the divider will come in handy. That said, if you do want a more traditional, max-volume main compartment, the divider folds up, converting into a practical pocket and providing unhindered access to the entirety of the space.

The Camp Voyager’s two stacked, front-loading zippered pockets provide travelers with simple on-the-fly organization. The bottom pocket is lined with fleece to protect sunglasses or electronics. Meanwhile, the top pocket is decked out with sleeves and slots to compartmentalize everything from passports to pens. Factor in two lateral water bottle holders and a plush, fleece-wrapped laptop pocket, and we found ample organization and zero over-complication.

Still, this pack lacks a hipbelt, which many other packs in our lineup have; and one customer-reviewer found the shoulder straps not as comfortable when the pack was overloaded. For longer layovers and terminal-to-terminal marathons, however, The North Face added a nifty luggage pass-through slot, allowing travelers to pop the pack atop roller bags. Another welcome feature for frequent flyers: the three haul handles, which make yanking the pack out of overhead bins a breeze.

Our travel team also gives the Camp Voyager kudos on the fabric front. The 300-denier recycled polyester tarpaulin is coated in a tough, TPU laminate, resulting in weatherproof, anti-abrasion armor that protects your belongings from the wear and tear of travel. Buy here.

The Gregory Zulu 45 L (men’s) and Jade 43 L (women’s) are the only backpacks in this guide that aren’t “travel packs” per se. These are backpacking packs. What’s the difference? Well, the features on these packs are more suited to the trail—they have sleeves for hydration bladders and no dedicated laptop compartments. Since backpackers spend more time on their feet than other travelers, the harness and suspension system are also more comfortable and breathable than the other travel packs in this guide. We included these packs because for certain travelers, such as Macchu Picchu trekkers or hostel-hopping Euro trippers, for whom the comfort of a backpacking pack outweighs the next-level organization of a travel pack.

In the case of the Zulu and Jade, comfort stems from the padded harness and well-ventilated, ergonomically designed FreeFloat suspension system. The back panel is suspended between the frame, generating airflow—which makes for a much more pleasant day, whether hiking in the heat or hoofing it to the train station. A four-millimeter steel frame buttressed by a fiberglass cross-stay shift weight to a state-of-the-art hip belt. The torso is also adjustable for a better fit.

While we prefer travel packs for travel-specific organization, the Zulu and Jade are no slouches when it comes to smart storage. Though not as easy to use as other suitcase-style packs in this lineup, the front U-zip opening allows easier access to your clothes than other top-loading backpacks. And many of the features are designed to help backpackers stay organized, including hip belt pockets. The easily accessed top pocket hides a secure interior zip pocket that’s ideal for stashing cash, keys and other valuables. The stretchy side water bottle pockets and larger front pocket come in handy frequently too, whether you’re picking up souvenirs abroad or shopping for groceries en route to your accommodations.Lastly, the Zulu and Jade are among the tougher packs in this round-up. Gregory went with a 400-denier, partially recycled ripstop polyester that can withstand friction with basalt and brambles alike, so most travel will be a relative cakewalk. Buy here and here.