I always bring a microfiber towel- small and dries quick. If you find you really want a “real” towel, they are easy to buy once you are there.

I think it’d definitely a good idea. Try to find a really thin/cheap towel though as it will be plenty and will be lighter and dry faster (I hate the squeegee type though). You can strap it to the outside of your pack and it will dry in no time. I don’t think most hostels offer towels at all.

I think its a good idea too.  It beats trying to dry yourself off from a shower on a dirty shirt.

ok thanks for the help,  I have like a small (3×4) towel that i can bring.  And i can just strap it to the outside like you said.

In ragard to a towel I think that Douglas Adams said it best.

“The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels.
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value – you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you – daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”

I never go on a trip with out my towel.  A good towel has so many uses that it seems crazy to me not to have one.

I have one of the quick drying fiber towels.  There great, but just make sure to buy a good one.  Don’t buy the cheapest one you can find.  If you spend a little more, it’s really worth it.

how much and where can i find said towel?

Yeah, does anyone have specific recommendations on good micro-fiber or otherwise small and easily packable and dryable towels?

Sorry for long link.  This is the one that I have.

ttp://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442501157&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302539675&bmUID=1176746627558

hum 25 bucks, im already in a tight budget since im in college, i think ill just use the normal towel i have.  Thanks for the help though!

Yeah, my friend opted for the cheaper version from MEC and no joke, it’s as close to sandpaper as you’ll get.

I have a theory that before Hostelworld became such a big thing, many fewer hostels in Europe offered towels. But now it seems like many more do than several years ago, possibly because it’s listed so clearly on the web site so you can see if towels are offered. I prefer to rent towels, and get a fresh one every time, but having one along for places where that’s not possible is a good idea.

You know, people always talk about bring a towel, but I NEVER have and I have NEVER needed one. Hostels almost always give you one with your linens or you can get one by paying a small deposit fee (that you get back). I’m really big on packing light and I’ve never bothered to waste the space with a towel.

The MEC one is worth the money. I have never been a fan of using rented towels, [:’(] but that is just a personal issue. The nice thing about the microfiber towel is that you won’t have to let it hang off the back of your pack (and get dirty in the meantime) for long because it dries so fast. It also takes up very little room. Plus, it’ll last forever, I had to finally replace mine only because I left my other one in a hostel. Is your birthday anytime soon? I always have my trip planned before my birthday so my presents are usually travel related. 

I used one of the yellow travel towels from Walmart for like 4 bucks…. worked like a charm, and I still used it for a couple months after I got back since I was so used to it. This cheesemo one was good, so I can imagine the expensive ones are near perfect. With mine, you can dry off just like you would with a regular towel, then just shake the thing to get the little bit of liquid off (and i mean LITTLE bit) and its completely dry in like 5 mins. You can’t even wring water out of it because it doesn’t absorb any; hence why it dries so quickly.

ive seen that cheap towel, seems small though somehting like 18 inches wide?  Plus shouldnt it actually absorb water, so that it drys?
 

I got my towel over 2 years ago, and it still works like a charm.  I’m taking it to Europe again this summer.

 
Hehe, I don’t question the science, man, I just know what works []

 
 
 

 
I used the same one, I found it got me almost completely dry, not quite as good as a regular towel, but then it saves a lot more weight and space (and dries really fast too).   
 
Pros of a regular towel: makes a good pillow when dry- whether its on a plane, train, or in the hostel.  Most hostel pillows SUCK!

I got this one before my last trip and it was wonderful! It was better for drying than most normal towels, took up very little space, and dried really quickly. It’s really soft and not rubbery, like some others have experienced.

definitely bring a towel. its something i have been negligent about many times and every time i regretted it. Probably the item i missed the most in all my travels