The most important thing to remember when choosing the best gifts for travellers is this.

We love stuff that is useful to our travels, compact, durable and most importantly, reasonably light to carry.

Here’s a list of some of our favourite things that we use on the road. These best gifts for travellers are ideal for anyone who frequently travels, lives on the road or is simply planning a new holiday or adventure.

20 Best Gifts for Travellers

1. Lonely Planet (Travel Guide)

We use Lonely Planet Travel Guides to help us plan most trips.

They’re easy to use, and we find the information really useful. This is always an awesome present to receive when planning on exploring a new destination.

2. Lonely Planet Phrasebook & Dictionary

Why not throw in a language phrase book. There’s nothing better than chatting with the locals to better understand their culture.

3. Frank Green SmartCup – Reusable & Eco-friendly

This one is for all the coffee lovers out there! We love our coffee and we care about this environment too. This will suit all the tea drinkers too!

This Frank Green smart cup ticks all the boxes. It has a clever pop-down lid, so makes travelling a dream.

4. Hanging Toiletry Bag

Travellers love a hanging toiletry bag! Seriously, it’s not cool when there is no hooks to hang your standard toiletry bag.

At least you can hook this one over any door or ledge to save it from getting soaked.

5. MiniPresso GR Espresso Maker

Can you tell we’re huge coffee fans? We own one of these and it’s our favourite travel accessory. Your coffee-loving friend will love you if you surprise them with this little baby!

6. Packing Cubes

These are awesome! It’s sometimes tough to fit your whole life into one backpack, however, these packing cubes make life so much easier.

7. Universal Worldwide Travel Adapter

Covers more than 150 countries. You can charge your phone and other gadgets at the same time with the handy USB ports on the side.

This universal travel adapter is one of the most essential gifts for travellers.

8. Belkin Portable Power Bank

These days, travellers seem to have many electronics that require frequent charging. This power bank is awesome! It’s got a long lasting battery and can fully charge up to 5 Smartphones in one go! We even charge our laptops with it when we need a little extra juice.

Any person who travels appreciates this Belkin Portable Power Bank as one of the best gifts for travellers.

9. Scratch Map of the World

It’s pretty cool when you can scratch off the countries you’ve travelled to and plan for all the ones you haven’t yet seen. We think this is a great present for a loved one too, that way they can track where you are in the world.

The best gifts for travellers are the ones that are useful or create fantastic memories of travel. We love our World scratch map and think this is one of the best gifts for travellers.

10. Kindle Paperwhite E-reader

For all travellers, keeping your backpack as light as possible is the aim of the game. As much as we love to hold and read a real book, they can be heavy. Sometimes it’s really tough in certain countries to find books written in English too. Kindles are the best!

They can store a ridiculous amount of books, they’re lightweight, you can download a book in your own language and the battery life is fantastic. Kindle E-Readers are easily one of the best gifts for travellers.

11. 1TB San Disk External Hard-Drive

Travellers take lots of photos & videos on the road, and having enough storage is important to us. We’ve got a couple of these guys each and we guard them with our lives because most of our travelling memories and important information is stored and backed-up on these compact drives.

The best part about these 1TB San Disk Hard Drives is that they’re tiny and super light.

12. Moleskine Classic Notebook

I always travel with a notebook. These moleskin notebooks are my favourite because they are light and handy to note any new ideas, and important travel info about a fantastic travel experience.

13. Camera Tripod

This tripod is fantastic, especially handy for solo travellers to capture amazing photos.

If your friend is a keen photographer, this is one of the best gifts for travellers – they’ll love it.

14. Bose Portable Bluetooth Speaker

We love music and we love to spend time by the beach or lazing by a pool.

This Bose Micro speaker is perfect because it’s waterproof and it has a great sound to listen to all your fave tunes. Just connect it with Bluetooth from any of your devices and relax.

15. GoPro HERO9 Black

We record heaps of footage on our Go-Pro. What we love most about it is that it takes incredibly clear video, it fits into your pocket when you’re out and about and the battery life is fantastic.

In addition to our Go-Pro Hero, we also use the Go Pro Karma grip to take great footage on our travels. The Karma grip is a stabiliser, which enables much smoother footage, therefore reduces shaky videos.  We absolutely love it, one of our best travel accessories for sure.

16. Apple AirPods

We recently upgraded to these from the standard travel headphones (with a cord), and they’re great!

These gifts for travellers are  perfect for everyone, but travellers will especially love how small these wireless earbuds are to carry.

17. Silk Liner Sleeping Sheet

This is great when you’re travelling in warm countries or when you’re sometimes forced to sleep in questionable bedding that’s been provided to you. It happens. It’s also really handy for an overnight bus or train journey to keep you snug.

This silk liner also extends the life of your sleeping bag by keeping it clean. It’s lightweight, super compact, washable & colourfast. I always travel with mine, I love it.

18. Microfibre Travel Towel

This ultra-absorbent travel microfibre towel is perfect for travel. It dries up to 4 times faster than a regular towel and packs into a small waterproof bag.

Lightweight and essential for travellers on the move! 

19. Travel Gear Organiser 

Perfect for travellers who have to carry lots of electronic equipment and accessories. When rolled up, this easily tucks in your backpack.

Great for saving space and keeping you organised.

20. Durable Sunglasses Case

It’s the worst when you smash a good pair of sunglasses. Never again with this durable sunglasses case, these really are the best gifts for travellers.

So there you go, our hand-picked list of the best gifts for travellers and backpackers. Show your favourite traveller some love and surprise them with a gift they will love.

More Travel Tips

We have so many tips to help you travel more!

These 21 cheapest countries to visit will help you stretch your hard-earned dollars further.

Read our top 6 travel hacks to save money and the 20 best travel apps to make travel easier! 

For food lovers, don’t miss our top 10 best countries for foodies. And, if history is your thing, these 30 amazing historical places worldwide will fascinate you!

We have many tips to save money for travel and consider these 20 jobs that PAY YOU to travel the world to help you travel longer.

If you become a trusted housesitter, you can also get FREE accommodation worldwide. Read more about how this works.

Check out our ultimate packing list for travellers, and remember to pack travel insurance! We recommend these two travel insurance companies for excellent coverage.

Our 12 essential tips for safe travel in any country are worth a read. 

You’ll need to stay connected while travelling the world. We recommend eSIM. It’s easy, reliable and affordable. View eSIMs for individual countries, or consider a Global eSIM if you travel to multiple countries or regions. This eSIM connects you in 124 countries, offering data-only eSIM and data/call/text eSIM.

The Global eSIM has been a game-changer; we couldn’t imagine travelling without it now.

If you want to travel with like-minded travellers, consider joining a group tour. Get the best deals on worldwide group tours with Tourradar.

Finally, check out our travel resources page for the best websites, tools and products we use to travel the world.

View the travel gear we use on the road, and don’t miss our best-ever travel tips compiled from more than twenty years of experience.