11 brands to shop for the best beach towels

I don't know if I've ever bought a beach towel, yet I'm in possession of a considerable stack. They seem to be the kind of essential that's accumulated through Christmas gifts and birthday presents. However, if I was to go shopping for the perfect towel, it would be long enough and wide enough to for a friend and I to splay out on. It would dry quickly but still feel weighty. Most importantly, it would be selected from the following 10 brands. Tried-and-tested, these labels create the best beach towels, built to be loved and thrashed for years to come. From Baina to Hommey, find our favourites below.

What type of towel is best for the beach?

Ultimately, this can be chalked up to preference, but there are a few schools of thought on what makes the best beach towel. Unless you want to be carting around a heavy, soggy towel – which, if you're catching public transport is an absolute punish – most people prefer a lightweight towel for the beach. For this reason, it's important to pay attention to material. Turkish cotton offers the thinnest profile, however they can be plush too if that's more your speed. They're also absorbent but fast-drying, which is essential.

You can also try a polyester microfibre towel, which work particularly well for their compact, lightweight form. However, these are a little less luxurious, and are mostly used by people for working out, camping or any form of rigorous exercise as you don't need to be precious with them.

The best beach towels are robust, colour-fast, can withstand sand and salt water, and spacious so you can stretch out comfortably.

What is the difference between a beach towel and bath towel?

As a rule of thumb beach towels tend to be larger by around 30cms and are built to be more resilient to the elements.

Given that bath towels are not expected to come into contact with things like sand, they tend to be more sumptuous, thick and available in lighter colours. They're also more absorbent. On the other hand, beach towels come in bright, patterned colourways, to blend in with your (hopefully) sunny disposition, but also so you can spot it in a crowd or from the water.