Great Travel Yoga Mats
How portable mats from Manduka, Gaiam, Jade, and Liforme stacked up
When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.
Your favorite yoga studio might provide you a mat in-house, but there are advantages to bringing your own anyway. The quality, grippy-ness, and cleanliness of a shared studio mat are not guaranteed. A travel yoga mat, on the other hand, you can keep clean at home; and you can also purchase one you know is of good quality.
A travel yoga mat is generally thinner and designed to be easier to carry than a traditional yoga mat. That’s helpful if you’re toting it to your studio or even packing it up for a weekend away. The four travel models that we tested in our labs at CR weigh between 2 and 5 pounds—less, for the most part, than other types of mats.
The main drawback of a travel yoga mat is that it doesn’t provide as much cushioning as a standard mat, notes Bernie Deitrick, who led CR’s testing of yoga mats. Still, you can help alleviate the lack of cushioning if you need to by layering a travel yoga mat over a studio mat, which should provide some extra padding.
Along with testing how much cushioning they provide, we checked yoga mats for how quickly they dry (a quick-drying mat could also be advantageous if you’re taking it with you to a hot yoga class, or if you simply happen to sweat a lot during your practice), how strongly the top of the mat grips your hands and feet, and how strongly the bottom of the mat grips the floor.
Here are our quick takes on four popular travel yoga mats. You can also view our full ratings and reviews of 19 different yoga mats.
Jade Travel Mat
CR’s take: This mat dries quickly and has an excellent grip on the floor. Its top surface also offers excellent grip. It has only a fair amount of cushioning.
Manduka Eko Superlite Travel Yoga Mat
CR’s take: This mat dries quickly and has an excellent grip on the floor. Its dry top surface also offers excellent grip. It has minimal cushioning.
Liforme Travel Mat
CR’s take: This mat is slow to dry. It has a very good grip on the floor, and its dry top surface offers very good grip, too. It has only a fair amount of cushioning. It comes with a zippered carrying bag. This mat’s surface has markings that are meant to guide hand and foot placement for yoga poses, though these might not work for all body sizes.
Gaiam Foldable Yoga Mat
CR’s take: This mat dries quickly but offers minimal cushioning. It offers only a fair amount of grip on the floor and on its dry top surface. Instead of rolling up, it folds into a 10x12-inch rectangle.
