If you’re like us guitarists, you probably don’t want to leave your hobby at home. That’s why travel guitars are such a great invention – they allow us to keep practising and performing, even when we’re miles away from our main instrument. Looking for your own? We’ve put together a list of the best travel guitars to keep you playing on your travels.
The instruments on this list are designed to save space without compromising on playability. If you’re off on holiday with the family, planning a camping trip, or even want something to play in the van on the way to the next gig, this list covers a range of travel-friendly models at different price points. So, let’s dive in!
In a hurry?
Want to get playing right away? Here are the highlights!
| Furch Guitars Little Jane LJ10 CM Travel Guitar | The unique folding design makes it incredibly portable. | Check the current price |
| Hartwood Artiste Travel Acoustic Guitar, Natural Koa | A very affordable instrument that sounds much bigger than it is. | Check the current price |
| Hofner HCT Shorty Electric Guitar | It's an electric with a full-size neck and scale length, and just enough of a body to hold the hardware! | Check the current price |
Why have we chosen these guitars?
We’ve chosen guitars that feel and sound like real instruments. They’re guitars that we would be happy to play at home as well as on the road, and (in our opinion) that’s what makes a travel guitar great.
To avoid the need to carry an amp everywhere you go (something that isn’t ideal when you’re focused on portability!), we’ve looked mainly at acoustics and electro-acoustics. We did let one electric sneak into the list for you, though.
We’ve looked at budget options and more aspirational instruments, so there’s something for everyone. If you’re looking for a cheap travel companion you can sling in the back seat of the car, we’ve got you covered; if you want a high-end instrument that just happens to be travel-sized, we’ve got something for you. We know that ‘best’ is subjective, but we think we’ve covered a pretty good range for you in this round-up.
In no particular order, here are our picks for nine of the best travel guitars around.
The best travel guitars
1. Furch Little Jane LJ10-CM Travel Guitar
Key features
- Unique foldable design
- Locking machine heads
- Voiced soundboard
Pros
- One of the most portable travel guitars out there
- Premium solid wood construction offers professional-grade tone
- Excellent clarity and projection for its compact size
Cons
- Ingenuity comes with a higher price tag than many travel guitars
The Furch Little Jane LJ10-CM is a very clever design, with a completely removable neck. Seriously – you can remove the neck, pack the whole thing in the backpack-style gig bag that it comes with, and be on your way. When you want to play it, it’s very quick to reassemble, and it’s ready to go with only minimal tuning tweaks. We were genuinely surprised by how simple it was when we had a play with it.
It’s a serious guitar, boasting African mahogany back and sides paired with a solid Sitka spruce top. That’s a very popular pairing of woods for a good reason – it offers great tone. The Little Jane sounds rich and sweet, thanks to the excellent wood, quality construction, and Furch’s proprietary soundboard voicing process.
It’s also a very nice-looking instrument. The open-pore satin finish is elegant and simple, and the minimal detailing adds to the understated look. In other words, this is a really nice acoustic guitar that sounds and looks fantastic, and that just happens to be a very cleverly designed travel guitar. What’s not to like?
If we could get away with smuggling one of the guitars out of the office, this would probably be the one… and it’s almost small enough to try!
2. Hartwood Artiste Travel Acoustic Guitar
Key features
- Compact shape with forearm contour
- Reinforced X-bracing for strength
- Koa body
Pros
- The ergonomic design makes it a comfortable guitar to play
- Carefully chosen woods deliver a warm, balanced tone
- Attractive natural gloss finish and elegant detailing
Cons
- Smaller body limits volume compared to full-size acoustics
The Hartwood Artiste is a lovely little guitar that’s small enough to take travelling, and cheap enough not to make you panic when you do!
It’s designed to be a comfortable guitar to play, with a C-shaped mahogany neck that fits nicely in the hand. The chamfered armrest is a quality touch that you don’t often see in this price range, and it helps keep the Artiste comfortable no matter how long you spend playing it.
Solid koa has been used for the top, with layered koa back and sides, producing a rich, mellow tone with a warm midrange and smooth high end. It’s also absolutely lovely to look at, particularly when you combine it with a gentle sunburst finish. It’s an attractive guitar with a lovely voice.
If you’re looking for a travel guitar, you probably have a good idea of what you need from it. If practicality, affordability, and a great sound check your most important boxes, then the Hartwood Artiste travel acoustic might well be exactly what you’re looking for.
3. Hofner HCT Shorty Electric Guitar
Key features
- Full-sized neck with 24.7” scale length
- Wraparound bridge with adjustable saddles
- Single humbucker
Pros
- Compact body design makes it perfect for travel or practice on the go
- Full-scale neck provides an authentic electric feel and playability
- Hofner open humbucker delivers a clear, powerful tone
Cons
- You’re going to need an amplifier!
We couldn’t do a travel guitar list that ignored all the electric options, and the Hofner HCT Shorty is an extremely fun travel electric. It was first made in the 1980s before being reissued in the 2000s, with the aim of creating a full-scale travel guitar for electric players. It has a basswood body, a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard, and a single humbucker.
Because of the 24.7″ scale length, it feels immediately familiar to play, though the tiny body takes some getting used to. Thanks to that very small body, it’s also extremely light and portable – it’s a similar size to a cricket bat!
If you’re looking for a travel electric, this will do the job. You can add a headphone amp for silent practice sessions or take it to a gig as a backup for your main guitar – either way, the Shorty shines! It comes with a padded gig bag for safe travelling.
4. Cort Earth GO 3/4 Mini Dreadnought
Key features
- A range of onboard effects and functionality
- Built-in speaker and Bluetooth streaming
- 3/4-sized dreadnought body
Pros
- Small size is perfect for travel or younger players
- Built-in HyVibe smart system makes it incredibly versatile
- Solid spruce top delivers impressive projection and clarity
Cons
- Smaller body means less low-end depth than a full-size dreadnought
The Cort Earth GO 3/4 Mini Dreadnought uses the classic travel guitar formula of taking a dreadnought guitar and scaling it down. It’s portable, fun, and easy to play. As with the Little Jane, it uses a solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides for sweet, warm, woody tones that feel right. While it’s only a little guy, it retains a lot of the character of a full-sized acoustic.
What sets the Earth GO apart is its built-in HyVibe smart system. More than just an electro-acoustic, it offers onboard effects, including reverb, chorus, delay, tremolo, octaver, phaser, and even distortion! Not enough for you? There’s also a looper, a metronome, and – of course – a tuner. Best of all, it has an integral speaker packed inside the body, so you can play with the effects wherever you are!
There’s one last trick in the Earth GO’s toolbox: Bluetooth streaming. If you’re someone who likes to play to backing tracks, you can stream them from your device through the integrated speaker and play along. It’s a great tool for practice, busking, and more. Just don’t forget to pack batteries.
We really like the creativity that’s gone into designing this guitar, and the creativity that the onboard effects and tools can inspire in players. At less than £400, you get an awful lot of guitar for your money, complete with a gig bag, and it’s available in a natural finish or brown burst.
5. Gibson L-00 Standard
Key features
- Classic 1930s design
- Powerful preamp with discreet soundhole-mounted controls
- Comes with a hardshell case
Pros
- Traditional small-bodied design that’s been popular for a century!
- Exceptional craftsmanship and premium tonewoods
- Rich, balanced sound with vintage warmth and clarity
Cons
- It’s the most expensive guitar on our list!
The Gibson L-00 Standard is an iconic acoustic from one of the guitar world’s biggest names. The original L-00 has been a favourite since the 1930s, and this version has all the charm of the originals, as well as the kind of acoustic tone that made them legendary.
As with a lot of travel acoustics, the small body size makes it comfortable, particularly for smaller players. It still has excellent volume and projection, as well as a balanced tone. As you’d hope from Gibson, it’s a beautiful guitar, and one that might well become your main instrument even when you’re not travelling.
Again, Sitka spruce has been chosen for the top, thanks to the clarity, warmth, and brightness it offers, whether you’re picking or strumming. Mahogany back and sides add weight to the midrange, and the two woods together offer a beautifully rounded tone that works for any playing style.
When you need a little more volume, the L-00 Standard comes equipped with an LR Baggs VTC pickup that captures the acoustic sound of the instrument remarkably well. It’s a great gigging instrument as well as one that you can take on your travels, safe in the included hardshell case.
6. Martin LX1E Little Martin Electro Acoustic
Key features
- The smallest guitar in the Martin range
- Built-in Fishman Sonitone preamp
- High-pressure laminate (HPL) back and sides
Pros
- A compact, travel-friendly that sounds and feels like a proper Martin
- Solid Sitka spruce top with HPL back and sides delivers clarity and brightness
- Fishman Sonitone electronics make gigging easy
Cons
- Smaller body limits low-end response compared to full-size models
Martin is one of the acoustic guitar world’s most famous names, and the Little Martin proves that their reputation for wonderful tone doesn’t have to come in a large package. It’s more than just a travel guitar and has been extensively gigged by Ed Sheeran, among others. It’s a travel guitar that can handle stadium shows.
The Little Martin was designed to offer the authentic Martin feel and sound in a portable, lightweight format, and without a four-figure price tag. It’s a great tool for practice, songwriting, and performing.
It was also designed to be strong enough to deal with being taken wherever you go. It uses HPL, a very strong and durable material, for the back and sides. The top is Sitka spruce, so you can be confident that the guitar will ring out beautifully – even a small Martin can deliver a big, inspiring sound.
For gigging, the Little Martin comes with a Fishman Sonitone pickup system installed. This does a good job of replicating the acoustic sound of the guitar through a PA or amplifier, making it a versatile little guitar. It also comes with a padded gig bag to keep it safe on your travels.
7. Taylor GS Mini Mahogany Acoustic Guitar
Key features
- 7/8-sized body
- Mahogany top with sapele laminate back and sides
- Also available as an electro-acoustic
Pros
- Compact Grand Symphony body offers comfort and portability
- Solid mahogany top delivers warmth, balance, and clear midrange
- Exceptional build quality and long-term reliability
Cons
- Limited bass response compared to larger instruments
The Taylor GS Mini Mahogany acoustic guitar is proof that small guitars can deliver huge sound – it packs a punch! It’s been designed by the Taylor team to capture the feel and tone of a full-sized instrument in a travel-friendly format.
The guitar uses a scaled-down Grand Symphony body that’s comfortable to play and offers impressive projection and depth. Because it has a smaller body, it’s not going to sound quite like a top-end Taylor, but it still sounds and feels like a serious guitar.
It’s built with a tropical mahogany top and layered sapele back and sides, giving you a warm, rich tone with strong mids and a focused low end. The fretboard and bridge are both made of ebony, a nice premium touch.
The Taylor GS Mini comes with a gig bag, so you’re ready to get out on the road as soon as it arrives. Unlike a lot of the guitars on our list, it’s a purely acoustic guitar, though there is also the option of the Taylor GS Mini-e, which has a built-in pickup and tuner.
8. Yamaha APXT2 3/4 Electro-Acoustic
Key features
- 3/4-sized version of the APX body shape
- Cutaway for upper fret access
- System 68 pickup system installed
Pros
- Small body makes it an ideal travelling companion
- Yamaha’s own pickup system delivers clear, dynamic amplified sound
- Solid Yamaha reliability and playability
Cons
- Shorter scale length may take getting used to
The Yamaha APXT2 is based on Yamaha’s APX range, one of their leading acoustic ranges that’s been around since the ‘80s. This 3/4 sized version makes the popular design available to guitarists on the go. While “based on an ‘80s design” may not always be a good thing, in this case it really is.
A spruce top and meranti back and sides result in a bright and balanced sound that responds beautifully to playing dynamics. It uses nato for the neck and rosewood for the fingerboard, and the build quality is as high as you’d expect from Yamaha.
For gigging, the APXT2 has a built-in System 68 ART pickup that captures the sound and sends it to a PA without changing it too much.
Yamaha are known for making quality instruments at excellent prices, and the APXT2 lives up to that reputation. It’s a nice-looking and sounding guitar that’s built to be taken with you, no matter where you’re going. The included gig bag will help to keep it safe on your travels.
9. Tanglewood TWCR T Crossroads Travel Acoustic
Key features
- Travel-sized dreadnought design
- Full 25” scale length
- Spruce top with mahogany back and sides
Pros
- Extremely affordable travel guitar
- Warm, rich tone with strong projection
- Attractive Whisky Burst finish with vintage styling
Cons
- No onboard electronics for amplified performance
The TWCR T Crossroads is the least expensive guitar in this list, making it an excellent guitar for musicians on a budget. Don’t let the price tag fool you into thinking that it’s not a decent guitar, though!
It’s been designed to capture the spirit of early blues and folk guitars in a more compact size. The small dreadnought-shaped body is comfortable to play, and the whisky burst finish looks the part.
The back and sides are mahogany, paired with a spruce top for a warm, woody tone with a balanced midrange and strong projection. Given the size of the guitar, it’s surprisingly loud and responds well to fingerpicking and strumming.
Unlike many of the guitars on this list, there’s no pickup installed, so it’s purely acoustic. That limits your ability to gig the guitar but keeps it as simple as possible when you’re travelling with it. If you have no desire to plug your travel guitar into a PA or amp, then it’s worth checking out.
How to choose the best travel guitar for you
Bringing a guitar on your travels is a lovely idea, but finding the right one takes a bit of thought. The first step is deciding whether you’d prefer an acoustic or an electric model. Acoustics are self-contained, but electrics are often more compact and quiet enough for late-night practice with headphones.
Next, consider the materials. Solid wood offers a richer tone but can be sensitive to humidity and temperature changes; laminate options are generally more robust and better suited to life on the road. If you’re travelling far or often, something durable like high-pressure laminate could be worth exploring.
Scale length plays a part in comfort and tone. Shorter scales are often easier on the hands and make the guitar more portable. They can feel a little odd, however, if you’re used to playing an instrument with a standard scale length.
Think about your budget, too. There are decent travel guitars available at most price points. Some have been designed purely as travel guitars, while others are smaller-scale versions of full-sized models.
Ultimately, it all comes down to how you want to use your guitar.
Travel guitars vs. full-sized guitars
All travel guitars have one key thing in common: they need to be portable. This often means scaled-down bodies, shorter necks, and lightweight materials. Some designs even use removable necks or folding components. These modifications make them far easier to transport than full-sized models.
In terms of playability, many travel guitars feel similar to their full-sized counterparts, especially when the scale length and string spacing are well thought out. However, the reduced size can affect how the instrument sits against your body, which may take some getting used to. If you have small hands or want a more relaxed, casual playing feel, these compact models can be especially appealing.
When it comes to the sound of your guitar, size is less of a factor for electrics. It can make a big difference to acoustics, though.
Tone and projection are areas where you’ll notice the biggest difference between travel guitars and their bigger brothers. Travel guitars typically offer less volume and a thinner tonal range compared to standard-sized acoustics.
So, while a travel-sized acoustic won’t fully replicate the tonal depth or volume of a full-sized instrument, it’s a practical option that keeps you playing when you’re travelling. If staying in practice while on the move is your priority, the compromises are often well worth it.
FAQs
What is the best travel guitar?
The best travel guitar is subjective and depends on your preferences, but the Furch Little Jane is one of the most popular, thanks to its innovative collapsible neck design. The Taylor GS Mini and Martin LX1E are also among the most popular acoustic travel guitars.
Is a travel guitar worth it?
Yes, a travel guitar is worth having. They’re designed to be portable and easy to take on the road, but their small size also makes them a good choice for children and guitarists with smaller hands. With many big names making travel guitars, there are some excellent options available.
What travel guitar does Ed Sheeran use?
Ed Sheeran regularly uses a 3/4 size Martin LX1E travel guitar, usually his signature model. It offers the legendary Martin build quality and sound in a small, portable format that’s practical, lightweight, and convenient. He’s a big advocate of travel guitars.
It’s time to get on the road!
So, there you have it – our vote for the best travel guitars around. There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to guitars, especially with travel models, but each of the options we’ve discussed above is worth considering. From the exceptional portability of the Furch Little Jane to the surprisingly punchy electric sound offered by the Hofner Shorty, there’s something for everyone.
All of them are solid choices depending on what matters most to you. Focus on your priorities, test what you can, and go with what fits your playing style and travel habits best. Whatever you choose, enjoy the journey!
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