Essentials · Luggage storage
Luggage storage
Pick your situation, find the spot
Station lockers, bag-drop apps, airport counters.
Checked against official sources · November 1, 2026 · 31 countries
What's your situation?
Try this
Your hotel front desk
The hotel you just left will usually hold bags on your departure day.
- Cost
- Usually free
- Watch out
- It is a store room, not a safe: keep valuables with you.
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Station lockers
Main stations in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have lockers in several sizes, mostly paid with a transit card. Elsewhere, a shop or café bag drop booked on your phone fills the gap.
- Cost
- Charged per calendar day
- Watch out
- A bag left overnight is billed for two days.
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Airport baggage counter
Larger airports have a staffed desk that holds bags until you are ready.
- Cost
- Per bag, per day
- Watch out
- Usually the most expensive of the options.
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Airport counter or a shop bag drop
Airport desks take skis, instruments and boxes; shop bag drops usually take more than a locker would.
- Cost
- Per bag, per day
- Watch out
- Someone else handles your bag, on their opening hours.
Try this
Ask the hotel you are coming back to
Lockers are cleared after a few days. Holding bags for nights you are not staying is a favour, not a service.
- Cost
- Ask first
- Watch out
- Don't assume. Ask before you go.
Four ways to leave your bags
- 1
Coin lockers at stations
In Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, coin lockers are part of the furniture of a main station: banks of them in several sizes, near the ticket gates or on the concourse. Payment has largely moved from coins to transit IC cards, which also means the locker prints or displays a code rather than handing you a key. They are charged by calendar day rather than by hour, so an overnight stay costs two days, and most have a maximum stay of a few days before staff clear them.
- 2
Bag drops in shops and hotels
Where lockers are scarce — most of Europe, much of Southeast Asia — the gap is filled by networks that pay a shop, café or hotel to hold bags behind the counter. You book a slot on a phone, walk in, and the staff tag your bag. The practical differences from a locker: someone else is handling your bag, opening hours are the shop’s, and you can usually leave something larger than a locker would take.
- 3
Airport counters
Larger airports have a staffed baggage-service desk, useful on a long layover or a night arrival before an early check-in. They are priced per bag per day and are usually the most expensive of the three options, but they take oversized items — skis, instruments, boxes — that nothing else will.
- 4
Your hotel
The option people forget. Hotels hold bags for guests on arrival and departure days, normally free, which covers the two moments when travellers most often go looking for a locker. Two limits worth knowing: it is a store room rather than a safe, so valuables go with you, and holding bags for a night you are not staying is a favour, not a service — ask, don’t assume.
Book luggage storage by city
Shops and hotels that keep bags, booked online with Radical Storage, in 115 cities from our guides
- Australia SydneyMelbourneBrisbaneGold CoastPerthCanberra
- France ParisMarseilleNiceStrasbourgToulouseLyonBordeauxCannesAnnecyNantesColmarAvignon
- Germany BerlinMunichHamburgCologneDüsseldorfLeipzigStuttgartDresden
- Hong Kong Hong Kong
- Indonesia Bali
- Italy RomeMilanNaplesFlorenceTurinVeniceBolognaPalermoVeronaGenoaPisaSienaMonza
- Japan TokyoOsakaKyotoKobeSapporo
- Malaysia Kuala LumpurPenang
- Mexico Mexico CityGuadalajaraCancunPlaya del CarmenMonterrey
- Philippines Manila
- Singapore Singapore
- South Korea SeoulBusanIncheonJejuDaegu
- Spain BarcelonaMadridValenciaSevilleMalagaGranadaBilbaoIbizaCordobaSantiago de CompostelaSegoviaSan SebastianToledo
- Thailand BangkokChiang MaiPhuketPattaya
- Turkey IstanbulAntalyaIzmirAnkaraCappadocia
- United Arab Emirates DubaiAbu Dhabi
- United Kingdom LondonEdinburghLiverpoolManchesterGlasgowOxfordBirminghamBelfastBrightonYorkBathCambridgeCardiffInverness
- United States New YorkMiamiLos AngelesBostonSan FranciscoChicagoWashington DCNew OrleansSan DiegoSeattleLas VegasPhiladelphiaAustinPortlandNashville
- Vietnam HanoiDa Nang
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Countries with a detailed luggage section
Lockers, prices and airport desks in 4 country guides
Hands free on the last day
Book a spot to leave your bags near the station or the sights, or let a pickup take you and the bags to the airport.
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Frequently asked questions
Locker sizes, prices and opening hours are set by each operator and change; the country guides link the official pages so you can check before you rely on one.
Can I leave my bags at the station?
In much of East Asia, yes — coin lockers are a normal part of a big station, usually in a few sizes, and increasingly they take an IC card rather than coins. Elsewhere they are rarer, and a staffed left-luggage office or an app-based bag drop takes their place. Each country guide below says which of these you can expect.
What if the lockers are full?
This is common at the busiest stations on weekends and holidays. The usual fallbacks are the lockers one stop down the line, a staffed office in the same station, or a nearby shop signed up to a bag-drop network. Booking a bag-drop slot in advance is the only one of the three you can arrange before you arrive.
Will my hotel hold my bags after check-out?
Almost always, for guests, on the day you arrive and the day you leave — it is the simplest option and normally free. Ask at reception rather than assuming, and take anything valuable with you: hotels store bags in a back room, not a safe.
How much does it cost?
It depends on the country, the size of the bag and how long you leave it, so a single figure would be misleading. The country guides give the range that applies where you are going and link the operator's own page.