Checking out of a hotel at 11am and flying at 8pm leaves 9 hours without a base. Without luggage storage, you carry bags through museums, restaurants and streets. With it, you travel freely.
Understanding which storage option is right for your location and bag value determines both convenience and security.
Coin or card-operated lockers at major train stations. Self-service; no human interaction. Security level depends on the station's CCTV coverage and locker quality.
Best for: Short-term storage of 2 to 8 hours when you stay in the station area.
Price range:
Most international airports offer attended left luggage counters and/or lockers in both landside (before security) and airside (after security) areas.
Price range:
Airside storage advantage: Using airside storage after clearing security lets you explore the terminal properly and retrieve bags only when heading to your gate.
Networks of partner businesses (hotels, cafes, shops) that store luggage in their premises for a per-bag fee. Luggage is tagged and secured but not in a dedicated secure locker.
Main platforms:
| Platform | Coverage | Price Per Bag Per Day |
|---|---|---|
| Bounce (bounce.com) | 1,000+ cities globally | $6 to $10 |
| Stasher (stasher.com) | 200+ cities | £5 to £9 |
| LuggageHero (luggagehero.com) | 500+ cities | $5 to $8 |
| Nannybag (nannybag.com) | 400+ cities | €5 to €8 |
These platforms show available storage locations on a map with real-time availability. Book online and receive a QR code. Present the code at the partner location to drop off your bag.
Enter your destination city and travel dates to find luggage storage options near your station, airport or hotel. The Journey Planner shows storage locations, current prices and operating hours for your specific area.
Find Luggage StorageGet City Transport GuideMost secure: Official attended left luggage counters at major railway stations and airports. Staff are present; bags are numbered and receipted; CCTV covers the storage area; the operator carries insurance for stored items.
Second: Dedicated lockers at official stations. PIN-secured; often covered by station CCTV; individual compartments with no staff access.
Third: Third-party network partners (Bounce, Stasher). Bags are physically in a partner business. The partner staff member tags and stores your bag. Quality varies by partner. Bounce and Stasher both verify and rate their partner businesses.
For high-value luggage: Use official attended storage only. The insurance coverage and staffed oversight justify the higher cost.
For standard luggage: Third-party networks like Bounce or Stasher at $6 to $10 per bag represent good value in cities where official storage charges $15 to $18 per day.
Luggage storage operators state clearly in their terms that they do not accept liability for valuables. If you store a bag containing a $2,000 camera and it goes missing, the operator's maximum compensation is typically $150 to $500 regardless of contents.
Official station lockers: walk-up only in most cases. No advance booking.
Airport left luggage: walk-up at most airports. Some airports allow pre-booking (Heathrow Excess Baggage Company allows online pre-booking at a slight discount to the walk-up rate).
Third-party networks (Bounce, Stasher, LuggageHero): book online before arriving. The booking takes 2 minutes and guarantees your space. Showing up without a booking during peak tourist times risks finding the nearest partner location full.
Tokyo deserves specific mention because its coin locker system is the most developed in the world. Every station and many convenience stores have coin lockers in multiple sizes.
Sizes and prices at Tokyo stations:
IC card payment: Many Tokyo lockers now accept Suica card payment in addition to coins. Much more convenient than searching for exact change.
Finding a free locker: The JR East Locker app shows real-time locker availability across all JR East stations. Useful for finding available lockers during busy periods at central stations like Tokyo, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ueno.