Rick Steves Europe tour 4-25-24 flight arrival what to do with luggage

I’d leave it with the hotel. It is at your own risk but I’ve never had a problem at any hotel anywhere

Of course, you could always call them and ask to buy the night before and get your room early

We've stayed at the Lion d'Or, which has a helpful and responsible staff. I wouldn't hesitate to leave luggage with them, but if it doesn't look distinctive I'd mark it in some way to help me find it and help others avoid taking it by mistake. That's really the biggest risk, much greater at airport carousels than at this small well-run hotel.

BTW, a 9:30 arrival is optimistic after an 8:30 landing, even if you take the direct bus from AMS to Haarlem (which stops right in front of the hotel). But you'll have time that day for some pre-tour sightseeing.

We always hand our luggage over to the hotel for safekeeping and have never had a problem. Just make sure that you keep your credit cards, passports, etc. on you just in case.

I stayed at that hotel in October. I’m pretty sure the “luggage area” is just the lobby. I remember thinking, I’m glad my room is ready.

If you feel not comfortable with their luggage area, there are lockers at the train station just opposite the hotel (https://www.ns.nl/en/station-information/hlm/haarlem#facilities).

We leave our with the hotel and just lock them together, figuring anyone who wants to get in would pass ours up in favor of an easy mark; however, keep valuables (passport, money, jewelry) with you.

I echo the "leave with the hotel" suggestions. If wanting extra protection, a small lock & cable (search Amazon for "luggage lock cable") can be had for $10, so that as mentioned earlier above, if someone wants one bag, they have to take them all in an unwieldy mess.

I generally don't lock our luggage for flights, but you could (with TSA locks) and those coupled with the cable locks would be pretty huge deterrents to casual theft.

Thank you for all of the great information! I really appreciate knowing there are lockers at the train station. We may go that route. Otherwise we will bring a lock to hook our backpacks together to leave at the hotel.

I'm off now to watch some of Rick's videos on the places we will be traveling.

Deanna

The lockers appear to be behind the little gates to get into the train station. Just tap in using your credit card to go through the gates. I don’t believe you will be charged as you get out without traveling on the train rather quickly. So a bit of a hassle to get to these lockers at the station.

I haven’t been on this particular tour, but generally I would be more comfortable leaving my belongings with the hotel staff than at the train station. And you eliminate the hassle of having to go back to the station to collect your things.

We always reserve a hotel room for the night prior and let the hotel know we are coming in the morning. Not because I worry about leaving luggage at the front desk, but prefer being able to get into the room, freshen up, leave luggage in room and get on with the day is preferable.

I would think leaving luggage with your hotel which is part of the RS tour would be more secure than at a train station locker but you just have to decide what kind of risk tolerance you have. A travel lock on the luggage is a good idea.