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Luggage storage at Leiden Cemtraal

This is a follow-up to a post I made some time ago, so some of the content may be famiiar.

\We are checking out of our Leiden hotel on Monday morning, and plan to spend the rest of the day here, probably until late evening. I could ask the hotel to hold our bags for a few hours, but am looking for other, longer term, alternatives.

There is bag storage at the train station here, which is convenient because we will be taking the train to Schiphol that evening to check into an airport hotel. The hotel is past security, and we cannot check in until after 8:00 p.m.

The bag storage at Leiden Centraal is past the security gates which you need a paid ticket to enter. We would then have to tap the ticket again to leave the station after leaving our bags.

Now, to my question ( or two): if I buy a train ticket to Schiphol, tap it once to enter the main part of the station, store the bags, then tap it again to exit the station, will the ticket then be considered used, one entry and one exit?

Part 2: is there another way I can get to the secure part of the train station without using a train ticket. Someone had posted earlier that some stations in the Netherlands are letting people enter by tapping a credit card, but I haven't found any more information on that.

My fallback positions are to ask our hotel to keep the bags all day, until after dinner, or just carry our bags with us.

Suggestions?

As always, thank you.

Posted by
3125 posts

Someone had posted earlier that some stations in the Netherlands are
letting people enter by tapping a credit card, but I haven't found any
more information on that.

I just returned from the Netherlands. When traveling within the Netherlands, you DO NOT need to buy train/tram/bus tickets. You can just tap in and out with your credit card. Details and links in my trip report:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-the-netherlands-and-belgium-my-trip-report

I would ask a train employee at leiden central about entering and exiting the gates to use the luggage storage. So, go to the ticket counter this weekend or you can reach an employee via intercom at the electronic gates.

I can’t say for sure, but I would think if you have an actual ticket and use that, you won’t be able to use it again. But, again, you don’t need to buy tickets. Just use your credit card. It’s so easy.

EDITED: Adding the links here to tapping in and out:

https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/check-in-check-out/debit-card

https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/traveling-with-the-ov-chipkaart/checking-in-and-out-at-the-gates-and-poles.html

Posted by
730 posts

During the summer, I needed to leave luggage at the main Amsterdam train station. Due to the work that’s going on there, this meant going through the barriers then out again.

I was using my bank card to tap in and out on all public transport rather than buying tickets. I seem to remember that it allowed me to tap in, leave my luggage and tap out again and there was some kind of notification (on the barrier display I think?) about a cancelled journey. I’m not very clear on the details but basically it indicated that I had not been charged anything to go in and out of the same station using my card.

Posted by
6523 posts

Carrie, that's exactly the credit/debit card information I needed; thank you very much! I thought that was probably the way it worked, but when we arrived in the Netherlands, we were so tired and frazzled (multiple travel woes that day,) that I was in no mood to experiment.

Also, I checked with our hotel, and have been assured that we can leave our luggage for as long as we want, and have continued access to other hotel services all day after we've checked out of our room. Props to City Hotel Nieuw Minerva in Leiden, a great hotel for people that don't need a/c or an elevator.

Posted by
6523 posts

Golden Girl, you were posting while I was typing. Thank you for sharing your experience. That's good to know, as well.

I suspect these bits of information will be useful to others, so I'll leave the thread up. Thanks, everyone!

Posted by
1586 posts

If you use you debit or credit card or OV chipcard to tap in and you tap out again at the same train station within 60 minutes, the system will assume you haven’t taken a train and will cancel your check in. This means that you won’t be charged.

Posted by
491 posts

Sounds like the OP's concern has been resolved but in case this is of help to anyone, I just returned from a few days in Leiden. I was staying at the Ibis hotel across from the train station and did several day trips and one to Schipol. One time I exited the wrong side of the station for getting to my hotel. When I asked a station employee outside the station how I could get to my hotel, he said that since I still had my ticket, I could just scan it and go back through the station. He said didn't matter that I had already used the ticket. This worked. If I hadn't had my ticket, he was ready to get me back in.

fyi: I also learned, after the fact, that I was paying a little extra by buying my tickets (to Den Haag, Delft, Schipol) at the station instead of online.

Posted by
1586 posts

“fyi: I also learned, after the fact, that I was paying a little extra by buying my tickets (to Den Haag, Delft, Schipol) at the station instead of online.”

If you buy a ticket at the station, from a machine or from the staffed ticket counter, you pay €1 extra. This is to cover the cost of the disposable chipcard your ticket is loaded on.

Posted by
3125 posts

If you use you debit or credit card or OV chipcard to tap in and you
tap out again at the same train station within 60 minutes, the system
will assume you haven’t taken a train and will cancel your check in.
This means that you won’t be charged.

This is great to know—adding to my notes for my next trip. Some of the WCs are inside the gates. So, it’s nice to know you can tap in and out to access them if needed.