We are headed to Europe soon for 3 months and planning on taking one bag the size of a carry on each. We planning on moving to new cities sometime daily or every day or two at some points. What is the best thing to do with our luggage if we arrive in a city early or leave late (before or after standard check in/our times)? We are booking as we go and planning that we will be in some hostels, some Airbnb, and some hotels.
Thank you!!
Hotels normally have reception staff who will store your bags if your room's not yet ready. Airbnb policies will vary by owner so you should confirm at the time of booking and specifically use a phrase like "drop off luggage" rather than "check-in." Many train stations do offer bag storage, in either lockers or staffed storage offices, but also many do not. Guidebooks will often mention either way. I assume you're not driving or else you'd probably plan to leave luggage in the car.
Most hotels and hostels will let you leave your bags if you arrive before a room is ready. AirBnB (never used them) seems to be on a case by case basis as to when you might be able to get in - I know you can contact the owner directly and perhaps work out an early arrival.
Otherwise, many train and bus stations have paid lockers or "left luggage" storage you can pay for.
In a pinch, you might find other hotels or even restaurants that can store it for you for a few hours. Last month I stopped off the train in the town of Tomar, Portugal, which has no luggage storage. But I was able to leave my bags for a few hours at a hotel across from the station (they refused any money for leaving the bags). Another time, I got off at a small town along the Mosel in Germany to hike and was able to leave my bags at a local pub for a few hours. I'd be more comfortable doing this in a small town in a big city, though.
(Good for you packing light - it will make getting around sooooo much easier!)
And you understand the Schengen zone visa limits? We have to ask that because every now and then someone does not know the limits. All hotels we have ever used are prepared for early or late arrivals/departures and have a luggage storage area. Sometimes it is not secured but we have never had a problem. There is no common practice for airBnBs.
Yes. Our flight back him is on day 89 so we should be good on the visa limits.
Thanks for the feedback. Makes me feel better that in most places we can make it work!
When we travel to Europe we often arrive before check in.. Most often we are allowed to check in early. We arrived to a hotel in Prague at 7:30am, and they shifted things around a bit and allowed us to check in. A hostel we stayed at in Geneva had lockers that we had to pay to use. I also believe that they allowed people that weren't sleeping at the hostel to check things as well.
There are a few luggage storage apps that you might want to check out. Concept is similar to AirBnB or something, but some of these places are not what you would ordinarily think of: restaurants, other hotels, etc.
Just google it
We’ve stored in a variety of places with secured lockers:
Museums
Airports
Train stations
Bus stations
When using Air BnB or traditional BnBs (we rarely use standard hotels) we always contact the owner once we’ve booked to start the conversation about storage. We’ve have wonderful success with hosts who are accepting of our luggage prior to or after check in/out. Sometimes offering to pay a small holding fee (or tip) helps. If they offer to help, we offer the courtesy of the tip.
