There are two situations that send people looking for Schiphol luggage storage: a long layover you would rather spend in Amsterdam than at a gate, and a late flight on a day your hotel checked you out at eleven. Both are entirely solvable, the airport handles it well, and the whole thing costs less than most people expect — but the choice between the staffed depot and the automated lockers matters more than the price, because one of them is on the wrong side of security for what you want to do.
Schiphol’s storage is good but it is not the cheapest option in the region, and if your plan is a day in Amsterdam rather than a day at the airport, storing your bags in the city is usually both cheaper and more convenient. This page covers both, and says which to use when.
Schiphol luggage storage at a glance
Rates checked September 2026. They change, so confirm before you rely on a figure.
| Option | Where | Price | Maximum stay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staffed Baggage Depot | Level -1, landside | About €7 per item per day | 30 days |
| Baggage Depot, hold and odd-size items | Level -1, landside | €9.50 per hold item, €12 per odd-size item, per day | 30 days |
| Automated lockers, airside | Lounge 1, Lounge 2, Holland Boulevard | €8.50 each | 7 days |
| NS lockers, Amsterdam Centraal | In the station | About €11 small, €16 large / 24h | 72 hours |
| App-based storage in the city | Shops and hotels | Roughly €2–5 per bag per day | Varies |
The staffed Baggage Depot
This is the main facility and the one to use for anything long, large or awkward. It sits on Level -1, landside, between Arrivals 1 and Arrivals 2, and it is open 24 hours a day.
Rates are flat per day: €7 per hand item and €9.50 per hold item, with no discount for leaving something longer, so a long stay adds up at the same rate as a short one. Oversized items such as skis, bicycles, instruments and pushchairs cost €12 a day, but they are accepted, which is the important part: the automated lockers are not.
Being staffed and 24-hour makes this the reliable choice. There is a person to ask, the opening hours cannot catch you out, and a maximum stay of thirty days covers almost anything, including leaving a suitcase while you travel on elsewhere and come back through Amsterdam.
The one thing to plan for is time. Allow fifteen minutes at each end. The queue at the desk is short most of the day and noticeably longer during the morning arrivals bank, which is exactly when a layover passenger wants to be dropping a bag.
The automated lockers
Faster and self-service, but airside only — which is the detail that decides everything. The lockers sit in Lounge 1, Lounge 2 and along Holland Boulevard; landside, the staffed depot on Level -1 is your option.
Pricing is a flat €8.50 per locker regardless of what you put in, with a maximum stay of seven days. For a single bag over one day that is slightly more than the staffed depot; for two bags it is considerably less, since you are paying per locker rather than per item. Everything is cashless.
Lockers do not take oversized items and they are finite — on a busy summer afternoon they can all be occupied, which is a poor discovery to make with two hours before a train. If your plan depends on storage, the staffed depot is the safer bet.
Landside or airside: get this right first
This is the single decision that people get wrong, and it is not recoverable once made.
- Going into Amsterdam? You need landside storage — the Baggage Depot or the Level -1 lockers. Anything you leave airside is behind a security checkpoint you are about to exit.
- Staying in the airport on a long layover? Use the airside lockers on Holland Boulevard or in the lounges. Going landside to store a bag means clearing out and coming back through security, which wastes the time you were trying to save.
- Non-EU passport, connecting flight? Stay airside if at all possible. Crossing the border to reach landside storage means EES registration in both directions, and waits at Schiphol passport control have run to around two hours in 2026. Our layover guide goes through the arithmetic.
- Arriving, then leaving on a later flight the same day? Landside, because you are landside already and you will re-clear security when you are ready.
What they will and will not take
The staffed depot accepts most things, including bulky and awkward items — skis, snowboards, bicycles in bags, musical instruments, pushchairs and golf clubs — at a higher daily rate. The lockers accept ordinary luggage only, limited by the physical size of the box.
Neither will take anything you could not carry on a flight in the first place: nothing perishable, nothing flammable, no loose lithium batteries, nothing alive. Do not leave food in a locker for a week. And take medication, travel documents, valuables and electronics with you rather than storing them, both for the obvious reason and because you will want them.
If you have bought something large in the city and are worried about carrying it, remember that VAT refunds have to be processed before you check a bag, so the order of operations matters. Our tax-free shopping guide covers the paperwork.
Storing bags in Amsterdam instead
If your plan is a day in the city rather than a day at the airport, do not carry your bags to and from Schiphol at all. Store them where you are going.
NS lockers at Amsterdam Centraal are the obvious choice: automated, cashless and in the station itself. A small locker runs to around €11 for the first 24 hours and a large one around €16, with extra-large sizes costing more, and the daily rate rises rather than falls after the first day. There is a 72-hour limit. They fill up in high season, particularly on summer weekends, and they are not cheap — but they are exactly where you get off the train, which counts for a lot.
App-based storage networks place bags in participating shops, cafés and hotels across the city, typically for something in the region of €2 to €5 per bag per day. You book online, get an address, and drop the bag. There are far more of these locations than there are lockers, they are considerably cheaper, and several sit within a few minutes of Centraal. The trade-off is opening hours: a shop that closes at 18:00 is a problem if your flight is at ten and you were planning dinner first. Check the closing time before you book, not after.
Your hotel will almost certainly hold your bags after check-out for free, which is the cheapest answer of all and the one people forget. Ask at breakfast. Our where to stay guide and our hotels near Centraal guide cover the properties that make a last day easy.
The last-day problem, solved properly
The most common version of this question has nothing to do with layovers. It is: check-out is at eleven, the flight is at nine in the evening, and there are ten hours and two suitcases in between. Amsterdam is a good city for that day, but not while dragging luggage over cobbles and canal bridges.
The sequence that works: leave the bags with the hotel, which is free and which every hotel in the city will do. Spend the day on foot in the neighbourhoods rather than the museums, since a last day is better spent walking than queueing — the Jordaan, the Nine Streets and De Pijp are all made for it. Collect the bags at five, take the train from Centraal at about €6, and be at the airport by six.
If the hotel cannot hold them — some very small properties genuinely cannot — use an app-based storage point rather than the station lockers. They cost a fraction of the NS rate and there are far more of them, several within a short walk of Centraal, which means you are not committed to returning to a specific platform.
And if you are catching a very early flight the next morning instead, our hotels near Schiphol guide makes the case for moving out to the airport for the last night rather than trying to solve the storage question at all.
Which to use
- Long layover, staying airside: airside lockers on Holland Boulevard or in the lounges. Do not cross the border to save two euros.
- Long layover, going into the city: landside Baggage Depot on Level -1, or better still, take the bags with you and use a storage point near Centraal.
- Late flight, hotel checked you out: your hotel, free, first. Then an app-based storage point near where you want to spend the day.
- Two or more bags for one day: an automated locker, since it is priced per locker rather than per item.
- Skis, a bike, an instrument or a pushchair: the staffed depot. Nothing else will take them.
- Leaving a bag for a week or more: the staffed depot, where the rate drops after seven days and the limit is thirty.
Practical notes
- Keep your receipt. Losing the paper ticket at the NS lockers carries a €15 charge, and the process at any facility is slower without it. Photograph it as well.
- Allow fifteen minutes each way. Storage is on Level -1 at Schiphol, not on your route, and the desk queue lengthens during the morning arrivals.
- Everything is cashless. Bring a card that works contactlessly; our money guide covers what is accepted where.
- Check the maximum stay. Seven days for lockers, thirty for the depot, seventy-two hours at Centraal — and overstaying at the station gets expensive quickly.
- Do not store what you will want. Medication, chargers, passports and a change of clothes stay with you.
- Travel insurance rarely covers stored luggage in the way it covers checked baggage. Read the policy if you are storing anything valuable, which you should not be. Our insurance guide has the general position.
Keep Exploring
- Schiphol Airport: the complete guide
- Schiphol layover guide
- Schiphol security and fast track
- Hotels near Schiphol Airport
- Getting from Schiphol to Amsterdam
- Hotels near Central Station
- Amsterdam packing list
- Tax-free shopping and VAT refunds
- Practical Amsterdam information
Frequently asked questions
Is there luggage storage at Schiphol?
Yes. A staffed Baggage Depot on Level -1 between Arrivals 1 and 2, open 24 hours and taking items for up to 30 days, plus automated lockers airside in Lounge 1, Lounge 2 and on Holland Boulevard.
How much does it cost?
The staffed depot is €7 per hand item per day, with no discount for longer stays. Automated lockers are a flat €8.50 each, whatever you put in them. Oversized items cost more.
Is storage before or after security?
Both. The staffed depot on Level -1 is landside; airside lockers are in Lounge 1, Lounge 2 and along Holland Boulevard. Choose based on which side you will be on when you come back for the bag — you cannot cross with a locker key.
Can I store a bag for a week?
Yes. Lockers take up to seven days; the staffed depot takes up to thirty at the same flat daily rate, which makes it the right choice for anything longer than a week.
Can I leave skis or a bicycle?
At the staffed Baggage Depot, yes, at a higher daily rate of roughly €12 for oversized items. The automated lockers will not take them — they are limited by the size of the box.
Is it open 24 hours?
The staffed depot is open around the clock, and the automated lockers are self-service and therefore always accessible in the areas that stay open. That makes Schiphol easier than most airports for an overnight connection.
Should I store bags at the airport or in the city?
In the city, if you are going into the city. App-based storage points near Centraal run roughly €2 to €5 per bag per day against €7 to €8 at the airport, and you avoid carrying luggage to and from Schiphol twice.
How much are the lockers at Amsterdam Centraal?
Around €11 for a small locker and €16 for a large one for the first 24 hours, with larger sizes costing more and the daily rate rising after day one. They are cashless and limited to 72 hours.
Will my hotel hold my bags?
Almost certainly, and for free, both before check-in and after check-out. It is the cheapest option available and the one most people forget to ask about. Do it before paying for storage anywhere else.
What can I not store?
Anything you could not fly with: perishables, flammables, loose lithium batteries, anything living. Keep medication, documents, electronics and valuables with you rather than in a locker, whatever the facility’s terms say.
How long should I allow?
Fifteen minutes each way at Schiphol. Storage is a level below the concourse and the desk queue lengthens noticeably during the morning arrivals bank, which is exactly when most layover passengers turn up.
Is there luggage delivery to a hotel?
Commercial services exist and will move bags between the airport and city hotels, but they need booking ahead and cost several times what storage does. For a single day they are rarely worth it; for a family moving between two hotels mid-trip, occasionally they are.
Are the lockers ever full?
Yes, on summer weekends and in the school holidays, at both Schiphol and Centraal. If your plan depends on storage rather than merely benefiting from it, use the staffed depot at the airport or book an app-based point in the city in advance.
Can I store a bag and go into Amsterdam on a layover?
Yes, using landside storage — but check your passport situation first. Non-EU travellers cross an EES border in both directions, with waits that have run to around two hours in 2026, which may eat the day you were trying to buy.
Photo Credits
- Luggage trolleys at Schiphol Plaza: Schiphol Amsterdam – panoramio (4) by Nikolai Karaneschev, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.