Luggage storage at Waterloo Station: your 2023 guide

Many travelers find themselves in situations where they need to drop off luggage for a few hours, a day, or more. Maybe you’re taking a city day trip somewhere from Waterloo and you want to leave some large bags in the area until you return, or perhaps you’ve just arrived at the station and want to travel to central London without being weighed down with large bags. Whatever the specifics of your travel route, know that there is a large choice of luggage storage options at Waterloo station, and in this guide, we’ll discuss which one might be the best option for left luggage for you when it comes to storing large bags! You will soon have enough info to travel in London luggage-free.

Waterloo Station, located in the London Borough of Lambeth beside the south bank of the Thames in central London, is a perfect location for you to begin your travels around London – or even England as a whole! Waterloo railway station was named after the town of Waterloo, located in Belgium, where the British won a decisive victory over Napoleon’s forces in 1815, this station opened all the way back in 1848. It underwent significant rebuilding after World War One, including the installation of the iconic Victory Arch located over Waterloo’s main entrance. Much like King’s Cross station, if you travel to Waterloo train station, you will see that its walls could tell many stories!

It was the busiest train station in Britain last year, with over 41 million people traveling through over the course of 2022. The huge number of travelers passing through this large station is due to its importance as a travel and transport hub located in central London.

The services provided here include National Rail connections to travel destinations located across the South, South West, and West of England, including Southampton, Portsmouth, and Bournemouth.

There’s also a London Underground station which is served by the Jubilee, Bakerloo, Northern, and Waterloo & City lines. In the past, the Eurostar terminated at Waterloo, meaning a train traveling to Paris and indeed mainland Europe could be taken. In 2007 this service was moved and it is now located in Kings Cross St. Pancras. 

One difficulty with Waterloo Station is that it’s not possible to get direct trains to London’s airports from here. For example, to get to London Heathrow Airport you have to change at Paddington station, to get to or from Gatwick Airport you must change at London Victoria, and for Luton, you must change at Finchley station.

However, even if you’re not coming into Waterloo directly from the airport, spend enough time in London and you’ll surely pass through here! It’s also located right beside iconic London landmarks like the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben.

Do UK train stations have luggage storage?

Left luggage facilities for small and large bags can be found at almost all the main London train stations, including Paddington, Euston, Waterloo, Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and St Pancras International, Charing Cross, and Victoria. Outside of London, however, storing bags can be a bit trickier for travelers. In many regional towns and stations, security measures cannot be properly implemented (such as X-Ray scanning, bag checks, etc) because of cost and so there are no left luggage facilities located inside the stations themselves for travelers to leave large bags, no matter how small or large their luggage is. In larger cities like Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Edinburgh, the primary train stations and main airports mostly have luggage lockers closely located where travelers can store large bags at various prices for several hours or days.

However, even in the case where there is no official left luggage service provided by the station or railway itself like it’s the case in King’s Cross, a few companies (which will be explained in more detail below) allow you to book left luggage locations for small or large bags for several hours. Partner shops and hotels located near major train stations, as well as near other travel hotspots, transport hubs, airports etc. can be used to drop off and safely store large bags until you need them again.

Are storage lockers expensive?

In major London train stations such as Waterloo, Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and St Pancras International, Paddington, Euston, Charing Cross, and Victoria. The cost of storage lockers varies depending greatly on where the locker is being used and how large you need it to be.

Usually, the shortest time slot to store bags is 3 hours, which might cost around £7-8. Prices and rates change for the size of your bags and the duration of time you need to keep them. Generally, using a storage locker while you travel won’t break the bank, but it also isn’t usually the cheapest possible option to leave your large bags, especially for longer-term storage.

For example, it costs up to £30 to store a bag for between 48 hours and 72 hours at the lockers in London Waterloo. As we will explore below, there are cheaper options to store small and large bags than this. So, to summarize: costs vary greatly depending on where the luggage lockers are located, and for how long you need to store bags during your travel.

Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that sometimes large bags don’t fit in luggage lockers, in which case you’ll have to use an alternative option. The good news is that there is a large choice of left luggage options open and located all around London for your bags which will cost you less in Waterloo, Kings Cross, Euston, Paddington train station, and many other train stations.

Storage services at Waterloo Station

There is a large selection of various different luggage storage options available to leave bags at Waterloo Station. The station’s official luggage storage service is run by a company called Excess Baggage Company and it is located inside Waterloo. There are many benefits to this option; they’re flexible with the size of your bags and for how long you want to keep them, and their locations are highly secure. However, it’s an expensive option. At Waterloo Station, the left luggage prices are:

Up to 3 hours £7.50 Up to 6 hours £10.00 Up to 24 hours £15.00 Up to 48 hours £22.50 Up to 72 hours £30.00

There are other ways to store luggage more cheaply, using luggage storage apps that help you find a nearby location. For instance, LuggageHero is handy because it allows you to store items at an hourly rate (cost: £1.29/hour) but their cost of £8.95 per item per day means they are more expensive than most competitors. Other services are a little cheaper, like Bounce, but these often have many hidden fees which can take you by surprise at checkout!

Therefore, we think that the best option is Nannybag. For a flat rate, with no hidden charges, of €6 per item per day, you can keep your bags stored at a secure partner store located nearby. Your item will be financially protected up to €1000, in the very unlikely case that something goes wrong. There’s a super easy booking process, and the company’s reviews demonstrate how popular and helpful it has proven to travelers.

Services available at Waterloo Station

Besides storage for bags, there are many services available at this large train station for you to enjoy while you visit. If you’re hungry, there are numerous food options located all around Waterloo Station. For a quick bite, check out Upper Crust close to the Waterloo Road exit or beside platform 10, which serves good quality baguettes and sandwiches.

By the entrance to platform 8 is the Pasty Shop, which serves traditional Cornish pasties which are like an English empanada. There’s a Pret-a-Manger and Leon for healthy lunch options, as well as Mi Casa Burrito. For something less healthy, but sometimes irresistible, there’s a McDonald’s and a Burger King at the concourse level, or if you’re looking for some Asian food, there’s Wasabi Sushi and Marugame Udon.

If you want a nice café to relax, there’s also loads to choose from. Starbucks, of course, is here, as well as Caffé Nero, Costa Coffee, Benugo, and Delice de France, among others.

There’s also shopping to be done here. Get some delicious smelling beauty and skin products at Lush, gadgets at TechExpress, fashion items at Accessorize, and daily-use items at WhistleStop, WHSmith, and Marks & Spencer’s.

A full list of the stores, restaurants, and cafés can be accessed here. There are plenty of other miscellaneous services to satisfy any traveler’s needs. There’s free WiFi, photo booths at Exit 2, a lost property office outside exit 2 (just beside platforms 4 and 5) as well as accessible toilets, baby changing facilities, ATMs, a ticket office, and public telephones.

Download the best travel app!

We recommend you download Nannybag’s travel app if you are at Waterloo Station (or anywhere on holidays, in fact) which is easy to use. This simple travel hack could change the way you travel. Simply enter your location, in this case, Waterloo Station, then select a nearby partner location or Nanny, that is open and convenient to drop off your bags.

You will be happy to know that Nannybag’s service is all about flexible opening times to better suit your needs.

Make your booking, pick a drop-off time, and leave small or large luggage there for several hours or longer, with peace of mind that it’ll be safe and secure. It will even be tied up with a safety seal while you travel through central London hands-free.

FAQ

Feel free to hit the comment section if you have more questions about Waterloo train station and how to travel there!