Luggage / Parcel / Bicycle Storage in Central Paris
Luggage & Cycle Shipment around Europe
Luggage and Bicycle Transfer to / from Paris Airports & Stations
Blue Marble Travel offers a luggage storage service in our central Paris office, as well as related luggage shipping and transfer services.
These services are available to all, even if you are not participating in one of our organized trips, or renting one of our Paris apartments. Details and prices are on this page (while we do not supply “quotes,” we are happy to confirm your calculation).
Jump directly to: Storage — Shipment — Paris Airport / Station Transfer — How to Reserve or Cancel
Paris Luggage and Bicycle Storage
Our luggage room is in our Paris office, 4 blocks from the Châtelet - Les Halles métro station.
This,
in turn, is linked by express rail lines to both Paris airports, and by direct métro lines to 6 of Paris’ 7 rail stations and to the long-distance coach terminal.
For storage periods of longer than 3 days, and for any storage of 5 bags or more, reservations are recommended, though walk-ins are welcome if space is available (our storage room can fill, especially during school holidays). We guarantee space for individuals (no more than 10 pieces), provided it is reserved at least one week in advance of the first day of storage.
- See the bottom of this page for information on how to make reservations.
- Reservations are neither necessary nor available for the storage of at most 4 bags for 3 or fewer days, unless you wish to ensure our presence in the office during our off-season. Otherwise, we can always fit them in somehow. See our office opening hours for details.
Prices
Luggage storage prices, per piece of “normal” weight and dimension (or for an unboxed bicycle of normal dimensions), are below.
- Short-term (up to 9 days): 5 € per piece for the first day, 3 € per piece per additional day.
- Pre-reserved long term (10+ days): 20 € per piece (fixed charge) + 1 € per day of storage.
- “Days” run midnight to midnight for the purposes of pricing. A piece dropped off at 5p on Tuesday, and picked up on Wednesday morning, is charged for two days.
- A bicycle inside a bicycle case, carton or bag, and weighing no more than 28 kilos / 61 lbs, is charged as two, regular-sized items. The case or container must be a dedicated cycle case, and roughly correspond to the shape of the cycle.
- A
bicycle case for a standard cycle (not a tandem), containing no more than 5 kilos of belongings (and not containing a bike) is charged as 1.5 items.
- Access to baggage during its period of storage is not possible. If you must add or remove items to / from your stored luggage, you must remove the piece from storage, and then re-register it, thus starting a new storage period (and effectively paying twice for the day on which you access your luggage).
- Early retrieval of long-term storage pieces (in advance of their anticipated pick-up dates) is possible. Please notify us at least 48 hours in advance, however, as long-term pieces are stored off-site, and must be brought to our office for the day on which they are to be claimed.
Extension of a long-term storage period is possible at the long-term rate, provided you tell us your new pick-up date by our close of business, 3 days prior to the initially-booked pick-up date. With less (or no) notice, a new storage period will start with the end of the initially reserved one.
- A 25% discount on the total storage price applies to any client who has also purchased a railpass through us.
- A 50% discount on the total storage price applies to guests who, at the time of storage, are booked to travel (or who have already travelled) on one of our cycle or train tours (other than Day Trips) in the same calendar year.
- A 10 or 20% “group” discount applies for storage of multiple pieces, reserved at least one week in advance, and left for at least 3 days: 10% for 5 or more pieces, 20% for 10 or more pieces. Additional pieces added within one week of drop-off do not qualify for the discounted rate. For the purpose of cancellation, each piece is considered to be deposited separately.
Weight and Size
The above prices apply to:
- Pieces no larger than 61 x 61 x 92 cm / 24 x 24 x 36 inches, weighing no more than 23 kilos
/ 50 lbs.
- Unboxed bicycles of standard dimensions with no luggage attached.
Bikes are hung on hooks, head to tail. All luggage, helmets, accessories, must be stored (and are charged) separately. - Pairs of skis, bagged or not, neither short dimension greater than 12 in / 31 cm.
Oversized and / or heavier pieces, with any or all of the following characteristics, cost an additional 50% to store:
- At least one dimension between 92 and 122 cm (36 and 48 inches)
- 2 or more dimensions between 61 and 92 cm (24 and 36 inches)
- Weight between 23 and 34 kilos (50 and 75 lbs.)
- Cycle cases of any dimension greater than 92 cm / 36 inches
- Recumbent cycles
- Snowboards
Pieces that are any of the following can only be stored by prior arrangement. If accepted, they are charged as two pieces.
- Any dimension greater than 122 cm (48 in)
- 2 or more dimensions greater than 92 cm (36 in)
- Pieces weighing over 34 kilos (75 lbs.)
- Tandem bicycles
Higher rates may apply to exceptionally large, awkward, or heavy pieces, or to pieces which smell bad or have irritating bumper stickers on them.
Payment
Storage charges are paid at the time of reservation, if storage is reserved, otherwise at the time of drop-off. If luggage is left for longer than the anticipated term, the balance due can be paid when the piece(s) is / are claimed. Additional days are charged at the normal, short-term rate for your piece(s), unless a long-term storage period is extended with at least 3 days’s advance notice.
If you leave your luggage past the date of initial storage, tell us you are doing so. There may be a financial advantage to doing so (lower storage cost for long-term pieces). Moreover, articles and their contents left for more than 30 days beyond their paid storage terms will be sold to pay for their accumulated storage charges.
Opening Hours
Luggage may be dropped off and picked up during our regular office opening hours.
From October to May we recommend making an appointment to drop or pick up luggage (by e.mail, paris@bluemarble.org). While we usually respect our opening hours (and always during our touring season, May to October), operating concerns can lead us to be absent for an hour or two during our off season for supplier meetings, administrative formalities and similar. If we know you are coming in, we will organize such absences with your schedule in mind, so to have an agent present for you....
Drop-off or pick-up outside of these hours is generally available (by reservation only), but there is an additional cost to bring one of us in to receive you. If this service is required, its cost must be pre-paid. It may be available without charge to guests starting out on, or returning from, our cycle trips (notably if the Trip Coordinator is travelling on the same schedule as the guest), or at a lower cost if you are asking us to be present shortly before our regular opening, after our regular closing, or during our normal lunch closing hour.
Security
Luggage is subject to inspection upon drop-off, and a passport or other official identity card must be shown. Illegal, flamable, or other dangerous articles cannot be stored. Nor can live animals (especially squirrels) or plants. And don't even think about storing dead animals.
Luggage is stored in a baggage room which is only accessible to our staff, but which is not otherwise locked. The storage charges shown on this page include 300€ worth of insurance. This insurance is valid if the entire piece is stolen, or if a locked piece has had its lock forced, and contents removed. Plastic security seals are not considered locks, as they can be inadvertantly torn off if the piece is moved. The fact that the piece was locked must be attested on the claim receipt given to you at the time that the piece is left, otherwise the piece is not considered to be locked. The contents of unlocked pieces are not insured. Luggage locks can be rented from us for 2€, if desired. Lost keys then cost 15€, lock cutting is 10€. Yes, this has happened.
Additional insurance is available at a rate of 10€ per 300€ of insured value, per indivisible 4-week storage period. This additional insurance must be subscribed when luggage is deposited.
We are not otherwise responsible in the event of a theft of any sort, of your luggage or its contents.
It is probably worth mentioning that, in 25 years, we have never had any sort of theft. We were angrily accused once, but the accuser’s iPod materialized in his girlfriend’s pocket. He left in a huff, probably convinced that we had planted it there. But we digress. Since you will probably be the first victim of a theft, we suggest you not leave objects of high value in your luggage....
Getting to Our Office
Instructions on reaching us from airports and rail stations can be found on our contact page.
We can also pick up and deliver luggage at airports and rail stations.
Jump directly to: Storage — Shipment — Paris Airport Transfer — How to Reserve or Cancel
European Luggage Shipment, European Cycle Shipment
We can ship luggage and / or bikes within what used to be called “Western Europe,” whether or not you are travelling on one of our organized trips.
We can only ship on the continent, and to (not from) London St.-Pancras station.
We do not offer shipment between Europe and other continents, from the British Isles or Ireland, or to England other than London.
Discussion
This is an expensive service. Package express service almost always costs more that human transport for the same trip. Think of the cost of shipping a 80 kg. DHL or Fedex package, versus the cost of buying a train ticket for the same journey for an 80 kg. person. Humans have legs, packages do not. So the former can walk themselves on and off trains and planes, while the latter have to be carried. There is a cost associated with that.
Very few people who ask about this just to improve the comfort of their journey, or to escape an airline’s offensive baggage charge, actually wind up ordering the service. If you have a lot of baggage, travel by train. We spend a lot of time gently letting down people who hope that we can move their suitcase across Europe, handle customs declarations & shipping manifests, and deliver it to their hotel room within an hour of their arrival, all for 25€. We can’t. Shipments are rarely much under 100€, and international shipments can be quite a bit more.
Clients for our service usually fall into one of 4 catagories:
- They are making multiple stops, and only need the bag at the end. So, for instance, they have 2 days in Amsterdam, 3 days in Frankfurt, a day in Prague, and are winding up in Vienna. They have 8 train connections, and really don't want to haul their bag(s) thru all that.
- They are comfortably well-off, travel first class, and don’t mind hiring people to make their trip a pleasant one.
- They are taking a trip which involves a biking segment (but is not all by bike). They thus need to acquire or get rid of bikes or luggage mid-trip.
- They have a physical infirmity, very heavy luggage, or both, and so have little choice.
Parameters that influence cost include:
- Urgency.
The longer you give us to ship the piece, the lower the cost of doing so.
- Advance Notice.
The further in advance you order your shipment, the more likely we are to be able to handle it economically.
- Delivery conditions.
The service is more expensive if we have to hand the bag to you, in person, at a precise time, than if we have a place to deliver it to during a less-precise time band (for instance, “to my hotel any time on Tuesday or Wednesday”).
- Size and weight (in the case of luggage only).
- Boxed or not (in the case of bikes).
Perhaps surprisingly, shipping unboxed, and thus rollable, bikes is generally less expensive.
- Distance of the shipment.
- Season.
Shipments outside of France are typically less expensive between May and October than otherwise, as our volumes are higher, and we can pass along lower bulk rates. Within France, and also from France to some neighboring countries, seasonality has no influence on price.
Additionally, shipping costs are generally lower if Paris is a start or end point of the shipment, and / or if the origin / destination is in the immediate vicinity of a railway station.
If you would like a quote, please tell us the shipment you would like, specifically giving us information concerning each point in the above list.
Jump directly to: Storage — Shipment — Paris Airport Transfer — How to Reserve or Cancel
Paris Pick-up and Delivery of Luggage or Cycles
To / From Airports, Rail Stations, Hotels
Note that these prices are for the transport of luggage and / or cycles without humans.
For transport of humans + belongings, see Paris Station / Airport Transfers.
We can transfer your cycle or luggage between an airport, rail station or Paris hotel; and our office or another central Paris location (hotel, rail station...).
If you are arriving in Paris, we will meet your flight or train, take your luggage off your hands as you come through customs or off the train, and deliver it to the Paris location of your choice.
If you are leaving Paris, we make the Paris pick-up you request, and deliver to your transport hub at the time you request.
Service is by reservation only, and subject to availability at the time of the reservation.
Prices
Base cost, for pick-up or delivery in normal business hours
Includes the first piece of luggage, or the first unboxed (rollable) bike.
Add 20€ for a boxed bike, weighing no more than 28 kilos / 61 pounds (heavier boxed bikes are charged as two items, when they can be transported). Note that no other items are permitted inside the cycle case, except as necessary for padding.
For the purposes of pick-up and delivery, normal business hours are 9a - 7p Monday - Saturday, excluding legal French holidays. See below for off-hour charges.
- From or to either major Paris airport (Orly or Charles de Gaulle), or any suburban rail station (Massy-Palaiseau, Chessy / Marne-la-Vallée / Disneyland, La Défense, etc.): 72€
Suburban rail stations are defined as rail stations on this map.
- From or to an airport hotel at Orly or CDG, or any suburban location within 500m of a railway station (other suburban locations on request): 92€
- From or to Beauvais airport: 128€ (airport hotel at Beauvais: 148€).
- From or to central Paris rail stations or hotels, to another central Paris location: 55€
Paris rail stations are Austerlitz, Montparnasse, St.-Lazare, Nord, Est, Lyon and Bercy
Additional pieces transferred at the same time are charged as follows:
Bicycles
- 50€ per additional boxed bike up to 4.
- 32€ per additional unboxed bike up to 4 (10€ to or from city railway stations).
- 22€ per bike beyond 4, whether boxed or unboxed (12€ to or from city railway stations).
Luggage
- 16€ per additional piece, up to 4 (5 total pieces).
- 10€ per piece of luggage beyond 5 pieces.
A 25% discount on these rates is available to participants in our cycle trips (discount does not apply to the extra charges listed below).
Additional charges apply as follows:
- Waiting time / no-show charges.
- Waiting time is charged if you do not respect an arranged meeting within 30 minutes: 10€ per indivisible 15-minute increment. Additionally...
- If we are delivering to you, and you are more than 2 hours late, the articles will be returned to our office at your expense. A payment for our waiting time (previous term) will also be due for 60 minutes.
- If you are giving things to us for transport to Paris or elsewhere, and are more than 2 hours late, the meeting will be abandoned by us, and no refund will be due.
If you are seriously delayed, be sure to call our office, to limit extra charges, or to ensure that we are still waiting, as appropriate!
- Off-hour meets. These extra charges apply per meeting, regardless of the number of bags or cycles.
- Between 7a and 9a or between 7p and midnight Monday - Saturday, all day on Sunday and legal French holidays: +20€.
- Between midnight and 7a, any day of the week: +50€.
- Paris storage charges apply if delivery is to our office, and the article(s) is / are not claimed the same day.
- Oversized and / or heavier pieces can be transported at the following prices:
- Pieces with at least one dimension between 92 and 122 cm (36 - 48 inches); and / or weighing between 23 kilos / 50 lbs. and 34 kilos / 75 lbs, are subject to a 50% surcharge.
- Pieces with one or more dimensions greater than 122 cm (48 inches), and / or 2 or more dimensions greater than 92 cm (36 inches): and / or pieces of over 75 lbs. / 34 kilos, can only be transported by prior arrangement (write to our Paris office, paris@bluemarble.org). When they can be transported, they are typically charged as two pieces.
- If only one of several pieces is oversize or overweight, it is considered to be the first piece of the shipment.
- Higher rates may apply to exceptionally large, awkward, or heavy pieces, such as pianos or vaulting poles.
Prohibited Articles in Luggage
The following articles are prohibited in transported luggage. Most of these are solidly in the “duh” catagory, but note the proscription on prescription medication.
- Any type of gun, firearm, ammunition, explosive, or weapon.
- Incendiaries, including flammable gases, liquids and fuels.
- Large, sharp objects such as axes, ice picks and swords.
- Corrosive or dangerous chemicals or materials, such as liquid bleach, tear gas, mace, radioactive and harmful bacteriological materials.
- Batteries with acid that can spill or leak.
- Fragile and/or valuable items, including but not limited to electronic equipment. Laptop computers and handheld devices may be packed, but we accept no liability for damage, and they are not insured for transport.
- Animals.
- Prescription medication. Again, such medication may be packed, but we accept no liability for damage, and such medications are not insured for transport or against late delivery.
Jump directly to: Storage — Shipment — Paris Airport Transfer — How to Reserve or Cancel
How to Reserve, Cancel, services on this page
Reservations
Reservations allow you to guarantee that our storage facility (or transfer service) will be available for you on the date you want it.
We guarantee the provision of our services only once we have accepted payment for them.
To reserve luggage storage or transfer, please write our Paris office, paris@bluemarble.org. Tell us...
- ...what you would like to reserve (baggage storage, airport pick-up, etc.)...
- ...and for what dates.
- If you are coming to see us in our off season, or outside of our regular opening hours, we advise that you make an appointment. Criteria for doing so are here: making (and guaranteeing) an appointment.
Appointments can be made without charge during our regular opening hours. They are also available outside of these hours, but carry an extra cost in this case.
- Please also join a credit card authorization form. It can be faxed, posted (in this latter case, you may also pay by cheque / check), or sent as a pdf attachment to an e.mail.
We do not recommend sending credit card information in html format, as we do not have encripted e.mail.
For amounts under 50€, you may also communicate your credit card information by phone.
We will promptly acknowledge receipt, and confirm the service’s availability to you.
If the amount of your authorization is either more or less than the cost of the service you have requested, we will not charge your card at all. Instead, we will write to you to verify the exact service you desire, and your acceptance of its price. If you have authorized a lesser amount, a new authorization will be needed. If you have authorized more, no new authorization is needed; we will, of course, debit only the amount of the requested service, not the higher amount you have authorized.
If you wish to pay by check / cheque, you may do so. The reservation is considered to be made when you inform us that the check / cheque has been posted. Provided the post-mark on the envelope is that day or the following day, the reservation is honored.
Cancellation
Cancellation charges for individual travellers (not participating in our cycle trips) are as follows:
- At least one week in advance: whichever is greater of 5€, or 10% of the service contracted.
- Between 6 days and 2 days prior to the date of the reserved service:
-
Luggage storage, whichever is greater of 5€, or 10% of the charge.
- Luggage transfer or shipment: whichever is greater of 10€ or 20% of the charge.
- On the day prior to the date of the reserved service:
- Luggage storage,
whichever is greater of 10€ or 20% of the charge
- Luggage transfer or shipment: 50% of the charge.
- No refund can be made if the contracted good or service is not claimed / used on the date for which it was contracted.
Services which are discounted for travellers on our cycle trips are subject to the same cancellation terms as the trips themselves. Those conditions may be consulted here. Non-discounted services carry the cancellation terms specified above.
If you must curtail or cancel a reservation for a service charged by the day, such as Luggage Storage, cancellation penalties apply only to the first 5 days cancelled.
- Example 1: a bag or bags reserved for 30 days' storage, and for which storage is canceled on the day prior to drop-off, would have a cancellation cost based on a 5-day storage period: 10€.
- Example 2: a bag or bags are stored for 30 days. It is / they are claimed 10 days early, on day 20, without prior notification. Day 20 is charged. Days 21 - 25 are subject to the cancellation charge of 10€ or 20% of the storage charge, whichever is greater. Days 26 - 30 are refunded in full.
For the purposes of cancellations and refunds, days are indivisible.
In the event of a “no-show” (you simply do not arrive on the pre-arranged date to claim a service you have reserved, nor do you cancel the service), services charged by the day, such as Luggage or Cycle Storage, are considered to be canceled on the day following the first date of the reserved period. Conversely, the reserved service is guaranteed to still be available on that date. You may thus arrive a day late without warning us of your late arrival, and without risk of losing your reserved service.
Example: luggage storage reserved from April 15th would be considered to be cancelled on April 16th if you did not arrive by the end of that day. No refund would be due for April 15th or 16th.
Cancellation charges for whatever period follows, starting on the 17th, would be the greater of 10€ or 20% of the rental or storage cost as calculated from the 17th, and for a maximum of 5 days.
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The following internet search terms all refer to luggage or passenger transport in Paris, discussed above.
Paris Airport Transfers
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