We are in the planning stages of a trip this fall which includes train travel in Germany. There are some towns which we would like visit for a few hours before getting back on the train. What do we do with our luggage? Do the rail stations have storage facilities?

Big stations do, small ones don't. Depends where you're going as to how feasible your plans are. Perhaps just bring along carry-on luggage so that you won't be hampered by your bags.

Lavandula

There are often luggage lockers at stations. Look up a station here:

http://www.bahnhof.de/index.html?lang=en

Sometimes the information about luggage lockers appears automatically. Sometimes you have to click on travel related services.

Regards, Gary

It appears that you need the German spelling of the station at this time. Gary

Thanks, Gary! I was able to find the info for Hamburg on the website. Wasn't so lucky with Gorlitz, although a more careful search through my Rick Steves guide book mentions lockers there.

Gorlitz = Görlitz, or if you're typing into an address bar, Goerlitz.

The general rule is, ä = ae, ö = oe, ü= ue

Hopefully you'll find it now!

Lavandula

Oh, and ß = ss !

This is a new webpage. The old one was more user friendly. It seems to require the Umlats rather than "oe" for ö.

Hold Alt Key and 225 = ß
Alt and 148 = ö
Alt and 153 = Ö
Alt and 129 = ü
Alt and 154 = Ü
Alt and 132 = ä
Alt and 142 = Ä

Görlitz does have luggage storage.

Regards, Gary

For luggage storage using a locker to work you need both the existence, the availability, and the compatible duration. Even if you find that lockers exists at a target station, you are not necessarily home free. I have used them frequently last year in Germany. I usually arrive in the morning and can usually find empty ones. But sometimes, such at Stuttgart, when I was ready to retrieve my luggage in the afternoon, there were groups of tourists ready to pounce on my locker as soon as I emptied the locker because there was no empty one left in that section. It is a big station and there must have been hundreds of lockers around me. Also, the lockers come in various durations. The long duration ones as well as the ones that can hold large luggages (> 26 inch) are high in demand. Traveling light will give you more choices of lockers. And yes, you need coins.

Thanks for all the great information!