Leaving airport during long international layover

[Anonymous]

Anyone ever intentionally book an international flight with a longish layover and try to get out and see the city a bit? How long would the layover need to be to make that feasible?

[Anonymous]

That is an impossible question to answer. What airport? What time of year and time of day? What sorts of things are you looking to do? How busy is that airport at that time of day. How long is the layover? Do you have bags? Is a visa required ot leave the airport?

But to answer your question, I have done so many times. But some places it takes 15 minutes from the front door to the gate, including security. Others, it can take hours.

[Anonymous]

I always try to! Give more details - which airport, how long and what time of day?

Some airports even offer guided tours for layovers. It’s a great way to see a little more of the world.

[Anonymous]

Never. But once our flight out of Costa Rica was canceled and we had about five hours to kill, so we took a bus into Liberia and wandered around, which was not a highlight of the trip.

[Anonymous]

We did this in both directions when our route involved a plane change in Paris. We specifically booked overnight layovers so we could go into the City, have fun and sleep in a good hotel. I’d do it again in a second.

But keep in mind that your primary luggage will not be with you so you’ll need a decent carry on. And you’ll need to allow transit time in both directions as well as time to clear security.

[Anonymous]

We would be flying to Rome and I saw some options with long layovers in Lisbon and Frankfurt. I generally avoid layovers when possible or shoot for the shortest layover possible without making it hard to make a connection. But it got me thinking--what if we actually made something of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We would be flying to Rome and I saw some options with long layovers in Lisbon and Frankfurt. I generally avoid layovers when possible or shoot for the shortest layover possible without making it hard to make a connection. But it got me thinking--what if we actually made something of it.

Frankfurt is one of the most boring cities in the world. Book as short a connection as possible there.

[Anonymous]

not unless it's at least an overnight

[Anonymous]

I have done it in London and Munich. I had about a 6-7 hour delay in London and took the Heathrow express to see my favorite things at the British Museum and have lunch. I ended up having to run through security on the way back, but it was worth it. The other time I specifically booked a connection between Dubrovnik and Munich that had a 17 hour overnight layover to have dinner with friends. So both times worked out since I had a specific plan albeit one was hatched between Stockholm and London with the hope that the delay would not get cut short. I think the ability to track the incoming plane was key.

[Anonymous]

I've done it often in Paris and London. Not deliberately, but the flights from the US get in early in the morning, and the flights to Africa and the Middle East often depart in the evening. With the RER and the Heathrow Express, I budget about 3-4 hours to dump my luggage at the left luggage office, get into the city, get back to the airport, pick up my suitcase, and go back through security. So anything more than 7 hours is worthwhile. You get on your second flight absolutely wrecked, but then you sleep better!

[Anonymous]

We just did this while on a layover in Copenhagen-- it was nice! We arrived in the late evening, spent the night at a hotel next to the airport and then in the morning took the train into the city and spent the morning there before coming back for an afternoon flight back to the US. We hadn't. been to Copenhagen before and it was nice to have a brief little introduction to it and definitely convinced us that we'd want to come back to visit for longer.

[Anonymous]

Extremely easy with eight hours in Lisbon as it's a very quick and easy train ride into the city.

[Anonymous]

I don't intentially book long layovers, but I have left the airport when I get them. Usually 6 hours is my minimum to leave. Have done it for Lisbon (just about a week ago), Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would be flying to Rome and I saw some options with long layovers in Lisbon and Frankfurt. I generally avoid layovers when possible or shoot for the shortest layover possible without making it hard to make a connection. But it got me thinking--what if we actually made something of it.

Frankfurt is one of the most boring cities in the world. Book as short a connection as possible there.

I hate that airport. My first flight ever was on Lufthansa and the food was so bad that I thought all airplane food would be like that. I had my expectations low on my next flight on British and it was so much better.

[Anonymous]

OP needs to state the airport and length of layover to see if it's possible.

When I'm coming from the US to Europe, if I have a long layover I often book a hotel at the airport (day rate) so I can sleep. It's 7-8 hours to Europe from IAD but the flights usually leave at 6pm so my body isn't ready fro bedtime until shortly before landing.