Welcome to Citizen Femme’s new series, The Take (Off), where each month our managing editor, Katie Silcox, shares a personal opinion – hot take, you might say – about travel.
This month she explains why long layovers can be fun.
When we’re heading off on holiday, the journey is generally more of a means to an end than something we look forward to. A long layover in between flights is usually something to be endured, rather than enjoyed.
Having recently flown from Athens to New York then New York to Puerto Rico (and back again – with long layovers involved), I can (re)affirm that long layovers can be fun. If you do them right.
On this particular trip, the best flight options for me came with a six-hour layover at Newark airport on the outbound journey, and a eight-hour layover (also Newark) on the way back. My first thought? Honestly: ‘urgh’. But then I decided to do something about it. For me, this meant extending the first NYC layover from six hours to two days, giving me a quick weekend in New York City on my way to my final destination.
Airlines typically define a layover as up to 24 hours, so on this occasion I actually booked two separate tickets: an Athens to Newark return, and a Newark to Puerto Rico return. Landing close to midnight, I hopped in a taxi straight to Manhattan, where the next morning I waltzed along an empty Fifth Avenue at 8am (thanks, jet lag), caught up with friends over coffee, whizzed up 91 floors of SUMMIT One Vanderbilt to see the city from the sky, wandered around Central Park, and had time to feast on a few good NYC meals (my favourite was at Zou Zou’s in Pendry Manhattan West hotel).
Some might say it cut into my time at the initially intended destination (in this case, Puerto Rico). I say it’s a great two-for-one deal – plus it gave me time to get over any jet lag before arriving (especially when my flight to New York was a long 10 hours).
Even if you can’t bring yourself to take a day or two somewhere other than your ‘actual holiday destination’ there’s still plenty you can do in 24 hours or less. When I lived in Dubai, a friend of mine stayed with me for 18 hours on her way from Sri Lanka to the UK – we took an abra tour, went for dinner, went dancing, slept for seven hours, then had breakfast and a dip in the pool the next morning before her departure.
Another example: I once had seven hours in Istanbul airport, but instead I jumped in a cab to Beyoğlu and followed a four-hour walking tour devised by a friend from the city, before heading back to the airport.
Even shorter on time? Still doable. My record is probably the time I landed at Sydney airport and had four hours before a flight to Tasmania. I grabbed my suitcase, found the taxi rank and asked the driver if we could get to the Sydney Opera House and back in time for my next flight. “Yes,” he agreed, “it’s doable.” (Timing was on my side on this particular morning as it was about 6am on a Sunday). On this whistle-stop tour of Sydney Harbour the driver stayed with me, took a few photos of me, then sped back to the airport just in time for my next flight.
I’ve also noticed more and more airports, airlines and tourist boards coming together to encourage longer layovers (especially relevant for popular transit airports as a good way to entice you to see their city).
Singapore Changi Airport has teamed up with Singapore Airlines and the Singapore Tourist Board to offer free city tours on layovers of between 5.5 and 24 hours; if you’re flying with Turkish Airlines there are now free Istanbul tours available (I’m not sure this existed when I took my solo-guided layover tour); in Taipei there are free half day tours for transiting passengers (there’s even a nighttime option); and in Dubai, Emirates Airlines promise to “organise your hotel, visas and transfers” when you book a Dubai Stopover. If you can spare a few hours or days in the emirate, they’ll arrange logistics plus discounted rates on attractions – theme parks, sunset cruises, desert safaris and more.
The most important thing? Make sure you’re back at the airport in time for your onward flight.
I’ll admit, long layovers in airports only – i.e. if you don’t think you have time to leave the airport – are usually not fun. Although, if you really don’t have time to leave the airport, I personally wouldn’t consider your layover all that long – in which case, go and grab a plate of something yummy and spend some time people-watching. Airports are one of the best places for it.
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Any Questions or Tips to add?