The Best Layover Cities In The World From Travel Experts

If you are trying to find the best flight deal on your travels, chances are more than once you’ve had to pick which city you want to spend a long, 6+ hour layover in. But instead of seeing it as an annoyance and hassle, why not make the layover an extended part of your journey by discovering the best layover cities in the world?

When I returned from Budapest to LA this May I spent six hours in Oslo, Norway. A 19-minute express train from the airport to the city center meant I could zip to Oslo, take in a few sights, have a meal, and get back with more than enough time for my second flight to LA.

Oslo Waterfront – Photo by Moyan Brenn via Flickr (since I had no camera in Oslo)

I loved this little excursion and wanted to start doing something similar on all my other trips as well. The only problem was, for many cities offered as layover options, I didn’t know how easy it would be. Did the airport have a good range of amenities? Quick and easy transport into the city center? Was the center easily walkable?

So I asked my favorite travel bloggers, writers, and photographers, which cities in the world they love to spend their time between flights in. Now next time you fly, you will know which are the best layover cities to add to your journey (a couple of East Asian airports especially seem preferred among travelers worldwide).

Best Layover Cities

1. Hong Kong International Airport (2x Choice!):

Ken Kaminesky (Ken Kaminesky Photography)

Inside Hong Kong International Airport – Photo by IQRemix via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

My favourite city for a layover is Hong Kong. The airport is one of the best in the world but what makes it special is the Cathay Pacific lounge! I always fly with Cathay Pacific to Asia if possible and their lounge at Hong Kong International Airport is the best I’ve ever seen. Showers, good food, complimentary massages, and more. Just what a weary traveller like me needs after a super long haul flight. I’m blessed to live a life well-travelled and grateful that there are companies like Cathay that value their customers to such a high degree. In fact, I’m heading to Cambodia tomorrow and thrilled to be stopping in Hong Kong for my layover on the way to Siem Reap.

Michael Hodson (Go See Write)

I tend to complain a lot about airports and layovers. There are, however, many airports that do everything they can to make your layover more comfortable and enjoyable. The best experience I had was in Hong Kong International Airport. If education is your thing and you want to stimulate your brain more than you want to get a hand massage, then you’ll really enjoy this airport. There’s shopping and dining, as usual, but there are also a lot of really interesting exhibits to experience and enjoy.

2. Singapore Changi Airport (2x Choice!):

Barbara Weibel (Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel)

Photo by Cheryl via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

Without a doubt, Singapore Changi Airport ranks as my favorite airport in the world for long layovers.

This airport is more like a destination than a transit hub. It provides free Wi-Fi, has an almost overwhelming array of dining choices, and even offers massage and reflexology services. Skytrains whisk passengers between terminals to view sculptures scattered throughout the airport and gardens that feature cactus, sunflowers, and orchids. Travelers with layovers of more than six hours can even take advantage of a free Singapore tour.

Kristin Addis (Be My Travel Muse)

It has fast, free Wi-Fi, a movie theater, and even a free tour of the city if your layover is a long one. It’s easily the best airport in the works for layovers!

3. Dubai International Airport: Liz Carlson (Young Adventuress)

Dubai at Night – Photo by Kemal Kestelli via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

My favorite city for layovers is Dubai. Usually I stop there on trips between New Zealand where I live, and Europe. Since it’s such a long journey and I hate to do back to back long haul flights, I try to stop there for a day or two to rest. Dubai is a city for comfort so I don’t feel pressure to go out and about and explore, but rather to relax in the nice hotels with spas and just chill, which is exactly what I need between trips. Also I usually do all of my shopping there for gear and clothes that I can’t find anywhere else. Dubai is perfect for stopovers and a place to indulge.

4. Keflavík International Airport, Reykjavik: Stephanie Yoder (Twenty-Something Travel)

Photo by Marco Bellucci via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

Keflavík is a really nice, safe, and clean airport where you can safely hang out for hours. It is kind of boring though, so I recommend taking a bus to the famous Blue Lagoon, a milky colored hot spring set against a barren moon-like landscape. Within the span of just a few hours you can visit one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions and get back in time for your flight!

5. Minneapolis – St. Paul International Airport: Gary Arndt (Everything, Everywhere)

Downtown Minneapolis – Photo by m01229 via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

Minneapolis. MSP is, in my opinion, the best airport in North America. It has great restaurants and many options. If you have a really long layover, you can also take a light rail train from the airport to the nearby Mall of America, which is less than 10 minutes away.

6. Istanbul Atatürk Airport: Earl Baron (Wandering Earl)

Photo by Moyan Brenn via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

With either a 45 minute shuttle ride to Taksim Square or 45 minutes on the metro/tram to reach Sultanahmet, you have excellent food, fascinating sights, interesting neighborhoods and markets, shisha cafes, shops, museums, bars and more are all right there, ready to fill up the hours you have between flights.

7. Prague, Václav Havel Airport: Ivana & Gianni (Nomad is Beautiful)

Photo by Moyan Brenn via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

You get from the airport to the heart of the city in half an hour easily by bus and metro. Even if it’ll be difficult to avoid crowds in the very center of Prague, especially if you visit it only for a few hours, it’s definitely worth to roam in the gardens near Petrin, in Letna park, Prague’s Castle and the Lesser Town district.  

8. Bangkok, Suvarnabhumi Airport: Melvin Boecher (TravelDudes)

Photo by Greg Knapp via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

My favorite layover city is Bangkok, as that city just gets you. Usually travelers who come here first enjoy their stay a lot, but also don’t mind to leave again after 2-3 days. The city is full of culture, friendly people and yummy food. But it also provides lots of traffic, smog and some scams. So a few days gives you a great first feeling for the city and then you can head on to your next destination. This could be in Thailand itself, in the surrounding countries or even further away, as Bangkok has good flight connections all over the world. And my experience is, the more often you visit and explore Bangkok, the more you will fall in love with the city and could stay a complete holiday alone in the “City of Angels”.

9. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: Spencer Spellman (Whiskey Tango Globetrot)

Photo by Moyan Brenn via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

The reason I love layovers in Amsterdam is two-fold. One is that theoretically, you could be into the heart of Amsterdam in 20-30 minutes from the airport, since the core of Amsterdam is less than 10 miles from the airport (rare for most cities). However, additionally, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is one of my favorite airports. You’ve got a couple of different spas, a museum, casino, and a number of great bars and restaurants, such as East Bar & Bites, which I particularly like for their sake cocktail menu.

10. London Heathrow Airport: Ayngelina Brogan (Bacon is Magic)

There is so much to see, do and eat. There are great airport lounges and spa services but I also love shopping at Boots so I’m happy to stopover and spend an hour browsing around. But most of all I like Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant Plane Food, it’s a great dining room and very reasonably priced.

11. Shanghai Pudong International Airport: Laurence Norah (Finding the Universe)

Photo by hans-johnson via Flickr/CC BY 4.0

The city is very easy to get to from the airport, and in fact the mode of transport is one of my favorite things – it’s the fastest train in the world. Then the city itself is very easy to explore, you can sight see for as long or as short as you like, and if you get tired  there is no shortage of tea houses to relax in!

Layover Tips & Lessons

With layovers, ALWAYS make sure to watch the clock, as Dan & Audrey (Uncornered Market) warn:

Layover in Barcelona. Can’t check-in for 3 hours. What to do? Head into town, hit the streets, and have a tapas-filled lunch of roulette peppers (every 100th one is hot!), fried artichokes and a bevy of local fish. Then soak up the streets and color, hop the bus back to the airport and hope they’re ready to take you to your destination — which on our last stop there was Bogota, Colombia.

We had about 6 hours. We arrived at terminal T2, but were departing from T1. So we took the shuttle there to leave luggage and get a lay of the land. Glad we did, because that removed an unknown. Took the bus into town. Had a couple of hours. We focused on lunch and walking neighborhoods, including Ribera. When we returned by bus, we were just under 3 hours from our flight departure. We’d already checked in online, so removed that variable. After security, we ended up at our gate with 1hr, 40 mins. Audrey even tried to get a manicure at the lounge, but time was tight and staff bounce between lounges. Outside of that, we found our gate area sparse, so we’re glad we popped into downtown Barcelona.

And keep an eye out for Layover Perks: Alyssa Ramos (My Life’s a Movie)

When I think of making the best out of long layovers, I always suggest finding flights with the longest layover (if a long layover is inevitable) so that you can possibly go see a little bit of the city. I did that during my flight to South Africa with a layover in Dubai. I chose the longest layover which was 8 hours (it also made the flight cheaper), and the airline even gave us a free hotel to shower and relax in while we waited!

What’s your favorite layover city? Have you ever had a great layover experience? Share below!

photos by: & , , , , , Moyan_Brenn 

Source: http://www.losethemap.com/

Prague: Finding A New Edge

Fresh start: Muj šálek kávy, a speciality coffee shop in Karlín. Photograph: Ondrej Horak

With Old Prague now tourist central, David Farley follows local artists and hipsters to the Czech capital’s newly transformed outer neighbourhoods

The barista with the Salvador Dalí moustache refused to bring milk for my coffee. “Trust me,” he said, adjusting his man-bun. “It’s much better this way.” The snobbery didn’t surprise me. What did was that it happened in Prague, a place where, until the end of the last decade, coffee was little more than sludge. Even more shocking was that this was the Karlín district, a once-crime-ridden part of town closest to the Križíkova metro station that, until recently, offered little reason to visit. I was at Muj šálek kávy, one of a handful of speciality coffee spots sprinkled throughout the city. But a lot more than coffee culture has changed in the Czech capital.

When I lived in the Czech capital for three years in the mid-1990s, I spent my nights in the central Old Town and Malá Strana districts, where all the best places to eat, drink and shop existed. Now the centre of Prague, while still one of the most beautiful cities in the world, has given way to the march of mass tourism, and its denizens have retreated to the outer neighbourhoods. And although it’s hard for anywhere else in the city to compete with the aesthetics of Charles Bridge, Prague Castle and Old Town Square, I yearned for the other Prague, the one where locals – hipsters, scenesters and even coffee snobs – hung out.

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 ‘Crammed with Art Nouveau and neo-classical buildings, some in need of love more than others’: the colourful Vršovice neighbourhood. Photograph: Alamy

I began my search in Vršovice (pronounced Vir-sho-veetz-say), a neighbourhood that is a 15-minute tram ride from the centre of town. I lived here for about two years and, at the time, found little to entice me, save the bed I passed out in after a long day at work. At first sight, it looks no different from before. Set on a downward slope, Vršovice is crammed with Art Nouveau and neo-classical buildings, some in need of love more than others. The cobblestones are uneven. Many of the streets have an intriguing curve to them. And then you see a shaggy-haired 25-year-old guy in skinny jeans come around the corner and enter what appears to be a vegan restaurant called Plevel. Later, you walk into a café and hear indie bands seeping from the speakers.

My home on this visit was the Czech Inn, a quasi-industrial hotel that towers at the top of Krymská Street, maybe the hippest lane in the city. I met up with Ondrej Kobza, the owner of Café V Lese, the place that got Vršovice’s metamorphosis going. “After I opened Café V Lese five years ago,” said Kobza, who appears to be the unofficial mayor of the town, “I recruited my friends to open up places in the neighbourhood. Soon enough Plevel opened, then Družina, a creative arts studio moved in. That attracted a lot of artists. And it just kept going.”

Kobza always had his sights on more than just cafés. A couple of years ago they shut down the street to traffic and had a day-long party. He put a piano out for anyone to play. Now Kobza has placed pianos all around the city. His next project is public chess tables. “We have to reimagine the city to our liking and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

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 ‘Wes Anderson chic’: Sladkovsky bar and cafe, which does a mean goulash. Photograph: Alamy

Later that night I popped into Café Sladkovsky – a pub/café bedecked in old photographs and kitsch wallpaper that could be described as Wes Anderson chic – and ordered goulash. This was a slightly different take on the traditional Czech dish, with boar instead of beef, and a potato pancake in place of the usual dumplings. It was a delicious twist on the original.

The next day, I walked across the Vinohrady and Žižkov neighbourhoods, a pleasant 25-minute stroll, to get to Karlín. Many of my Czech friends in their 30s and 40s had told me they had been hanging out here a lot lately. And so I came to Muj šálek kávy, the coffee spot that frowns upon the marriage of milk and coffee, to meet up with Jan Valenta and Zuzi Danková. They run Taste of Prague, a popular food-themed walking tour.

“The first time I noticed something going on in this neighbourhood was five years ago when this café opened up,” said Jan. But Zuzi pointed out that the area’s regeneration really goes back to the 2002 when the nearby Vltava river flooded, taking out centuries-old buildings and leaving the place practically abandoned. “That made property values very affordable and quickly there were a lot of new investments along the river.”

The office buildings make Karlín feel like an adult version of Vršovice: during the day, upwardly mobile office workers flood the area’s cafés and restaurants. At Garage, a diminutive eatery, I dined on the Canadian snack poutine (French fries smothered in gravy). The owner told me this used to be a rough neighbourhood, “but the floods washed away everything, even the bad parts.”

The liveliest place in the neighbourhood, Lokál, a gastropub, was packed every night; Veltlin, a bar that only serves wine made from within the old border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was similarly crowded. But you sensed a difference in the clientele: while the younger locals might gravitate to Vršovice, if you’re over 30, Karlín could be more your style. It certainly was for me – at least, once I’d learned to stop taking milk in my coffee.

Essentials

Flights from London Heathrow to Prague with British Airways (britishairways.com) start from £50 each way. At Czech Inn, dormitory beds start from £4, rooms with a shared bathroom start at £32, and rooms with a private bathroom start at £35 (czech-inn.com)

By David Farley

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Five Recommended Value Destinations In Europe

City breaks in Europe are a popular type of holiday for those on a tight budget and many cities off the beaten track have lots to offer travelers.

Eastern Europe is particularly affordable and a long weekend in countries such as Bulgaria, Poland and Croatia definitely does not have to break the bank.

Here are five of the best for an affordable city break:

Budapest

Historic Hungarian capital Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities in the whole of Europe. Famous for its thermal spas and gourmet pastries, Budapest is a city that is definitely on the up.

Condé Nast Traveler has named Budapest the world's second best city and it boasts an extensive World Heritage Site, which takes in locations such as the banks of the River Danube and Heroes' Square.

Budapest is also renowned for its unique cuisine and strong café culture, while visitors should visit some of the Danube's seven islands, the best of which is perhaps Margaret Island, with its lovely park.

Prague

Prague may well be the cheapest city in Europe for food and drink, so a long weekend in the capital of the Czech Republic can be easily done on a small budget.

The city has countless top cultural attractions to explore too - there is too much to fit into one trip - but must-see sights include Old Town Square and the Prague astronomical clock, Prague Castle and Charles Bridge.

With very diverse nightlife options, city breaks in Prague are particularly suited to younger travellers but there are lots of museums, galleries and theatres to enjoy for the older crowd too. Czech beer is famous around the world and Prague is undoubtedly the best place to sample it.

Sofia

Sofia is the second oldest city in all of Europe but is enjoying a sudden boost in popularity. The National Literature Museum and the Museum of Socialist Art are two of the most important cultural locations in the city, which also hosts the National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria.

Among Sofia's UNESCO World Heritage sites are the Boyana Church, while those interested in religious buildings should also take time to visit Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which can hold as many as 10,000 people.

Sofia also has a completely unique atmosphere and its location at the foot of the Vitosha mountain gives the city a very special feel.

Zagreb

Croatia's capital city has a rich history and its museums are the envy of the whole of Europe. Zagreb is also famous for its INmusic festival, which takes place in the middle of the summer and attracts some of the biggest names in music each year.

Among the best tourist attractions the city has to offer is the Maksimir Park & Zoo, which is just a ten-minute tram ride out of the centre. Seals, sea lions and otters are among the zoo's many animals, while this part of the city is also home to Croatia's national football stadium, where Dinamo Zagreb play their home matches.

Warsaw

Warsaw has long been one of the most popular affordable city breaks in Europe.

The Polish city is known around the world for its unique nightlife, with countless pubs and bars to choose from. Revellers are advised to head to the courtyard in Listopada, which is where the amazing alternative club Hydrozagadka can be found.

Warsaw has lots to offer during the day too, with royal art collections and a series of fascinating museums to explore. A walking tour through Warsaw's historic Old Town is also a great way to get a feel for the city and learn about its past.