{"id":719,"date":"2017-02-16T18:15:57","date_gmt":"2017-02-17T02:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.asideofsunsets.com\/?p=719"},"modified":"2017-02-16T18:15:57","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T02:15:57","slug":"making-the-most-of-a-long-layover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/16\/making-the-most-of-a-long-layover\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the Most of a Long Layover"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I booked my first trip that had an extended layover in London, I knew I had to get out of the airport. One of my best friends from college had been living there for 8 years, and while we had traveled the world together, I had never been to London while she lived there. I started researching what I could do with an eight hour layover and came across many forums warning people not to bother leaving the airport, it\u2019s too far, just stay in the lounge, etc. etc.<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, I was determined, so I bought the more expensive Heathrow Express train ticket and found myself in Central London in no time. I had plenty of time to run around and quickly see the sights, have a delicious brunch, and enjoy some beers in Covent Garden. \u00a0After that I was sold on long layovers.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid grid_id=&#8221;vc_gid:1487297397247-3b2ab382-3eeb-9&#8243; include=&#8221;727,726,724&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are some things I would consider when deciding if you\u2019ll be leaving the airport or not:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What time is your layover? (a 12 hour layover during the day is far different than a 12 hour layover overnight) <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How far is the airport from the city you want to explore? <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How long does it take to get to where you want to explore?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you have to get your checked luggage and then recheck your bag?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or if you\u2019re carrying on, where is the luggage storage?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve determined it makes sense to leave the airport and explore I always prefer to have some idea of what I want to see and do. On a 17-hour overnight layover in Tokyo I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the city. We decided to explore just a handful of neighborhoods and felt like we saw a lot in a short amount of time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Things we accomplished in 17 hours:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Took the train into the city (chose the neighborhood of Shinjuku due to it\u2019s central location and ease of getting from the airport)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ate sushi<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Checked out the giant crosswalks and famous statue of the dog, Haichiko in Shibuya<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ate ramen<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wandered around the little alleyways and tiny bars of Golden Gai<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Had some cocktails<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the way back we had a 6 hour layover so spent some time in much closer, Narita. We ate some sticky buns, more ramen, had personalized chopsticks made (tourist alert!) and checked out some temples.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Took a shower and got some sleep<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spent the morning at the Meiji Shrine near Harajuku<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid element_width=&#8221;6&#8243; gap=&#8221;10&#8243; grid_id=&#8221;vc_gid:1487297434734-814b9500-3197-2&#8243; include=&#8221;725,722&#8243;][vc_media_grid element_width=&#8221;6&#8243; gap=&#8221;10&#8243; grid_id=&#8221;vc_gid:1487297459027-8396eb72-d728-9&#8243; include=&#8221;721,723&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A year later I was in a similar situation in Shanghai. An overnight layer on the way to Hong Kong and an afternoon layover on the way home. This time I was able to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take in the beautiful skyline at night and during a bright, sunny day<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Head to 86th floor of the Hyatt Jin Mao for drinks and (some) views &#8211; it was pretty smoggy up there<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enjoy authentic Chinese food<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wander around The Bund<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visit Yu Yuan Garden<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8230;and of course sleep and shower!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid grid_id=&#8221;vc_gid:1487297488004-4f20b5e3-1fd4-6&#8243; include=&#8221;728,729,730&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now I am not only determined to make the most of any long layover, I actually look for them when booking flights! Where\u2019s your favorite long layover or stopover you\u2019ve been?<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When I booked my first trip that had an extended layover in London, I knew I had to get out of the airport. One of my best friends from college had been living there for 8 years, and while we had traveled the world together, I had never been to London while she lived there. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,13],"tags":[27,28,29,124,125,126,140,181,196,200],"class_list":["post-719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-places","category-tips","tag-24-hours","tag-36-hours","tag-48-hours","tag-layover","tag-london","tag-long-layover","tag-narita","tag-shanghai","tag-the-layover","tag-tokyo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.asideofsunsets.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}