Jaunted

Tokyo Narita Layover

No list of major international hubs would be compete without Tokyo,  and transiting through Tokyo without leaving the airport would almost be a sin.   So where to go on a brief layover at Tokyo's main international airport of Narita.   Tokyo itself is easily two hours or more away, so why not enjoy the town Narita itself.

You can easily get from the airport into Narita is by train. The Keisei line has trains departing frequently from the basement of both terminals into Narita. Going in to town the trains begin at Terminal 1, stop at Terminal 2 and then the next stop Narita town station, about a 15 minute ride. On the return, make sure you get a train from Narita town to the airport terminals. Some trains from Narita go only to 'Higashi Narita' (East Narita), an airport stop for airport employees, not travelers.

Once in Narita, you must see the Narita-san Shinso-ji Temple and Park.   This temple is Tokyo's oldest, having been completed in 645.   To get there, exit the Keisei Line train stations walk straight past the bus station and turn right towards the main square.. Continue down the main road Omotesando Street, as it winds down hill for about  2/3's of a mile.  While on this street, you will have plenty of opportunity to go shopping, eat some local food, or just soak up the vibe of the city.   Where the road forks, stay to the right and you will pass the Narita Tourist Pavilion, followed by the Temple.

The temple itself is a variety of buildings set among traditional Japanese gardens.   Enjoy the largest pagoda, the Great Pagoda of Peace.

Retrace your steps back to the train station, and you can be back at the airport in under one hour.   In total, this layover can be completed in under four hours, and gives you a sense of both modern and ancient Japan.

Copenhagen or Uke?

I forgo shopping and sightseeing for my Ukulele. For my birthday, I bought a colorful, hardy uke from Flea and play it in a corner whenever I have 2 hours to spare. If comes with a super-cute denim carry case, and a book of chords to learn. It treats me much better than one more run to the Body Shop. Now I have taken to printing out the chords for 80s songs and putting on my own little retro show.

I love how playing the uke takes me out of the airport space, and relaxes me - when otherwise I would be grumbling or trying to take a nap on a gungey floor.

I think the music also helps cheer fellow passengers, and maybe even make a friend!

Layover Nation: Philadelphia International Airport

Once, I had an overnight layover at this place on my way to the Caribbean. Rather than getting a good night's sleep at an airport hotel (who wants that?), we hightailed it to Market East Station on the SEPTA and partied it up all night long.

We missed opening hours for the Liberty Bell, so we wandered around for a while listening to street preachers and watching people do breakdancing on the street. We made our way to the Delaware River, where there is a nice pedestrian friendly atmosphere, with a few skateboarders and lots of teenagers hanging around.

We ambled on down to South St., where we found authentic cheese steak sandwiches. This is the place where all types of people roam the streets on a rowdy weekend. Students, hipsters and any other kind of night owl, you'll find them all here. Retail stores are open pretty late, which includes an astounding array of sex stores.

If you're lucky, more often than not, there are also fantastic parades late at night around Broad St.

We managed to catch a Mardi Gras parade and wandered around all night with happy revelers. Jazz bands dressed up in shimmery costumes marched down the street. Every time they stopped, they'd quickly assemble an ad hoc stage which they pushed around on wheels, then put on five minute shows.  

We caught the first SEPTA train back to the airport and slept on the plane the whole way to St. Martin.

You could probably do this in about four hours, but for us, it was more like 12.

What makes this experience so great? Where else can you find spontaneous night parades besides Disney World? Where else can you shop for "bedroom novelties" with a cheese steak sandwich in your hand? Philadelphia is a great city, and you could never have a "boring" layover at this airport.  

Minneapolis, MN

(1) Minneapolis - St Paul Airport

(2) Everything you could ever want at the Mall of America

(3) There's a bus that leaves every few minutes and costs nothing. It takes you directly to the mall and the journey is only about 15 minutes.

(4) You need about 15 minutes to get to the Mall & back to the Airport again. So this is only good if you have over an hour layover.

(5) Want a massage? Haircut? Shop to your hearts content? Or ride on a roller coaster? Chill in the lounge? Hungry? You name it, the Mall of America has it! Best of all, the shopping is tax free! What a perfect escape from the airport.

LosAngels

 If you  are hungry,  like history, and old planes, the place to visit while on a layover from LAX  is the PROUD BIRD.   A few miles from the airport is the resturant on 11022 Aviation BLV .  It has many World war 2 era airplanes out side to view.  Inside are many pictures of pilots. As a bonus while you are eating you can watch planes take off and land from LAX.  The servings of the food were large and I thought excellent.  The prices were moderate.  I have recomended this place to serveral people who went there and loved it!

Logan International, Boston... or any other.

Most layover plans include visiting an airport lounge, club, store or restaurant. An extension of this is the listing or information generously supplied of many establishments and locations of a city that would be close to the airport or in very close proximity. Of course there is the ho hum boat, train, bus tour, trip to the market or shopping.  These would be considered tourist traps and most of the time will give you little difference in experience between city A and city B. When you mention you had a layover in a city to a friend upon you return home or to work it would be nice to be able to tell them something about it. The experience should not be primarily about something they can read about on the city's website or in a travel guide. What makes city A and city B different are the people. Average everyday people are your best resource to learn about a city. From there you learn the food, pace, significance, individuality and soul of a city.

So no matter where your layover is ask some sure fire local around the airport where the people are. A security guard, maintenance person and if necessary your cab driver. These people would all be locals. Tell them you do not want to go to a tourist trap as they probably will insist. Ask them to take you to or tell you about a safe place nearby that has lots of people. Once there, find a place to look ordinary and observe what people are doing. If the moment is right ask a few locals about the city, events, food, it's people. You will definately get a better sense of the city and learn vast amounts more than ever can be learned by any brochure or tour. More important, your experiences can be shared back home with a personalization that will not be matched by any other means. It is hard to predict the location in the city, the event, the food or person you will encounter...but that just may be the best part of the city after all.

San Francisco/SFO Layover

It's easy to understand why San Francisco is considered the most European U.S. city. There are many opportunities to enjoy this magical location on a short layover. The BART train has recently been extended to SFO so it is easy to jump on the train right at the airport and head up to San Francisco. I recommend taking a ferry tour to Alcatraz (approx. 2 hours) - you'll get some great views of the city and the Golden Gate Bridge as well. Then I recommend taking a walk from the ferry location to Fisherman's Wharf and getting some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Time permitting, grab a taxi and take a driving tour through North Beach, Chinatown and the famous curvy Lombard Street.

I'd model my behavior after ...

Taylor Kircher.  Why wait until midflight?  I'd get the party started in the terminal.

Jaunted Contest: Layover Nation

Round the world trip

I am a 747- 400 Captain with a major US Airline (been a pilot with them for almost 30 years) so I get around a bit. ( I also fly small planes)

Well, do you want this to be a speed trip or fun trip?

I assume starting out of NY, but you could do this from ORD, DTW, SFO or LAX too.

Route No 1:

If speed (fly east - better tail winds) fly CO from Newark to Mumbai, Mumbai to Singapore or Hong Kong, Singapore or Hong Kong to Newark (CO)(3 flights total). Plus a bit of time on the ground to "eat local."

If you go this route. On the way to the airport, bring a Pastrami sandwich from Katz's Deli in Manhattan.(Nothing more NY than a sandwich from Katz's. One of those sandwiches will keep you and your family for the 15 hour flight to Mumbai- and you wont have to eat the airline food)) In Mumbai take a taxi to Trishna's restaurant for one of the best meals in India (and go five minutes away to the Gateway of India (on the waterfront for a sunset photo before getting on your flight to Hong Kong. (If you must - a tea (or stiff drink across the road at the Taj hotel - is an elegant way to spend a few moments) In Hong Kong (if you have the kids, run over to Disney Land to relieve the stress of the long flights.(Its only 15 minutes from the HKG airport) Or Take the metro into Hong Kong Island. Then  the tram to the "Peak" for a killer Mai Tai while overlooking Hong Kong Harbor. And then Continental for the 15 hour flight back to EWR

Route No 2:

How about over both poles? (North and South) And you wont have to get a hotel room (If you dont want too.) All of the following flights are night flights! AA (or AR- Aerolineas Argentinas)) from JFK to Buenos Aries, Aerolineas Argentinas to Auckand New Zealand., Auckland to HKG (or Tokyo -NRT) and then HKG(or NRT)  to NYC. 4 flights. Again that pastrami sandwich from Katz's, Overnight flight to B.A. In BA take a taxi downtown for a fabulous steak meal and stroll in Palermo - one of the very "hip" neighborhoods of Buenos Aries. Taxi back to the airport. (The duty free shop in the Buenos Aries airport (EZE) has an excellent and very well priced shop for buying Argentine wines so pick up a few bottles (great gifts) as you wait for your flight). Fly over the South pole on Aerolineas Argentinas(overnight flight) to Auckland New Zealand. In Auckland take a taxi downtown for a great stroll. AKL to HKG or NRT (see above what to do in Hong Kong) In Tokyo's Narita Airport, take a bus or taxi (only 15 minutes away) to the nearby village of Narita and walk the gardens of the fabulous temple. There is one main street in the village and lots of very quaint real Japanese restaurants to choose from. Just walk it and view the menus Most have English menus)  and plastic replicas of the food  in the windows. Back to the airport for your afternoon nonstop flight over the North Pole to New York City. (As I write this I am flying from NRT to DTW  and am now over eastern Siberia at 33,000 feet Spectacular sunset and thousands of lakes to look at on this July afternoon)

If you like either routes contact me and I can give more specifics on restaurants and things to do. Just depends on how long you want to spend in each city.

This is something we pilots do on a regular basis

LAYOVER NATION CONTEST

This is a no-brainer.  You might as well stop the contest now and hand me the travel package!!

The airport is one of the worlds greatest if you have the dreaded yet omnipresent layover to deal with- Schiphol airport in Amsterdam.

If you're not too adventurous, and don't want to leave the confines of the airport itself, you could almost pull a Tom Hanks and just set up shop and live there, as it has everything you'd need and more to call it your home.  But.....

Stash your bags in a locker downstairs and head for the train station located directly in the airport just down the escalator.  In a matter of minutes (I think they come by every 15 minutes or so), jump the train for the 25 minute ride to Amsterdams Central station.  Part of the fun of this ride is people watching-you have no idea how many freaks converge on Amsterdam-but after seeing all the mohawks, purple hair, piercings, and tat's on that train and in the station-you'll have a pretty good idea...The entertainment, err, ride is cheap too. A few bucks for the round trip experience.,

Now here's where the fun starts on the layover. One hundred steps outside the train station and over the bridge to the left and you'd thought you've died and gone to Adult excess Disneyland.  Better hit one of those Amsterdam coffee shops for a 420 call before the city makes good on their threat to ban all smoking  (can they really do that, I mean, if it's just pot??!).  

Not into indulging?  Take a stroll around another Amsterdam landmark-yeah, the dreaded Red Light District- which is somehow convieniently located in exacly the same area!  Is "just looking" indulging?  You be the judge, that way it's not based entirely on the extra 100 bucks you do or do not have to burn in your pocket.  Rumor has it that this may be on it's way out, too.  You'd be one of those who could then look back and say, "I remember Amsterdam when...."

If all else fails you, all those pubs serve a pretty good pint of beer, and you'll be back to reality before the airport announcer can bellow "this is your final boarding call.."

It's so much fun, I seriously knew a guy who took the flight just to do what I outlined and then jumped back on the plane and went home.  End of entire trip.
Really.

Well, no, not really.  I just added that to see if you were still reading.

Which came first, the Turks or Caicos?              

Does my prize include sunsceen??

Tokyo Narita Layover > Fugu sushi

A great side trip would be to come into Tokyo and try the dangerous blowfish, or fugu.  Try the following restaurant:

Shunsagami
First established in 1936, Shunsagami has six branches in the Kanto area and serves over 60 different fugu dishes. By far, the best way to try fugu on their menu is the fugu-chiri. Try it with freshly made ponzu and fugu zosui afterwards.
Open 11am-10:30pm. Odakyu Manhattan Hills 13F, 1-1-3 Nishi Shinjuku. 03-3343-4885. Nearest stn: Shinjuku stn, west exit.

Fort Lauderdale layover

If you have about 6 hours, check out the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in nearby Hollywood.  Take a 1/2 hour cab ride and see all kinds of Native American history and folklore, then spend an hour or two in the huge casino and test your luck.  There are all kinds of stores, bars, restaurants at the foot of the multi-story casino hotel ( where Ann Nicole Smith died a year or so ago.)  Enjoy some time at the pool and soak up some Florida sunshine, then head back to the beautiful Fort Lauderdale airport refeshed, renewed, and maybe even more wealthy!  

Auckland International Airport

So Michael's been stuck on an airplane all day. It's been a long exhausting flight, which includes the person behind him kicking his chair, the guy next to him sneezing, and the kid in the front screaming the entire time. He's just about ready to jump out of the aircraft, when suddenly the heavenly voice of the pilot drifts over the intercom and announces "flight attendants prepare for landing." What could be worse - enduring his current conditions or landing, only to face an absurdly long layover? Lucky for Michael, the extended layover couldn't come at a better time or location. The Auckland Airport in New Zealand is the perfect place for Michael to find the necessary adventure to clear his head and forget about his long flight.

So what's so great about being in New Zealand with time to kill? Skydiving! New Zealand boasts some of the best views of mountains and oceans. Michael can schedule a tandem sky diving adventure with NZskydive Auckland (http://www.nzskydive.co.nz/auckland/tandem.html).
This company is located at 590 Koheroa Road Mercer New Zealand, which is only 40 to 45 minutes away from the heart of Auckland. This company provides a free shuttle service to and from the skydiving center from either Auckland or the Auckland International Airport. The tandem skydiving experience requires a 10 minute briefing, 20 minute flight, and finally the exhilarating jump itself. It is recommended to allow a few hours for the whole activity. With his limited time in New Zealand, there is no better way to enjoy the breathtaking scenery of Auckland than soaring freely over it.  

Once Michael has satisfied his urge to jump out of a plane, he can return to the airport having completed a fun, unique, and unforgettable experience - it's the perfect way to spend a 6 hour or so layover. And this time when he is back on the plane he can forget the small annoyances that surround him, sit back, relax, and remember the thrill of freefalling thousands of feet over the scenic New Zealand.