Arriving in Europe dead tired at 7AM their time, what to do? (hotel, vacation)

[Tallybalt]

From his previous descriptions of alleged trips to Europe I get the distinct impression he's only watched movies about travel in Europe in the 1970s and made up his posts based on what he saw in those movies.

Originally Posted by STT Resident

Why are you now even asking the question? According to numerous other posts you profess to be widely traveled and have visited Europe "many many times". Given all your alleged experience with international travel you should by now have all the answers. But then your hyperbole apparently knows no bounds as your new thread count rises.

[rational1]

> I get the distinct impression he's only watched movies about travel in Europe

Could be. For those who actually want to know, however-

Jet lag is inevitable when travelling by plane. (North-south trips excepted). It really IS a good idea to stay awake and moving and to eat meals approximately at the correct times. Research says this (along with sun exposure!) helps reset the biological clock.

My personal approach: walk around a lot, outdoors, try to get as much sun exposure as possible. Cafes can be good for this. Eat lunch outdoors if practical. Have an early dinner, go to bed early but not too early (8-9 PM isn't too bad). Take melatonin at bedtime to reduce the tendency to wake up at 3 AM. Bring a book just in case I DO wake up at 3 AM.

And use an alarm clock so I don't miss the free breakfast.

[james777]

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

So, with a sleeping pill and some alcohol I will be able to sleep on the plane during the overnight flight sitting up in economy class and arrive at Europe feeling great ready to walk the street until mid afternoon when my room is ready?

My, my, certainly a lot of naysayers here who are thinking the OP is making this up. I have the same problem as I find it impossible to sleep on those overseas night flights, and even worse, I quickly become dehydrated. I have never had this problem in many trips to Europe in the past, but when one gets a little older, it becomes a much bigger problem. You have deprived yourself of a night of sleep; it is no big deal when you are in your twenties, but it cannot be ignored when you are near retirement age.

My solution is to go with the flow, that is don't attempt to fight your body clock. Stay away from all alcohol as it will only mess up your metabolism. Don't attempt to sleep, and don't take anything to make you sleep. Instead, drink some coffee to stay awake and take an earlier flight, one leaving at 3:30pm or 4pm or 5pm, rather than one that leaves at 9pm or 10:30pm. That way you will stay awake the entire flight and get to Europe between 10pm and 11:30pm NYC time, and the time change will be no more stressful than staying up to watch the news at 11pm. Then you will need to go to sleep, so it is up to you to find accommodations that will accommodate your hours. That should not be hard to do considering all of the options available, big hotels, small hotels, bed and breakfasts, pensions, etc. Just make sure they know your needs when you make your reservation before you leave home. This is what I do and I travel on a budget, so I don't go to a relaxing airline club room that costs a fortune to get into, or use those quickie hotels inside airports.

The one thing you don't want to do is catch a train or connecting flight to another city after you land there in the morning. I did that with no sleep on the plane with disastrous results.

As another poster above mentioned, there are some daytime flights to London leaving about 9am. That would be ideal as they arrive about 9pm and you could go directly to your hotel and by the next morning already be adjusted to their time, which a night flight would not allow you to do. However they are only on American Airlines, and they only go between JFK and Heathrow. At least that was the case in the past, maybe there are others now and I don't know what this American Airlines merger has brought about. I think those are your best bet, even if you have to stay overnight in NYC to be at JFK early to catch one of those flights.

[Davy-040]

Alprazolam is the answer

[FlyMIA]

Try to sleep on the plane or just be a grown up about it. Get some coffee, walk around, I have been up for over 24hours numerous times. Recently 28hrs going to Hong Kong.

If you are very worried about this issue you can try to get on one of the few flights from the U.S. East Coast which arrives in Europe in the evening. London has a few of these, spend the night in London and fly out the next morning. Or make sure you hotel will have a room ready on arrival, or get on the latest possible departure from the U.S.

Take something to get some sleep on the plane. Wake up early on the morning you leave so you will be tired. Just some Benadrly should do the trick if you are tired. Sleep 3-4 hours should be enough to help you last through the day in Europe.

[annerk]

This one is easy. Book a day room that will allow you to stay until 2:00-4:00 pm, or if you have status with a hotel group that gives late check out, book a room for the night before with them (be sure to let them know in advance that you won't be arriving until the next morning) and stay in the room until check out.

Recently did this at an inter-Continental. Arrived around 6:30 am with many other weary travelers. We were the envy when we were given the keys to our room and the others were told check in was at 3:00 pm.

We went upstairs, slept for a few hours, showered, and had a great day.

[Ghengis]

go to the nearest Au Bon Pain and have a krooooo-zant, then catch one of those foreign language films they specialize in at a movie theatre and have a nap.

it's all about the planning

[boxus]

Why in the heck would you book a room that does not allow for you to check-in when you arrive?

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

So we checked our bags and walked the streets of an empty Paris on a Sunday Morning in the cold rain. Nothing was open.

Congratulations. You experienced Paris on the one and only Sunday morning when nothing was open. The last date that happened was June 14, 1940 and the Nazi's were marching into the city.

I hope you took lots of pictures.

[PJSaturn]

Originally Posted by I'm Retired Now

So, with a sleeping pill and some alcohol I will be able to sleep on the plane during the overnight flight sitting up in economy class and arrive at Europe feeling great ready to walk the street until mid afternoon when my room is ready?

You just need to decide in advance whether it would be worth it for you. If not, don't take an overnight flight or do book your room for the previous night so you can check in immediately.

Last October, I visited Europe with friends for the first time. We left Chicago around 6:30 p.m. and arrived in Brussels around 9 a.m. We went directly to our hotel, left our luggage in a closet they provided until we could check in at 4 p.m., and went to explore the city on foot. I was so pumped about the trip that, even though I was tired from not having slept on the plane, all I could think of was how grateful I was to have such a wonderful opportunity to travel. After we walked around for a few hours, had a Belgian waffle () and gawked at the beautiful architecture, we headed back to the hotel, checked in around 4 p.m., took a brief nap, and we were good to go for the rest of the evening. The ages in our group were 52-59, so it's not as though we were youngsters at the time.

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