My family and I will be off to our first African hunt next March to South Africa.

All the affordable flight options include a long layover in either Paris, London or a couple of German cities.

My question is, how difficult is it to leave the airport, go sight-seeing and then return for our flight to Jburg?

Is it as simple as walking out and then walking back in (through security, of course)?

Or is it better to just camp out in the airport for 8 hours?

Doable in London with public transport

Very doable in London with the tubes. If you haven't been there, there is a lot to see.

You already know a form of the language they speak so communication would probably be easier than the other locations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/tr...nloads/tube_map.html

https://www.google.com/maps/pl...5:0x52963a5addd52a99



An example of what you could do if landing at Heathrow:

Take the blueline to South Kensington. Transfer to the greenline. (Google London tube map)Get off at Westminster. You will be across the street from Parliament and Big Ben. The London Eye is right across the bridge. Westminster Abbey is a block away. Buckingham Palace is a 1k walk. You should be able to do all of that in the time you have.

All the best.

You can do the same in Paris. Train ride into town, pop out near Notre Dame. Then we took a red tourist bus around to get an overview. Hopped off at a few sights then back on for the rest of the tour.

There is a luggage locker you can leave your carry-on bags at the airport.

All the info is on the internet.

i have done it in Paris and London. no problems at all. at Heathrow you catch the express to Paddington Station. can't remember the exact routing in Paris but bottom line is there is a train that discharges at the Arche de Triomphe( at least there was 6-7 years ago and i doubt it has changed). for sure there is a train that carries you to downtown Paris.

Or just rest, clean up and chill in a day hotel. No stress and you will be glad you did when you land in Joberg

No problem in Frankfurt. We hopped the train to downtown where we ate wurst, drank a few beers, shopped a bit, and enjoyed seeing the sights.

Although lots of people do as Bill Collector suggests and get a hotel room to sleep, I think it's a really bad idea. If you stay active all day during your layover you'll sleep much better on the long flight from Europe to Africa and will be better adjusted to the time change. When your plane lands in Africa in the early morning it will seem like the early morning and you'll be ready for breakfast and not dinner.

quote:

Is it as simple as walking out and then walking back in (through security, of course)?

It is that simple.

As to whether it would be wise to sightsee during an eight hour layover, I would consider what time of day you will be in a city. When I travel to our London office there is a huge difference between the "rush" and getting about in the middle of the day or other off peak hours. The Tube gets packed with commuters, and street traffic is very slow during rush.

The time between clearing customs upon arrival and the check-in for your next flight may end up shorter than your needs if you are delayed while sightseeing.

Frankfurt is a much easier situation than London.

It's very simple to leave the airport, don't waste 8hrs there! There's so much to see and do in these places in that length of time. How often do you get a chance to be in a city like these? Customs is a breeze both coming and going. I found London to be the easiest only because everything is in English. Plenty to see and do in all the places though. In Germany you can take a train to one of the nearby towns and tour around on foot. I like Mainz in Germany, it's a short ride, beautiful old architecture, especially the old cathedrals. London you can take a train but I like the curb side cab service. They'll take you wherever you want to go, the black cab ride is a tour in itself. Museum of natural history in London is a must see, I have a 9 hour layover in London this Wednesday and thats where I'm headed.

and there is a tube station about 2 blocks from the museum entrance. don't forget to see the Kilimonjoro(sp?) tusks.

I'd almost book a flight like this, as I miss London. I love history and it's hard to beat there.

London and Amsterdam both have trains in the airport terminal. Very easy to go through passport control and exchange some currency and take a train to town for sightseeing. Amsterdam requires you to ask people questions about what train to take etc. since all the signs are in Dutch. But that is not a problem. Just pick college age people to ask and they will probably speak enough English to help you.

I found that just saying "Good morning, can you help me?" worked well. As soon as they heard my accent they switched to English.

It's been a long time since I went through UK on the way to Africa so I cant say what a train ticket costs but it is not much. In Amsterdam it was about $10 for a day pass.

Another incentive to see something in Germany if you go that way; Frankfurt Airport is quite possibly the most boring place in the world :-(