What to do when you have a looong layover (let's say 10h) in Schiphol, Amsterdam's airport?
Let's see... If you get there real early, say at sunrise, after having spent a sleepless night on an 8 1/2h flight, then you might be happy to find a lounge area like this right when you exit your plane into the transit terminal!
Those chairs have different sizes, big people, small people or double spaced. The latter is perfect to curl up using your backpack as a pillow to snooze for a while!
Once you've caught up a bit on your missing sleep, you could choose to leave your hefty carry-on in a locker and exit the airport to head downtown to explore the city.
Well, you could if you weren't coming from tropical Africa and flying to an Indian summer in Mediterranean Spain and weren't wearing rather light-weight clothing totally unadapted to the cold, grey, rainy day outside... :p There are a few clothes shops... but way too pricy to simply get warm in an airport.
In that case, well the best bet is to explore the airport! For example find a nice spot for a solid breakfast, 'cause we all know the "dinner" and "breakfast" you were served on the plane were... well, underwhelming would be a nice way of putting it.
So, how does breakfast in a teapot sound?
Of course, if you're traveling alone then you can also spend some time immersing yourself in a bubble and catching up with a favoured TV show on your laptop. ;o)
After recharging those batteries, one could decide to lighten the weight in one's wallet either in the Casino,
or doing some shopping! Plenty of local souvenirs to choose from,
as well as travel gadgets galore,
or even tulips!
Of course there's the usual duty free shops with clothes, alcohol, perfumes and chocolates etc... and of course my favourite: shops with books! ;o)
Too much shopping? Hungry again? In the EU-flights section there's a fabulous round food court with plenty to choose from! Veggies? Asian? Italian? Sandwiches? And of course a BK. :p
Do you want to rest some more? Find another lounge,
get a massage...
or even check into a hotel!
In any case make sure you keep your eye on the screens so you don't miss your flight!!!
Worried about your phone / computer battery not lasting the day? Not to worry! There are plenty of places to recharge all over the place. :o)
Finally, at the end of a looong day you spot your airplane out the window and are simply relieved to board and sit back and enjoy your book on the flight home.
At least you were in a decent airport for wandering around. I would have definitely wanted a plateful of Dutch pancakes.
ReplyDeleteTrue! It was a good compensation after spending 2h in the airport in Kigali with nothing to do at the beginning of the journey. Ic couldn't even eat at the one food place in the airport because their credit card machine was broken and they only accepted cash in USD or Rwandan francs, no euros! So I spent a very hungry evening waiting to board my flight to Amsterdam and then waiting for dinner to be served on the plane... :p
DeleteWell that is a nice looking airport and it doesn't look like a crowded mess like O'Hare in Chicago always is. And it looked clean too.
ReplyDeleteBut 10 hours? Ugh. I'd be going crazy.
It was really nice! The EU-flights section much more so than the rest which is currently being renovated, but even that section had plenty to keep you busy. Only problem is the design. It's rather "long" from one end to the other, with a zig-zaggy shape. On the flight out I landed at a gate at one end and had a short layover to catch a flight at the very opposite end... was quite a sprint! :p
DeleteAnd whenever I've been in the Netherlands things have always been very clean.