Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Travel advice please-London to New Zealand
We are planning a family(couple) visit to relations in New Zealand probably just after Christmas for about four weeks. Time is not a problem. People have suggested taking a break in the flight to spend some time in Asia etc This sounds like a good idea, partly to spread out the jetlag horror but also to have an extra holiday for not much extra cost. Not really interested in North America. Anyone got any experience or suggestions of good places to visit/stop off?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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Depends on what city experience you like Philip. Busy & a bit chaotic try Hong Kong or Bangkok. A bit more sedate go for Singapore or possibly Seoul or Kuala Lumpur. Even Tokyo. You certainly have a lot of choice! Hong Kong would be my choice but I've not tried the newer airport which is further out. Here's the old one :)
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Looks like an approach guaranteed to lose you a flaperon or two.
OK, I knew about flaps and ailerons already, so now I'm qualified to fly to Kuala Lumpur.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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I've made this journey numerous times, though not recently. Doing it in one go, which is possible, is cheaper and takes a bit less time. However, at the other end, you'll end up dropping off in mid-afternoon and wake up in the middle of the night, raring to go. And generally wacked for a few days.
It's said that for every (single) time zone crossed at speed, one needs a day to recover.
If you have the time and money, break the journey at about half-way, for a least a day and preferably for several days.
If you you want to do it in one go and be held for two or more hours somewhere as a transit passenger, avoid Los Angeles. You'd still have to go through immigration control and the demeanour of their officers goes before them. And before you have the privilege of having about four fingerprints taken, you need to stand in shuffling queue for up to an hour. When you feeling tired.
LA is a great city to visit (you'd need to rent a car), but for a transit passenger only, everywhere else is more hospitable.
The polar opposite land to NZ is Spain, so you can appreciate that almost anywhere in the world is en route. The main decision is whether to fly from London via North America or via Asia.
On the side of Asia, I've flown via several of the alternative half-way points: Tokyo; Hong Kong and Singapore, all of which are worth visiting.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Well maybe it will be $3 to the pound by Christmas. I've seen that flying from Dublin is about 3/4 the price of flying from Heathrow. That saves you an entire airfare on a family of four so you can afford to buy me a ticket for this advice ;)
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I flew with Korean airlines...12hrs to Seoul, one hr to stretch your legs and get on the next flight and then 12hrs to Auckland. Very spacious seats, much more comfortable than any other airline I'd flown long haul with and they include Singapore Airline, Cathay Pacific, Qatar & BA. On the way back we had an overnight stop in Seoul and the airline provide the hotel with evening meal and breakfast. Couldn't recommend them highly enough except if you are vegetarian (as I am) bring food - they can't identify what the meal is coming out from Seoul (in both directions) and neither could I. The food from London and Auckland was fine though and the meat/fish eaters all looked happy.
My biggest tip is bring a small pillow or a few inflatable ones, it helps me significantly as my back/bum starts to hurt after a few hours of sitting still.
If you really want a stop off Matt is spot on with his summary from my experience but I'd always vote for HK if you have the energy and Singapore if you don't. I didn't see any of Seoul except lots of bridges...it was December and minus 20 so I only ventured outside for a cigarette.
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The new HK airport replaced the need to land at the hair-raising old Hong Kong airport in Kowloon Bay, whereby airliners had to execute a sharp right turn in front of a hill, immediately before a seriously short final approach.
Here on youtube is what it looked like from the ground with a Concorde turning in like a jet fighter. Little margin for error; spectacular but risky.
The new Hong Kong airport is also built on reclaimed land besides an island (near Hong Kong Island). By contrast, it also has to be one of the world's finest airports, built without any compromise and a model for Boris Island.
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We had a fantastic experience going via Singapore Airlines (they set the bar for economy class travel in my personal experience so far) and breaking the journey in both directions in Singapore (which we mostly filled with great eating). Singapore is extremely easy (as mentioned above) and can be a good base for a side trip into Malaysia as well. The journey is so long it's really good to have an extended break off the plane. I didn't have quite as good an experience as Sarah_24 on Korean Airlines.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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Singapore airlines is my preference too - for straight through to Christchurch it's the quickest way. On the way back for some reason there tends to be a six hour wait in Singapore, so that's when I'd break it up with an overnight stay if I could.
I did have an overnight in Tokyo once (flying Air NZ I think). I'll probably do that again one day.
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Reviews I've seen for the new HK airport (esp stopovers) aren't encouraging at all. Changi at Singapore on the other hand is how all airports should be - includes butterfly garden :)
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When I had a six hour stop there (Changi) I checked myself into one of the lounges, had some food, a massage, a shower.. bliss (actually the message was brutal but it kept me awake). You can also pack your swimsuit in your hand luggage and have a swim.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Well, if you,have the time I have a friend who has only just reached NZ and not once set foot on a plane. Trains to Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Moscow, Ulan Bator, Beijing and Shanghai. Then cargo ships to Taiwan, the Phillipines, Papua New Guinea, some where in northern Australia (Darwin?) and finally NZ. Only took four months and he reported no jet lag.
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I stopped in bankok and loved it. Loads to see and quite cheap.
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