Stuck on a layover at the San Diego International Airport (SAN) in southern California? Located roughly three miles from downtown San Diego, the city is an accessible destination for those stuck on long layovers.  If you’re trying to determine whether you can leave the airport during your North Carolina layover, click here for useful tips.

If you’re stuck inside the San Diego airport during your layover, you can take advantage of the passenger services available including a variety of restaurants and eateries, and local and national brand shops – a directory of the shops and restaurants can be found here. In addition, new dining and shopping options will be available at the airport at the end of 2012. The airport also hosts rotating art exhibits, and free Tarmac Tours of the airport and airfield (sign up for a tour online).

There are a number of lounges available at the San Diego International Airport including the American Airlines Admirals Club in Terminal 2 inside security (800.237.7971), the Delta Crown Room in Terminal 2 between gates 37 and 38 (800.221.1212), the United Red Carpet Room in Terminal 1, Mezzanine Level (619.231.5692), and the Neil Ash USO Center on the ground level of Terminal 1.

For great parking deals at SAN, CLICK HERE!

If you have time to leave the San Diego airport during your layover, there are a number of transportation options including car rental and taxis. There are a few public transportation options including Amtrak and Coaster, Metro Bus, and Trolley service.

If you have an overnight layover in San Diego and are looking for a place to spend the night, click here for a comprehensive list of nearby hotels at varying price points.

Layover Guide’s Suggestions Of Things To Do In San Diego:

Gaslamp Quarter

This 16 block historic district of San Diego has something for everyone.  With a ton of shops and restaurants, historic sites, clubs and bars, this area is a great place to stop off in between flights!

San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo is much more than your average zoo. With the bus trips, Safari Park, rare animal breeding centers, and impressive exhibits, it is a zoo experience unlike any other.

Mission Beach

Mission Beach is a taste of California beaches at its best. Here you can take a dip, watch the surfers, stroll along the beach, grab a coffee, roller skate, or just catch some rays.

Cabrillo Tide Pools

This beachside mile long hike offers a chance to take a look in a series of tidepools and see some fun marine life including sea anemones, crabs, and tons more.

For tons more ideas of things to do during your San Diego layover, click here!

The following five restaurants are Layover Guide’s favorites in Reykjavik, Iceland and great spots to get some nordic cuisine during an Iceland layover. If you’re looking for the full Layover Guide to Iceland, click here.

3 Frakkar

www.3frakkar.com/

With a homey, intimate feel like you’re a guest in someone’s home, 3 Frakkar has an eclectic menu that includes a variety of fish, and even more unusual dishes including shark and whale meat. The dishes can be rich, with cream sauces and cheese, but the menu has something for everyone and unusual dishes that won’t be easily forgotten.

Humarhusid – The Lobster House

www.humarhusid.is/

If lobster is your fare, you will not be disappointed with the Humarhusid Lobster House, located in the heart of Reykjavik. While the menu is definitely on the pricier side, it is arguably the best lobster experience in Iceland, with delectable lobster tails, garlic lobster, and unusual dishes with Jerusalem artichokes, bacon and other surprising treats.

Dill Restaurant

www.dillrestaurant.is/EN/Location.html

A 15 minute walk from downtown Reykjavik, across from the University, you’ll find this delightful, delicious restaurant. With a spectacular view of the city, here you can enjoy a three, five or seven course meal that is hand-selected by the chef with complimentary wines. The menu changes weekly, based on what the freshest ingredients are, and which herbs have grown in their own garden. With only a handful of tables, the restaurant fills up quickly especially on Friday and Saturday nights so book a reservation ahead of time to make sure you have a table.

The Fish Market

http://fiskmarkadurinn.is/

Located in downtown Reykjavik, just near the main square, you’ll find Fishmarkadurinn, The Fish Market. It’s a modern space with bamboo and stone sinks in the bathroom, and a fun waiting room where you can order a pre-dinner drink.  Here you can get an assortment of seafood, including sushi as well as other unusual dishes including a refreshing watermelon salad with avocado.

Fjalakotturinn

http://www.fjalakotturinn.is/english/

In an intimate room, just steps away from the main square in downtown Reykjavik, you’ll find Fjalakotturinn, a fine dining restaurant. Ranging from an assortment of meat and fish, the cuisine has a strong Nordic influence with a modern flare.

1)      Figure out if you have enough time to leave the airport. 

On layovers, you need to take into consideration the distance to the points of interest you most want to see. Some airports (such as Amsterdam) are only 10 minutes to the city center from the airport by public transportation, while others sites (such as visiting the pyramids in Egypt) will take up to an hour each way. You will have to factor in traffic, time to get through customs and security, currency exchange, and unexpected delays.

2)      Layovers For Those Stuck In The Airport

If you don’t have enough time to leave the airport, most international airports have plenty of hidden treasures to keep you busy. It is now standard for larger airports to offer shopping, restaurants, internet, business centers, massage and beauty services, and child play areas. In addition, many airports offer wonderfully unique attractions including aquariums, golf courses, swimming pools, fitness facilities, casinos, and more.

3)      If You Do Have Time To Leave The Airport

Check with your airline to see if your ticket permits you to leave the transit area, and depending on the arrival country, you will have to check to see if you need a visa. While many countries allow visitors in for short periods of time without visas, the rules vary depending on the specific country and your country of origin. Some airports charge a Departure Fee, so keep in mind that depending on the location, there may be a cost to leave the airport.

4)      The Logistics Of Leaving The Airport

Once you’ve determined you’re able to leave the airport, a few other logistics need to be sorted out. If you are unable to check your luggage through to your final destination, many airports offer Left Luggage facilities or lockers, usually in the Arrivals Hall. If baggage storage is not available, a hotel room near the airport is an option to secure your luggage. In addition, there will most likely be many transportation options. The advantage of taxis is that the drivers will often times help direct you to some great places to see while sticking to your time allotment.

5)       Where To Go And What To See?

The most exciting part of layovers is getting to see a part of the world that you might not have been expecting to visit. Take time beforehand, if possible, to determine what you’re most excited to see including museums, historical ruins, shopping, spa treatments, or restaurants. Just make sure to pad your adventures with plenty of time on both ends so that you can ensure your connecting flight.

Click here for more layover tips!

On a recent stopover in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on the way to the Galapagos Islands, we had a chance to check out the Malecon 2000, a boardwalk that spans the Guayas River. Here you can take a stroll along the river, and stop at the many points of interest including restaurants, bars, theaters, fountains, and gardens.

We must say, we were impressed and snapped a few photos of our favorite views. It proved to be a great stop for an overnight layover in Guayaquil.

For the full Layover Guide to Guayaquil, Ecuador, click here!

Stuck on a layover at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (CTU)? As the main hub for US Airways, Charlotte is a popular layover destination. The airport is located roughly ten miles from downtown Charlotte, which makes the city a great destination for those on a long layover. If you’re trying to figure out if you can leave the airport during your layover, click here for useful tips.

If you’re stuck in the airport, you can find a number of services to keep you occupied on your layover wait. There are a number of shops and restaurants that you can find listed by each concourse here. There is also an Information Counter and Visitor Center, Banking and ATM’s in the main terminal, business services and conference facilities are available (call 704-359-4013 for more info), Internet service is available through data ports located throughout the airport, Interfaith 24-hour place of worship, and a Post Office in Concourse D.

For the full Layover Guide to the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, CLICK HERE!

If you’re looking for a hotel to rest and unwind before your next flight, there’s the Doubletree Hotel Charlotte Airport and the Holiday Inn Charlotte Airport nearby. For more hotel options near the airport, click here.

If you’re planning on leaving the airport to see some sites, you can catch a taxi outside of Baggage Claim. On average, the cost for a taxi ride to the city center is $25.00 plus $1 gas surcharge. For more information on the Charlotte Airport’s taxi prices, click here. In addition, you can find contact information for a number of limousines, shuttle services, and contract vans here and car rental services here.

LayoverGuide.com’s Suggestions Of Things To Do On A Charlotte Layover:

Charlotte Tours
If you have a limited amount of time to explore the city, a tour may be the best way to go to see a number of sights. There’s a number to choose from including Charlotte’s Longest Running Daily City Tour, Guided Historic Walking Tours of Uptown Charlotte, Charlotte Trolley Tour and Charlotte Segway and Bike Tours.

UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens/
If you’re looking to stretch your legs in a beautiful locale, the UNC Botanical Gardens may be just the spot. The gardens include a greenhouse complex, a 3-acre Susie Hardwood Garden and a 7-acre Van Landingham Glen – each offering a variety of different plants.

Discovery Place
A great place to take children, the Discovery Place in Charlotte has it all – IMAX Dome Theater, hands-on science museum, Discovery Place Kids (opening Fall 2010) and the Charlotte Nature Museum.

Carolina Raptor Center
This non-profit organization helps rescue a variety of birds and raptors, with over 100 residing permanently at the center. To meet the creatures at the Raptor Center, click here and to read up on the various weekly programs offered, click here.

Carolinas Aviation Museum
If you don’t have enough time to make to Charlotte, you can find the Carolinas Aviation Museum only a 5 minute taxi ride from the airport’s main terminal. The museum has an extensive collection of planes and a great observation deck.

None of these interest you? Try the Wing Haven Garden and Bird Sanctuary, Carowinds amusement park, or the Old Mecklenburg Brewery.

Have a suggestion or advice for Charlotte layovers? Leave a comment below!

Tenerife is the largest and most populous of the Canary Islands, a group of Spanish islands located off the northwest coast of Africa. With over 5 million annual tourists, Tenerife has two airports, Tenerife North Airport and Tenerife South Airport, and is a great layover destination when traveling to other Canary Islands, or to the mainland. Cheap holidays to Tenerife are available for visitors that are looking for holidays filled with warm weather, sandy beaches, picturesque and dramatic landscape, bars and restaurants and tons more.

Tenerife is known for hosting one of the world’s largest carnivals which is held the week before Ash Wednesday. Most of the celebrations take place in Santa Cruz, the island’s capital, where there is a colorful parade filled with costumes, music, and floats.  The carnival festivities hit their peak on Tuesday, but events can be seen throughout the week.

There is plenty to do on Tenerife for travelers including resort activities, and water sports, nightlife and clubs, local villages and shopping, and relaxing on the beach. Visitors can check out the gorgeous ravines of Masca on the western coast of the island, or ride a cable car the highest peak, Teide.

The beautiful Teno massif is located on the northwestern part of the island, with picturesque and unusual landscapes, known as the Cliffs of Giants, can be seen towering above the sea.

Tenerife also has a number of monuments that attract visitors including the Cathedral of San Cristobal de La Laguna and the Church of Conception, located in Santa Cruz. The archaeological sites of Cambados and El Barranco del Rey are both located in Arona.

Many museums are located on the island as well, including the Museum of Nature and Man, the History of Tenerife, Museum of Science and the Cosmos, and the Museum of Anthropology among others.

Ski holidays offer the chance to reconnect with nature, and the thrill of the great outdoors. For the eco-conscious traveler, there’s no better way than to stay in green (well, make that white) sustainable and CO2-neutral igloos.

Iglu-dorf offers igloo villages in seven locations in Andorra, Switzerland, and Austria. The igloos are rebuilt each and every season with 3,000 tons of snow from the Alps and Pyrenees.

The igloo villages offer a few different room options including a standard igloo which can sleep up to 6, a romantic two-bed igloo with thick furs, a suite with a private bathroom and private whirlpool, and a heated igloo equipped with a stove and double bed.

All igloos come with expedition sleeping bags designed for temperatures dipping as low as -30 degrees Celsius. The resort also includes a wellness area with a sauna and whirlpool, a bar, cheese fondue dinner, nighttime snowshoeing when possible, and breakfast in the mountain restaurant. In addition marriage ceremonies are available (a white wedding!) and seven-course barbeques for up to 120 guests.

They offer packages as well including romantic nights, midweek fun, and ski packages. Amenities include a bar and you can learn how to build igloos.

Prices start at £91 for a standard room. (www.iglu-dorf.com, +41 (0) 41 612 27 28)

Located 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula, Lanzarote is the fourth largest island in the Canaries. A perfect place to stop off for a layover or vacation, Lanzarote has it all – sunny warm weather, white sand beaches, dramatic landscapes, mountains, deserts, and volcanoes.

The Lanzarote airport (ACE) is located in San Bartolomé, Las Palmas and is located 3.1 miles from the town of Arrecife. The airport has two terminals including an Aviation Museum (open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily) which offers a history of aviation on the island. Cheap flights to Lanzarote are available from many European destinations, and the airport also offers inter-island flights to the other Canary Islands.

For those looking to get away from the commercial islands, Lanzarote is a great destination due to regulations that the island has on development. There is no billboard advertising allowed and limited rise buildings.

The Tunnel of Atlantis or Atlantida Tunnel is the largest submerged volcanic tunnel in the world. The tunnel includes the Cueva de los Verdes which is occasionally used a concert hall and is impressive in both its bright colors and scale. The Tunnel of Atlantis also contains the Jameos del Agua, a volcanic cave with a collapsed roof that artist César Manrique helped to create into an auditorium, swimming pool, gardens and restaurants.

Additional attractions on Lanzarote island is the protected Timanfaya National Park where the island’s biggest volcanic eruptions took place, and is home to the island’s one active volcano, Timanfaya. The park has varied flora and fauna as well as a steam geyser that is a popular stop for tourists. The park presents the opportunity for visitors to see the island’s vegetation and 35 types of animals including falcons, Gallotia lizards and crustaceans.

Lanzarote is also known for the white sand beaches of Playa Blanca and Papagayo. In May the island celebrates the annual Fiesta in Montana Blanca and Canary Islands Daw, and in January is the Dia de Los Reyes parade.

If you’re stuck on a layover at the Copenhagen Airport, CPN, (Københavns Lufthavn, Kastrup), there’s plenty to do to keep you busy, inside and outside the airport. The airport is a hub for Scandinavian Airlines. Located just five miles south of Copenhagen city center, it is a great place to get out of the airport during long layovers (preferably over 5 hours for International flights, but always plan with extra time for immigration, customs, and security.)

If you’re stuck in the airport during your Copenhagen Layover, looking to pass some time, you can learn about wireless access to get online at the airport, here. To find airport more information and location on the airport hotel, lounges, banks, children locations, travel agencies and ticket offices, click here.

If you are looking to drop off luggage, and explore the city, there are lockers for a maximum of 72 hours in car park 4 and a place called Left Luggage (in the Arcade between Terminals 2 and 3) that you can leave your luggage for up to four weeks. Click here for Left Luggage information.

For transportation, you can pick up a taxi outside the arrival areas at Terminal 1 and 3. Another great option is the Metro, which is located at the end of Terminal 3. The travel time from Nørreport Station in central Copenhagen to the airport is 15 minutes. For a map of the metro and more information on traveling from the airport, click here.

Things To Do During A Copenhagen Layover:

DFDS Canal Tours
With guides who speak English, Danish and German, you can hop on a canal tour. Most tours are two hours, and it takes you through the new and old Copenhagen. It’s a great way to get to see the city by sea. You can also rent your own boat for events, or do a tour with music – jazz, blues, rag, and stomp.

Rosenborg Castle
Rosenborg Castle is an impressive historic building, and also a museum that contains some of Denmark’s greatest cultural treasures, including the Crown Jewels and the Danish Crown Regalia. If you’re interested in the history of the Danish kings over 300 years, from Frederik II in the late 16th century to Frederik VII in the 19th century, this can’t be missed. Check here for times and dates that the museum is open.

Tivoli Gardens
Not only an impressive garden, the Tivoli Gardens is the world’s oldest amusement park. Best known for its wooden rollercoaster, it also has band performing, restaurants and cafés, flower gardens, and rides including a merry-go-round. On select evenings, fireworks are set off over Tivoli’s lake.

The Little Mermaid (Den Lille Havfrue)
A well known landmark in Copenhagen, The Little Mermaid sits on a rock in the Copenhagen harbor in Churchill Park. It’s worth taking a look at, as well as a photo. The Little Mermaid statue is in honor of the fairy tale by Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen, that was based on the Disney movie.

Shopping in Norrebro
A couple hundred years ago it used to be farmlands but now Norrebro is a today it is a popular are for shopping in the trendy stores with up and coming designers. There are many cafes, restaurants and it’s a great place for people watching. There are also many flea markets during the warmer months. You can check out the different flea markets here.

You can find a good city map of Copenhagen here.

Click here to find a late deal to a destination where the sun shines on a sandy beach. Life is too short to spend every holiday at the same place.

Stuck on a Hong Kong layover? The Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) is located roughly 25 miles from downtown Hong Kong which makes the city accessible only for those on long layovers. If you’re trying to determine whether you can leave the airport during your Hong Kong layover, click here for useful tips.

If you don’t have enough time to leave the airport during your Hong Kong layover, fortunately you are in the airport that was currently ranked #1 in the world’s top airports. In the Hong Kong airport, in addition to many choices of restaurants and shops, you can get a foot reflexology massage, see the 4D Extreme Screen in Terminal 2 with the largest 4D screen in Asia, and visit the Aviation Discovery Centre in Terminal 2 which includes a Cockpit Simulator, a full-motion plane-cabin ride simulator and much more.

For Gwyneth Paltrow’s Hong Kong Picks, Click Here!

In addition, you can check out Asia Hollywood in Terminal 2, Level 6 where you can experience this interactive themed entertainment centre that educates about the local film industry. You can also play I-Sports in Terminal 2, Level 6 where you’ll find sports simulators such as soccer, basketball, golf, boxing, skiing, car racing, and shooting.

If you arrive at night or are looking for a place to rest, The Regal Airport Hotel is connected to Terminal 1. There are also a number of hotels in the area for varying price points. For a comprehensive list of Hong Kong hotels, click here.

The World’s Tallest Hotel Opens In Hong Kong

If you have a long layover in Hong Kong and plan on leaving the airport, in addition to taxis, the easiest and more affordable way to get from the airport into town is to take the Airport Express. The trains are on time, clean and efficient. The Airport Express links HKIA directly to Hong Kong’s central business district and from there, buses connect the airport with most of the city. Trains depart at 12-minute intervals. For schedule of the Airport Express, please click here.

LayoverGuide.com’s Suggestions Of Things To Do On A Hong Kong Layover:

Victoria’s Peak
Take the Airport Express to HK station and take the mini bus (from the bus terminus below IFC/HK station), and then take the Peak Tram to The Peak. This high point gives you a great lookout onto Hong Kong and the harbor. It’s the perfect place to snap some great shots and get a good look at the city.

Star Ferry
From Central, take the ferry to TST, Kowloon and check out another great view of Hong Kong. You can walk along Nathan Road for shopping and food.

Business District and Mid-Levels Escalator
To central business district of Hong Kong has the fancy buildings and shopping malls, and gives you a feeling for the city. Take the Hong Kong stop of the Airport Express. You’ll be at a large mall and office building, called ‘IFC’. You can take the ‘Mid-Levels Escalator’ which is the longest covered outdoor escalator in the world. It starts from the western end of IFC and it is an outdoor escalator that will take you through the middle of the city, restaurant/bar area and then up towards the more residential areas.

Tian Tan – The Big Buddha
Although on the same island as the airport, unless you take a taxi which can be pricey, you need to take public transportation there, which can take some time and is only recommended for those on very long layovers. You can reach the Buddha by traveling to Tung Chung station via the MTR. You can find an MTR map here. Visitors can then take the following bus routes: Mui Wo to Ngong Ping (NLB No. 2) and Tung Chung to Ngong Ping (NLB No. 23)

Have a suggestion for a Hong Kong layover? Leave a comment below!