surviving jet lag with overnight flights???

What are your best tips for recuperating from the lack of sleep when flying to Europe overnight? We always stay up the day we arrive to try to get back on schedule. Other thoughts? Thanks for sharing.

We try to sleep on the plane or at least nap

Then when we land drop our bags at the hotel then go for a walk get a bite to eat

mid day we head back to the hotel & hope the room is ready ..take a nap get up for dinner then just pretend we are on our normal schedule

it usually works for us

 

Coming home not so much ;)

Fly business class???:):):)

 

Sleep or nap as much as you can on the flight. Take a brief afternoon nap, then do your best to stay up as close to "normal" as possible. That usually gets me through the flight over.

 

Coming back, not so much! It's usually 2-3 days before I'm back to a normal rhythm.

Much depend what time you will arrive. Is it early morning or early afternoon.

On early morning it is good to have a nap after lunch. If early afternoon try to stay awake as long as possible. In both cases walk around, maybe visit a museum and/or stay outside as much as possible.

Also during your flight move around from time to time, also drink much water.

What are your best tips for recuperating from the lack of sleep when flying to Europe overnight?

Sleep every single possible minute of the flight. That means eating before boarding; and as soon as the seat belt signs are off it's earplugs in, eyeshades on, seat back, and sleep until the seat belt sign is on again before landing.

 

The other thing that helps is picking the time of the flight. If you choose a flight that arrives when your body thinks it's 2 am - 5 am, you are going to feel like death warmed up when you get off. There's absolutely nothing you can do about that. Coffee might stop you falling asleep, but it will not stop you feeling like death warmed up - and much of that will then linger all day the next day. Better to pick a flight that doesn't arrive in Europe until your body thinks it's morning.

 

But ultimately, there's only so much you can do flying eastbound trans-Atlantic. I find it easier to get over a 24-hour flight from Sydney to London than to deal with a flight home from New York, unless I haven't been away long enough for my body clock to adjust.

Noise cancelling headphones and sleep.

 

From east coast north boston/NY this is hard the flight are so quick so eat/drink before the flight getting the later flights if possible.

I go about it the other way - stay awake throughout the flight, because I can't get deep sleep in a plane, especially on a 6pm flight Chicago time; then go to bed in mid-morning when I get home, when my body thinks it's 4 am, get up mid-afternoon, stay awake in the evening, then bed as normal.

 

I usually have a very sleepy hour or so the floowing afternoon, but otherwise OK.

This summer we flew from California to Italy, and it was quite the adventure in jet lag. I can't sleep at all on a plane, so just pretended to for awhile, and stayed up until normal bedtime once we got to Europe. The next morning my daughter fell asleep at breakfast (pretty funny) for about an hour and after that she was fine. When we got home after our cruise, I woke up every morning at 4am for several days. Great time to go grocery shopping at Walmart because there's no one there. That's the only benefit. I also crashed at dinner time, but made myself get up after a half hour so I could still go to bed at my normal time. Eventually we were all back to normal. It's all part of the travel experience :-)

Many good and informative ideas.

From the west coast USA to Europe there is a big time difference and noticeable jet lag for the first day or two. Getting outdoors and spending time in the daylight (not just a brief walk) seems to help the body clock. We try to limit the indoor touristing the first couple of days and maximize the outdoor time, regardless of the season or weather conditions.

In September we took a daytime flight to London through Dulles, but Newark has daytime flights, too. We loved the daytime flight. We arrived in London around 10pm and went to bed at our normal time. We woke up refreshed and ready to start our pre-cruise tour of London. On the third day I realized that at no time had we felt any jet lag.

 

I realize this won't work if you need a connecting flight in Europe, but this is the British Isles board.

Hi Have flown to Europe twice. The best tip that I picked up online was getting up early two or three days before you leave. So instead of getting up at 6 get up at 4. For me anyway, it took the edge off the time difference. Plus, it made it a little easier to sleep on the plane. Google "jet lag trips" and you will get lots more info . Happy Holidays

I'm another one who loves the daytime flights eastbound. For overnight flights, I wear a mask and noise-cancelling headphones (try earplugs if you don't have the headphones). I also immediately take a 2-hour nap in the hotel as soon as I can check in. Flying westbound doesn't bother me at all, but I really hate the overnight eastbound flights. The first few times I did the overnight flights I tried staying up all day and felt terrible by mid-afternoon; for me, at least, the short nap after arriving makes a huge difference. Your mileage may vary.

Edited November 29, 2014 by Langoustine

We have taken 2 eastbound flights to Europe overnight. Staying up with a short nap worked for us both times. Our secret for dealing with the Westbound trip is to take a TA. :p We had 6 25-hour days. we arrived home well rested. :D