Flying to Barcelona - Layover city choice and why?

If you were going to fly to Barcelona next May for one of the Carnival Vista sailings, and your options for layovers included Amsterdam or France, which of those cities would you pick and why?

Also, any advice accepted regarding layovers in foreign countries as far as what to expect, luggage, etc. Considering a very long layover in one of those countries so we have time to explore, so any advice from someone who has done it is greatly greatly greatly appreciated!

I'd pick Amersterdam over Paris. I found the subway/metro system in AMS to be much more user friendly (and friendlier in general) than CDG/Paris. In AMS, depending on the length of your layover, you can take the train into town and do a bit of sightseeing. The airport itself is less stressful (for me) and has better options for food, IMO.

Google both airports to get an idea of size and amenities and check out the Trip Advisor boards for those cities to get an idea about what you may be able to do based on your length of stay.

Could you be more specific? Amsterdam is a city, France is a country. Which airport in France would you be landing at, and how long would the layovers be in the respective cities (also may want to see if theres an episode of the Layover for your chosen cities).

Could you be more specific? Amsterdam is a city, France is a country. Which airport in France would you be landing at, and how long would the layovers be in the respective cities (also may want to see if theres an episode of the Layover for your chosen cities).

Oops

It would be the Charles de Gaulle Airport in France or the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands.

I am looking at 8 or more hours - want to make sure there is plenty of time to go somewhere or see something. Never been to either country, so definitely open to ideas, suggestions, advice. The layover I am looking at would be on a Sunday morning until that late afternoon.

Looking for the Layover episode is a great idea! Thank you!

If you are talking about trying to see a city on a long layover then I'd also pick Amsterdam as opposed to Paris.

I agree though that we'd be able to give better advice if we had more details.

airlines/s? time on the ground? etc.

I personally would have picked a connection in the USA and then a non stop flight to Barcelona giving me more time in Barcelona before my cruise!!

Barcelona is my all time favorite city in Europe!!!

I'd pick Amersterdam over Paris. I found the subway/metro system in AMS to be much more user friendly (and friendlier in general) than CDG/Paris. In AMS, depending on the length of your layover, you can take the train into town and do a bit of sightseeing. The airport itself is less stressful (for me) and has better options for food, IMO.

 

Google both airports to get an idea of size and amenities and check out the Trip Advisor boards for those cities to get an idea about what you may be able to do based on your length of stay.

OMGosh basically the same response I got from a girl at work! LOL

We are looking at 8 or more hours. I guess I should have put that in my first post.

You may want to post on the Carnival Vista board, as there is a lot of chatter about this sort of thing there and they might have ideas.

Also , Amsterdam itself is smaller than Paris so easier to get a taste of the city in small amount of time.

I'd still suggest getting to Barcelona earlier and spending more time there but if you are set on seeing somewhere else then Amsterdam is your answer.

I'd second or third Amsterdam over Paris for the reasons above. Aside from it being easier to get from/to the Airport IIRC the Airport itself is faster to get through.

Fabulous responses! Thank you so much!

I love Paris. It's my absolute favorite city. With only 8 hours though you will barely be able to see anything. You would need probably closer to 12 to really be able to do anything once you get through passport control and then travel into the city (up to an hour depending on mode of transport). Also you must factor in the return trip and getting through security. At CDG there are several levels and it can be quite time-consuming. If you can do an overnight that would be better.

I would choose Amsterdam. I recently went to Europe with a big tour group and one half flew through Paris while we flew through Amsterdam. The Paris group found the workers very rude and the airport crammed. We found Amsterdam very efficient and pretty. There is also a view deck above the airport where you can get some air, tour an old KLM plane, and watch the planes move in and out. Lots of food choices too. I believe there is a tram that goes from AMS to the city, so you may not be able to go to the Anne Frank Huis, but you will be able to have a quick canal ride and a good round of sightseeing. Have some chocolate-covered pancakes for breakfast, and check out all of the house boats! :D

I would recommend flying with the alliances if you plan on leaving. We flew KLM and Delta and they took care of our luggage for us, it was very convenient. Especially since you plan on leaving the airport, that will be very good.

Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities on the plane. You will love it. If money allows, you could tack on one overnight stay and get the whole day you land, plus the morning after and take a midday flight, but you will surely fall in love during the 8 hour visit. I hope you decide Amsterdam, you'll be in for a treat!

We sailed on the Magic 12 days round trip from Barcelona. We did not have a in bound layover but did on the way home through Munich. If you can swing that I would highly recommend it. Easy train to the city from the airport and walk to several near by hotels. We stayed over the weekend for two nights and had about as much fun as we did on the cruise.

Best

You'll have to remember that most foreign countries aren't like the US where everything is open on Sundays. Both cities are amazing.

Be careful in your use of the word "layover". Although used colloquially (including by Delta), the two operative terms are "connection" and "stopover".

Connection is when the two flights are within the "legal" connecting time for the itinerary. On international itins, that is usually 24 hours or less. Connections do not incur additional cost beyond the fare rules. Stopovers are when the two flights are more than the legal connection time apart. This results in "breaking" the fare, usually with higher costs. Now, for some airlines and cities, fares may offer "free stopover" or similar - examples include Reykjavik, Istanbul, Singapore, Dubai and some others.

I believe that you are talking about a long connection, to allow you to leave the airport and explore the city. My following comments are if that is correct.

AMS is far easier for that type of arrangement than CDG - though both have direct train service from the airport to the city, Paris is more sprawling than Amsterdam. Service to Centraal is fast and frequent, with a number of trams then available to specific spots you are interested in visiting. Paris is not an easy city to do in a few hours - aside from the Anne Frank House, few attractions in AMS have the long lines you often find in Paris.

In addition, your process from airport to train and back to airport will be a bit easier at AMS.

OTOH, it's not The City of Lights. You have to decide what's important to you.

Final thought. If you can arrange it, this would be a legal connection: Arrive in AMS/CDG sometime AFTER the time of the first departure the next morning. Stay overnight and catch the first flight out. As long as the time between arrival and departure is less than 24 hours, you will still have a "connection" and will NOT incur the costs for breaking the fare as you would with a stopover (greater than 24 hour stay).

For example....there is a DL flight from ATL to AMS that arrives at 11:10. You could book your ongoing flight to BCN, taking either the 08:05 or 10:10 departure the next day without incurring the stopover. Get a full day in AMS. Yes, you pay for hotel, meals and transportation but you get an new city for the same trip. At CDG, you could take the flight that arrives CDG at 08:10 and take the departure to BCN the next morning at 07:40. Or arrive at 11:05 and depart at 10:00.

BIG benefit that few are either aware of or take advantage of. In fact, you could even use it multiple time. You could fly ATL to JFK and get the long connect, then fly to AMS and take a long connect, then to CDG and take a long connect and then on to BCN. Now you would have to put in the flights manually into the DL website, or talk with an agent, but you should be able to do all that at the same price as direct to BCN (with a few airport PFC charges, but that's peanuts).

And, you can do this on the return as well. Just keep the connects under 24 hours.

Give it a thought....it's something you can have fun with.

If you were going to fly to Barcelona next May for one of the Carnival Vista sailings, and your options for layovers included Amsterdam or France, which of those cities would you pick and why?

 

Also, any advice accepted regarding layovers in foreign countries as far as what to expect, luggage, etc. Considering a very long layover in one of those countries so we have time to explore, so any advice from someone who has done it is greatly greatly greatly appreciated!

Hmmm....Funny....I flew from the west coast to BCN and opted for a connecting flight in ATL where you are ;)

Too bad you don't have a longer connection time. I would recommend CDG. People think I'm crazy but I actually like that airport for my connections. I don't find it hard at all to navigate now with the completion of the construction that went on for a long time. Especially if I'm flying SkyTeam - it's all in T3. I've done the 23-hour connection before there a few times. Fly into CDG in the morning, drop my bags at the Sheraton INSIDE T3 and above the RER station. Take the RER into town, have fun, a good dinner, and take the RER back to CDG. Spend the night at the Sheraton and take the early AM flight out back to the US.

If I only had the 8 hours, I wouldn't do it. Do another airport, I guess AMS (probably the only airport in Europe that I haven't connected in coming/going to the US!)

We cruised out of Barcelona this past April. Not sure about other airports but out of JFK, both Delta and American have non-stop flights to Barcelona. Since it was our first time to Europe, we did not want a layover at any airport, so our Delta, non-stop flight was perfect.

You really don't have eight hours.

By the time you get off the plane and get out of the airport and the fact that you'll want to get back to the airport with plenty of time to get through security you are not talking about much time plus you need to get from airport to city and back to airport.

And you might find yourselves a bit tired.

If it was me and I really wanted to see one of the cities than I would do as FlyerTalker advised which is to get two flights that allows me to spend a night at the city.

In that case I would go to Paris.

Otherwise Amsterdam.

But for me, with only an eight hour connection I would do neither.

Keith

Well, here's how it might go at Amsterdam.

Plane to and through immigration - say 40 min. (It could easily be much quicker.)

Immigration to train station - say 15 min. (The station is right in the terminal.)

Get ticket, wait for next train - say 20 min. (Again, quicker is possible.)

Travel time to Centraal Station - 17 min, say 20.

Walk to canal cruise ticket office (1 block from station) say 15 min.

Wait for next boat, say 20 min.

Canal cruise, 60 min.

Walk back to station, 15, wait for train, 15, train to airport, 20, airport station to security, 15, through security and back into the Schiphol shopping mall, 20.

All in, around 275 minutes, say 5 hours.

Why not?

We actually just did this the end of May. We had an 8 hour layover in AMS. We got in, sat down for a few minutes as we knew that places in AMS wouldn't be open this early. We left the "terminal" part and went and purchased our train ticket; hopped off and went to the Rijk after we ate our Dutch pancakes by the Central Station. We also went to the Van Gogh Museum. We hopped back on the tram and then stopped by the Flower Market. After walking around, we found that we were actually tired and headed back to the airport. Security in the afternoon was quick and easy and we had no problem. We found an area in the airport where their were lounger chairs that we sat in and took a quick nap before our connection flight. Getting in to the Central Station was about 25 minutes by train.

We always want more time so we do two flights in order to spend several nights in a connecting city. Doing exactly this in early October. Our choice was decided by a combination of our preferences and scoring an attractive air fare.