Adventures during flight layovers
 

So this winter, from Dec 11th to Jan 2nd, I will be travelling abroad. I am returning to Europe for the second time in life, except this time I will be in the Central and Eastern areas, such as Hungary, Greece, Croatia, and Turkey. Nonetheless, I'm currently looking for flight tickets, and so far my most favorable one will have a stop in Warsaw from Budapest that will last about 14 hours. I was curious to know if any of you have ever experienced this length of time for a layover, and what you like to do?

If I purchase that ticket, I will be arriving in Warsaw at 9pm, and my next flight will take off at around 12pm. I've always wanted to see Warsaw, and figure this would be an opportune time to explore the city in my down time, but it's an uneasy thought for me.

And so I'd like to ask what do you like to do during long layovers? Any good/bad stories?

I have a similar thing happening when I go to Tokyo in December. My layovers are only 7 hours though, not sure if that's enough time to go out and do something and then make it back for the flight. I'd say make plans to do something 14 hours in the airport sounds dreadful. At least go out and get some food?

I had this going-to-a-wedding adventure where I was flying to Texas with a layover.

My formal attire took the direct route and actually arrived 3.5 hours before I did.

You will have to go through customs to get out of the airport and back in. You may have to look into getting a visa in certain countries. And in other countries (New Zealand) there are fees to leave the country that you don't need to pay if you are just at the airport for a connecting flight.

i dont know warsaw..but when i went to moscow i had 8 hours, and i barely made it back to the plane on time. didnt realise how much traffic moscow generates on a friday afternoon/evening during xmas!

i say, do your homework if you intend on doing this. especially if you have a connecting flight

Well the flight I was going to book that had a stop in Warsaw was taken, so I've booked one that has a layover in Helsinki instead, for 16 hours. I don't think traffic should be an issue if I come back early, and to my knowledge Finland has a 90-day-no-visa agreement with the United States, so I don't think it should be a problem.

Nonetheless, something else came to my attention. I heard that you're more likely to lose a bag in 2+ stop flights, and that on such flights, the airline isn't liable in anyway. Is this true/anyone have an experience with this?