One of my favorite things to do on arrival is to ask the manager of the hotel/b&b/hostel for the name of a good hair salon and then go get my hair washed and cut -- you end up clean, papmpered, refreshed, relaxed, and feeling soooo much better than when you first stumble, groggy and sticky, from the plane.

Thank you, one and all, for your feedback and advice! I'm really looking forward to our trip now -- and am certain we'll be able to handle the time transition......I won't even CALL it jet lag! lol Thanks, again!

I disagree with the "don't go to sleep" advice. I regularly travel to Europe. I find I am really tired by 4 pm their time and take a short nap, making sure I tell my hotel to give me a wakeup call at 6 pm. I then get dressed, have dinner close by and go to bed early. When I wake up the second day my body clock seems to be right on European time. The trick is to "take a nap" not snooze for 7 hours.

Don't barf in Westminster Abbey! <BR>Actually, the nice deacon took my wife to a private restroom before she was sick, so she was OK. No embarrassment... they let her lie down for a few minutes on the bench/pew, too. <BR>Thank You, Westminsterites.

I just arrived home from an eleven day trip to London. We also took a 6pm flight and arrived in London at 6am. I followed the advice to take a tour bus ride, We took the "Big Bus" tours-great experience. We could hop off when we wanted. We had breakfast with coffee, and managed to last a whole (ok,somewhat abbreviated) day. We did have several episodes of nodding off on the boat ride from Tower pier to Westminster pier(which is part of the bus tour!) We had an early dinner, and called it a day. We were right on London time the next day!

we perfer to not sleep during the day. whatever time you arrive, insert yourself into the local timeframe and carry on. even if you go to bed a little early the first nite, get up reasonably early the next day and go. it only takes us 1 day to acclimate to the new atmosphere

We are going to Italy in June with Trafalgar Tours. We booked our airfare through them and paid for it before we actually had papers in hand as to the schedule, so it cannot be changed. We are leaving Cleveland on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the afternoon, arriving in Detroit with a 4-hour layover, flying on to Amsterdam with a 2-hour layover and then on to Rome where we will have to wait for the 3 p.m. Trafalgar transfer (this will be Sunday afternoon ... 26 hours later!) Any suggestions on our sleeping patterns?

topping

We are firm believers in "no jet lag" pills. On a company business trip to the Orient from the east coast, my husband and a co-worker were the only ones out of a group of 25 that took the no jet lag. They took a short nap upon arrival went to bed at about 10 PM the first night. They awaoke at 5:30 AM and they were the only two that showed up for the 8AM meeting. Everyone else dragged around for days, and there was lots of social stuff-not a lot of work.<BR><BR>We now all take it in our family. my sister and her family travel extensively, and they love the product too. <BR><BR>You must follow the directios and take while you are traveling. You can let no more than 4 hours pass without taking one. We set alarms so we do not sleep mess up the pattern.<BR><BR>on our last trip my daughter would not take them because she does not like to take medicine. We have pictures of her sleeeping all over London. the rest of us were just having a great time.<BR><BR>Gppd luck<BR><BR>PS they even help with the back end of the trip. You're still tired, but you do not feel like it's the middle of the night when its broad daylight.<BR><BR>

As a frequent traveler from NY to UK, I disagree with those who recommend sleeping pills for your flight. No matter how you slice it, the jaunt across the pond is relatively short so you won't get much sleep anyway; sleeping aids will only make you more groggy on arrival. <BR>When you get to your hotel, you will no doubt be feeling a bit draggy. Take a shower to revive and perhaps tea or coffee for an added jolt. Then get out into the fresh air!!! A nice lunch, followed by an afternoon of sight-seeing via hop-on/hop-off bus will recharge your batteries. I promise you, the excitement of seeing the very sights you traveled here for will greatly offset sleep deprivation.<BR>Your main goal is to STAY AWAKE until it's a 'resonable' bedtime (for me, no earlier than 9 p.m.) One good sleep cycle is generally all you need to re-set your body clock to the new time zone.

You'll be excited the first day so just get out and see some things. Don't stay up too terribly late the first night and just sleep until you wake up refreshed the next day (no matter how late in the morning that might be). It might cut off some time on your second day, but I always find it's worth it because I'm refreshed and feeling great for the remainder of the trip.<BR>

I've been to Europe numerous times, and the only thing that's worked for me is to take a 2-hour nap as soon as I get there (so far, every hotel has been able to take me in at 9 AM for no extra charge), then get up, shower, and head out for lunch. If I'm still tired late in the day, and want to go out at night, I take a second 2-hour nap. By the next day, I'm totally fine! <BR><BR>There was one time I arrived in Vienna at 2 PM because of delays...it screwed up everything. I was so wired from trying to stay awake on the layover that I couldn't nap, nor could I sleep that night or for the next 5 nights! <BR><BR>If only I could sleep on a plane...I envy people who can. Last year I went from NY to Thailand, a 24-hour ordeal, and didn't sleep a wink on the plane in either direction! Luckily we arrived there at night, so I could go right to sleep once I got there.