My solution: If my room is ready I unpack, take a hot bath?shower and get into bed ( just be sure to set the alarm). I allow myself two hours. It usually atkes that long to get one hours sleep. I sleep no longer than 90 min. Then I'm off for the day with an early dinner and a good book before crashing. If your room isn't ready, it's best to get outside for a bit of a walk and sight seeing ( nothing too serious). Stop for tea/coffee, a light meal at the Orangery, Kensington Park. The Big Bus or similar tour is good too. Stay active, then follow suggestions from previous posts regarding dinner, sleep easy/aspirin tablets. I usually try to stay awake untill it's somewhat close to my normal bedtime.

One thing that will help you fight jet lag - at least mentally - is to set your watch to the local time before your plane lands, and do NOT spend your trip saying, or thinking, back home it is such-and-such time. Don't worry what time it is at home unless you plan to phone home. Also you may not want to plan a "major" sightseeing event on the first day - on the first day of my first trip to England, we went straight to see Buckingham Palace. It was the first year it was open to the public and that was the only day we could get tickets. I remember virtually nothing of it. I'm going back to England in 3 weeks but BP is only open in the late summer so I hope to go see it again on a future trip.

Excellent advice everyone! I may have to rethink my "no nap" policy in this instance. My husband's Mom has asked that I just keep him away from the River Thames if he's not awake which is the first place he wants to go. He has had mishaps, some rather serious, with stairs and cars and such so I'll try and "steer" him towards the bus ride or National Gallery. The moisturizer, different drugs, setting my clock, things to do - ALL are things I wouldn't have thought to include. I'm hoping to get my husband hooked on traveling with this exciting first adventure, so everyone's input helps tremendously! Also, has anyone tried the Oxygen Bar in London or is that just too trendy and a waste of money? I am wondering if it helps to energize and reawaken tired bodies or just sucks up your money. I have friends who swear by it, but I've always cast a cynical eye towards paying for air. It took me a long time to get used to bottled water.

D & N,

Embrace the Sandman!

Following your arrival, make it a point of sleeping for three to five hours between the late morning and early afternoon (naturally, you'll want to make it to your accommodation before doing this). After you rise, get out and about, take in a few sights, and then have dinner. Call it an early evening, but get to bed at a relatively normal time. When you awaken the next morn' you'll have beaten jet lag. This is a sure-fire, can't beat formula, one I've used on numerous trips to Europe.

Your relationship with the Sandmann, meanwhile, remains in top form - just as it should be.

Best of luck.

DavidD, I don't just embrace the Sandman, I fall on him like an anvil! I've heard the return jet lag is worse so I've taken off work for several days so I can just loll about and not worry about narcoleptic episodes at work or on the freeway. I'm off to the store to get my moisturizer, neck pillow and Tylenol.

We have done everything and nothing works better for us than Ambien 5mg. Take it an hour after takeoff and you will get 5 hours of great rest.

Concher, does it work without that lingering spacey haze? That's why I can't take Benadryl - I call it the chemical lobotomy. Functional, but no one's home. As long as it's mild, I'll look into it. Danke schoen to everyone! Have a wonderful, safe St. Patrick's Day.

My body chemistry must be weird. I have found out the hard way that both Tylenol and Tylenol PM keep me awake. Aspirin makes me sleepy, though. You might want to make sure what works for you.

You've gotten good advice here already. I've been travelling to England (from east coast US) pretty frequently over the last few years to visit my elderly father, so I've learned a few things that work well for me:
- Eat at the airport before boarding (now we have to check in so early, that's much easier to accomplish.)

- When you board the plane, set watch to destination time. You won't feel quite so eager to eat and drink on the flight if your watch says it's 1 am!

- If you take some kind of sleep aid, test it at home first to be sure it doesn't make you too groggy on arrival. (Check Flyertalk.com for more on that.)

- Use earplugs and an eye mask -- it's much easier to ignore the activity up and down the aisle.

- Drink water and juice, forget alchohol and caffeine, and (because you have eaten already) bypass the airline meal. Once the drink cart goes by, settle in to nap. (I MAKE myself stay inactive, sometimes doze off from boredom!) Even if you don't fall sound asleep, you'll be fresher if you can nap. If the plane's not crowded (our last flight wasn't) you might find more room to stretch out a bit. I try to sleep until we're about 30 mins out, then put on the light and wake up.

- Once on the ground, try to be as active as possible -- eat a good breakfast, stay active/outside as much as possible (the Big Bus is a great idea). But if you really have to nap in the pm, just do it with a good alarm clock! Early dinner, early night, and you should be ready to get rolling the next day.

And as some other folks have said, it can be harder coming westbound, whatever the "rule" says to the contrary. I think adrenaline compensates for a lot when you're on vacation, and coming home is more of a downer.

Have a great trip.