JFK long layover.
 

I am on a flight that arrives at 3.30 pm and my flight the following day departs at 2 pm. I have been to NYC alot of times and seen the main sights I had planned on staying at an aiport hotel near JFK, but I'm wondering if there is anything I could do in the area or at the aiport to kill sometime in the evening the day I arrive. I'd be interested in dinner and maybe a little window shopping. If I do go to Manhattan I really won't have much time there, so I decieded against this. I should add that my flight to JFK is a long haul flight and I don't know how bad my jet lag maybe once I arrive. Any suggestions what I could do on the first day if I'm up for going somewhere?

Thanks.

ttt

"Is there anything near JFK?"

No, not really. Your 3:30 arrival would be coming in from Europe, I assume, which means it'd be 9:30 pm for you. That's not the same as flying overnight and missing a night of sleep, so jet lag is usually less of a concern upon arrival heading west.

If you stay at an airport hotel you'd really just be stuck there staring at the wall paper or TV.

Here's what you could do without too much trouble. Get a hotel in the Long Island City section of Queens. I think there's a La Quinta, Holiday Inn and a Comfort Inn. From JFK take the AirTrain to Jamaica station, and from there take the Long Island RR or maybe the E-train NYC subway might be better. I'm not exactly sure which hotels are near the E-train or LIRR.

You could be at your hotel by 5 or 5:30 or so, freshen up, get a bite to near your hotel, or hop a subway into Manhattan. The next day it's be pretty easy to get back to JFK, and you would even have time for a morning hop into Manhattan. I'm not familiar with the LI city area, but there's definitely more there than by JFK.

Actually I am heading east from Anchorage and I need to connect in DFW as AA flights from ANC are only to/from DFW the first flight is a red eye it leaves ANC late at night and arrives at DFW at some unearthly hour the following morning. I then have a long five plus hour layover. Urgh. This is why I don't want to schedule anything the day I arrive at JFK.

Well now. That's a different story. Wallpaper or TV it might just be then.

FYI, there are essentially hourly flights to/from NY's LGA to DFW, if that helps you in any way. AA DFW to JFK flights are much fewer.

The hotels near the airport are just that - and not near anything else - including restaurants or shops. Most are located next to major highways and if you walk around there is nothing there but not very pleasant residential areas or service businesses (auto body shops etc). I can;t reco the Long Island City hotels as any better - they also are in mixed used ares with few services. There are some pleasant areas of Queens but they don;t really have hotels (except for Flushing - far from JFK in both distance and time).

I would consider a hotel in downtown Brooklyn, which might be easier to reach than Long Island City. From JFK, take the AirTrain to Howard Beach and then take the A train to High Street and stay at a hotel there. You can walk the Brooklyn Bridge or the Brooklyn Promenade and have plenty of dinner options. Easy return to JFK the next morning via the A train.

You can get a car to take you to Coney Island and Sheepshead Bay for a few hours. That's about it.