Getting out of London can be a voyage in itself.
The city is vast, and the airport, timings and transfer choices can all have a real impact on the extent to which the journey feels genuinely relaxing. For long-haul flights from London, the two main options are Heathrow and Gatwick. Both can be good, but differ in terms of the London experience.
Getting Out of London: Airports, Timings and Transfers
Heathrow is a practical favourite from the middle of the city. The Elizabeth line will eventually reach the airport from points central, while the Heathrow Express is similarly convenient. But those leaving early in the morning should be a little wary, and make sure that the relevant services are running as early as they would hope. And, of course, those with a little more concrete on their shoulders may prefer to book either a taxi or a shuttle. Travelling in groups, this is not such a bad idea.
Gatwick is further still, true, but it can be reached from the city. The Gatwick Express is one option, and it whisks passengers from the airport to Victoria Station. Other trains will be convenient if the traveller’s accommodation is found at one point of the city at that time, though it is worth considering transfer times in relation to flight timings. A plane to the city that is convenient on paper may perhaps become less so if you have to move across London at 4 am.
Türkiye: Istanbul, the Aegean and the Short-Break Habit
Türkiye has much to recommend it to residents looking to leave London for parts (only a little) unknown. Istanbul is an enlivening place to take a city break, but the Aegean coast offers another type of respite for those seeking sun, sea, and sand.
This is one of the many reasons that it works so well for those unable to free up a larger block of consecutive time. Istanbul is a city break in its own right, good for a mid-week weekend, while places such as Bodrum can be better included in a larger trip, though a week is all that is really needed to allow for both some visiting and some flopping on the Mediterranean coast.
Flights to Türkiye: the city versus the coast
Given all of this, it is only natural that the first flight take you to the airport in the city you have chosen to focus on. Two elderly bridges connect the European and Asian sides of Istanbul, while those looking specifically for Bodrum or another Aegean destination will have their work cut out to find the best timing for arrival at their onward destination.
Why connecting Istanbul flights to Türkiye work well for travel to London: It’s possible to treat an Istanbul layover as much more than another stop on an itinerary. As one of the big global connecting hubs, taking a trip through Istanbul can turn a simple city break into a broader experience, one that isn’t too complicated to put together.
Pakistan: Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad in Context
For Londoners with a zest for something other than the typical European city-break options, Pakistan offers an interesting take on a long-weekend escape. Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad deliver contrasting experiences that make selecting one largely depend on trip goals and timing.
Lahore is a great choice for history, architecture and FOOD lovers: a city with a rich cultural history, from the Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosques, to the hustle and bustle of the old city streets and markets. Islamabad is an entirely different affair: more open, green and closer to the Margalla Hills. Karachi, on the other hand, THE coastal city in Pakistan, boasts all the excitement of a big city, with a different exposure to Pakistan’s food, business and cultural facets.
The question Londoners would benefit from answering is how they plan on experiencing the destination. Rather than treating the upcoming flight as a chore that has to fit into the trip, we look at the part of the journey as one. By exploring the connection, airport transfer and the time of arrival, one really understands how that experience slots into their burgeoning schedule. This is particularly relevant for those looking at a short visit, where any time spent away on an inconvenient second-haul really makes a dent in how much you can pack in.
Pakistan Flights with One Istanbul Connection
One of the great benefits of the Turkish Airlines Network is the ability of Londoners to head on over to Pakistan with one convenient Istanbul stop. This makes the route fairly simple: leave London, land in Istanbul, and take the next flight to your arrival city in Pakistan.
Single-stop long-haul flyers or those very used to building itineraries with a 100-mile dash at the midway stage in the form of weary legs, eyes and souls- will find the set-up a great relief. Indeed, there is something to be said for the leg-stretch, the checking of the gate, and being able to wipe the slate clean as they settle down in the departure city for the second leg of the journey.
Lagos: First-time Visits Simplified
For a first-timer, Lagos really does begin long before the ride to the hotel. Nigeria’s largest city is dynamic, densely populated, and moving constantly at all hours of the day: something of an adventure and reality check for a first-time flyer.
The city is a place to see and be seen, whether in the new-wave restaurants and galleries of Victoria Island, the coastal ambience down in Lekki or out in the bustle of the Alaba or Mile 2 markets. Most importantly, however, allow more time for getting around than you would have bargained for. The brutal holds good for a city and location, with the ubiquitous traffic jams sure to skew the time it takes to get from Victoria Island to Surulere, or to anywhere else in Nigeria’s biggest metropolis.
So, for a first-time visitor to Lagos, it’s not a question of adhering to a set “what to see ” list. Rather, it’s the best idea to get a grip on how traffic compounds all locations in and around the city; use a route-finder to map those out so that you can get a grip on the districts and areas around the city, without spending 24 hours of the day in a taxi.
London to Lagos flights: managing the December rush
The buildup to Christmas is a particularly fine time to manage a booking for London to Lagos flights: that jam-packed time of the festive calendar year when most folk dash for four perimeters before New Year. Planning to travel downtown during December? Ensure your London to Lagos flights leave the competitor tarmac, some two good hours before your flight leaves to land at “Murtala Muhammed International Airport”. Relocate with regularly-updated information on hand, if you are trying to hop over to the continent and further look after your luggage and leasing on-site parking space at the UK airport.
Turkish Airlines will be helpful, as a bespoke solution from London to Lagos; with suitable train connection times and car hire options at Stansted, with design of your trip from London to Lagos all a 1st-day affair, without knocking yourself out on the “get there” part.
Getting from London to Istanbul
For a London-based traveller looking to finish a journey in Türkiye, Istanbul makes a lot of sense as a connecting point. There’s an obvious way to plan the trip at the highest level: a flight from London, a connection in Istanbul, and then carrying on to the final destination. For those looking to get to Pakistan or Lagos, the nature of intercontinental travel involved in the single connection can be easier to grok than thinking through (and booking) three separate long-haul flights.
The critical thing to remember is that connecting is a part of the journey, not just the thing one does in the middle between two flights. When booking, be sure to understand how long you will be on the ground between flights, whether you’ll need to move terminals, and whether your luggage will be checked all the way through to your destination. In addition, travellers will need to understand whether in-country or transit visa requirements apply to their specific trip through Istanbul.
It isn’t necessary that the stop be viewed as an unavoidable disruption to a trip, either. For those with enough time between flights, a stop in Istanbul can be a perfectly fine way to stretch their legs in Türkiye before heading elsewhere. It’s two vacations for the (admittedly rather substantial) price of one. Travellers willing to book this kind of trip should give themselves enough room to make it airside and transit without an enormous rush, and understand what they need to do to depart the airport in a timely manner.
Travellers from London will have a more significant benefit of more choices. Visitors looking to go to continental Europe, a few cities in Pakistan or one or two in West Africa will all have a plan that takes them through Istanbul as the sort of hub, and similarly for all the requisite flights back to London.
Three Options from London to Shively: These Options
The best way to think about these options is to build them out based on the constraints one has for travelling. Don’t have a ton of time to go anywhere? That’s a good reason to go somewhere. Lots of time? Even better reason to get creative.
Option One is: a long weekend in Istanbul. Leave in the morning from London, arrive in Istanbul mid-day, spend three or four nights, and then return home. This is a great option for those travellers looking for the path of least resistance to an international trip, and who don’t want to worry about planning something after the connection is over. It’s an itinerary that can easily be filled with the older parts of the city, food, bazaars, and interesting neighbourhoods on both sides of the Bosphorus.
Option Two: a short-ish trip to Pakistan with an Istanbul Connection. I’d recommend giving yourself roughly a week on the ground, in Lahore, Karachi, or Islamabad, based on your interest. This trip will start and end in London, pass through Istanbul, and then take you to Pakistan. Limiting yourself to a single country will mean you have more time to spend there than you would if you had to transit through multiple cities to get the value of a deal here.
Plan three: Lagos in 9 days. The longer break allows for the travel time to and from Lagos and more days to experience a range of things to do across the city. Stay by Lekki but plan time to experience the restaurant, culture and day trip from Lagos options. If this were planned for December, I’d add more slack in the plan and allow extra time for transfers to and from the airports and remotely on the roads.
The thing tying all three plans is that you don’t have to travel far from London to stick to the nearest options. By ensuring easy airport access, appropriate flights to and from and the best place to head to remotely, your short break can be somewhere a lot further away than the simple vicinity. Job done.
