International Jet Lag About This Page:

[modisney]

I'm debating on trying an Adventures by Disney trip to Italy in a couple of years (it'll take that long to save for it). How long is a typical flight to Rome. I know there's probably variations due to lay overs etc. but on average. I was thinking arriving at least 2 days prior to the start of the tour to adjust to the time etc. Does that work? I've never done any international travel nor have DDs who will be teens at the time. Thanks for advice!

[chezp]

Two days sounds about right. The length of your flight will partially depend on which airport in the States you're flying from. From here, a flight to New York is about seven hours, while to Orlando, it's nine and a half hours. Most flights from the US to Europe usually land in the morning, which means, unless you slept on the flight, you are going to be exhausted on your first day over here.

We've had a lot of friends come over from the States in the last few years and I think, almost without exception, none of them realised how whacked they would be on that first day. Add to that, you don't know what time you'll get access to your hotel room, so you could end up having to be on your feet, exploring - or at least awake - until you can get into your room.

We usually find the first day back here is hell, but the second day is fine. Often we fly back on a Saturday night, arriving Sunday morning, have Sunday to recover, then are back into work on the Monday, so that gives you some idea of the recovery time.

[ilovedisney247]

My trick for beating jet lag might sound kind of silly, but its never failed me on my trips to Europe (4). I don't sleep on the plane and then plan a full first day. By the evening of the first day I'm very tired--sleep all the way through the night and wake up fairly early in the morning--completely adjusted to the new time zone and ready to start touring!

[Carousel96]

I reset my watch to the destination time as soon as the plane takes off and sleep or stay awake accordingly. I've never had a trip where I felt I needed days to adjust on arrival.

[Disneydiana]

The best advice I've ever received was to stay awake as soon as you get to the city. We took a flight out of Chicago to London. We napped on the plane but by the time we got to London it was early morning. We forced ourselves to stay up and went to bed on London time. The next morning we were refreshed and ready to go. Unfortunately we did not follow our own advice coming home I was passed out most of the day and it took me a while to get my head together.

[cubfancolleen]

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

My trick for beating jet lag might sound kind of silly, but its never failed me on my trips to Europe (4). I don't sleep on the plane and then plan a full first day. By the evening of the first day I'm very tired--sleep all the way through the night and wake up fairly early in the morning--completely adjusted to the new time zone and ready to start touring!

That's what I do too! Ideally, I try to land mid-day in the city, don't sleep on the flight at all, and then go to sleep on the early side (8 pm or so). When I wake up, without fail, I'm fine with the new time zone. I've done this for as big as a 13 hour time change, and it works! Sadly, it doesn't work as well on the way home.

We just did the Northern Europe cruise, and took an overnight flight from DC to Heathrow, only napped an hour or two, got to London at 8 am, spent a FULL day touring Dover (you can read my trip report to see how much we crammed in to that day) and then was asleep by 9 or so. Woke up at 10:30 pm, took Sleepytime (an over the counter sleeping aid), and went back to sleep until 7 am the next morning. Was fine from then on. And we had 3 more time changes forward on the cruise, and then 3 back.

Good luck!

[Disneybine]

I agree with Chez, two days sounds good. I think you can expect the flight to Rome to be between 8 and 10 hours (if you have a direct flight). Lay-overs quickly add 5 hours or more.

Whenever we've flown back to Europe from the States, we've arrived in Europe in the morning (I think that's due to how things best work with the time difference). So say you fly out on a Monday, arrive on a Tuesday, then you'd probably be fine for the AbD tour to start on Wednesday. Personally, if you have the time, I'd add an extra day as touring can be exhausting and you'll want to make the best of it. So if you fly out on day 1, the tour should start on either day 3 or 4. Hope this helps!

[Ashli]

As someone who took the 3rd longest flight in the world twice this summer, I can tell you something odd that I noticed (for me anyway...and I may just be odd). The longer the flight is, the LESS I have a problem with jet lag. I don't know if it's because on such a long flight (the one I took this summer was 16+ hours direct) I lose the concept of what time it is/should be at home, and just kind of do the plane zone-out thing or what, but I didn't have the slightest problem adjusting to the time change in South AFrica. One thing that has worked for me on other trips though, is to try (if you are someone that can sleep on planes) to get an over-night flight, so you arrive at your destination during the day. Then, sleep on the plane, and do NOT go back to sleep (no naps, nothing) until the proper time that night of wherever you are. Fortunately for your DD, it seems that the younger people are (with the exception of very young children), the better they adjust to time changes with no problem.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Disneybine

Whenever we've flown back to Europe from the States, we've arrived in Europe in the morning (I think that's due to how things best work with the time difference).

Apparently it's because it's the cheapest time for the airlines to fly. Because they fly overnight, their planes are in the air and they don't have to pay overnight fees at airports. We were told that on our last flight. While I understand the logic from the airlines' point of view, there's nothing worse than arriving anywhere in the morning and then having to get through a long day.

[DouglasE]

My advice is to be active on your first day in Italy. Get sunshine and fresh air. They truly battle jet lag well. You could rent a bike and tour the town/city in which you are staying. You could go on a brisk walk. These activities will help you get acclimated more quickly.

I am an odd duck. I get super excited upon embarking on a journey. The adrenaline races through my body. I just don't experience jet lag on my outgoing trip. When I come home is when I feel it. I just feel sluggish and sleepy for what seems an eternity. When I returned from Scandinavia my whole sleep cycle was off kilter for several days.

[DrDolphin]

I am a "sleep on the flight over" type - works wonders for me every time. I wake up in the am in Europe, ready to tour all day - and typically don't have any problems sleeping on Europe time...

[cubfancolleen]

Originally Posted by DouglasE

I just don't experience jet lag on my outgoing trip. When I come home is when I feel it. I just feel sluggish and sleepy for what seems an eternity. When I returned from Scandinavia my whole sleep cycle was off kilter for several days.

They say it is a day for each hour of time difference to get back into your regular pattern when you come home. I travel often to places with 12 hours time difference or more, and while it doesn't (thankfully) take me 12 days to get back on track, it can take a good week. But my "don't sleep on the flight" and go to bed at a normal time on the way over always works that direction. Not sure why it doesn't work the same way on the way home? I have tried to do the same thing, but always feel the jetlag more at home.

[Tink and co.]

Originally Posted by DrDolphin

I am a "sleep on the flight over" type - works wonders for me every time. I wake up in the am in Europe, ready to tour all day - and typically don't have any problems sleeping on Europe time...

This is how I work too. I generally can't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours at a time on an airplane, though. The only time I've ever had any trouble with jet lag was returning to the US from Australia. I slept for 24 hours straight when I returned, and then I was good. It was as if my body just needed to reset it's internal clock. My trip to Europe this summer, I was up by 7:00am my first day home and then went in to work the next day. I travel with kids/teens and they rarely have trouble adjusting. That may come with age.

[moneyhappy]

Like others I get some sleep on the plane. Plan on some sightseeing during the first day (about 1/2 the day after settling into the hotel). Then go to bed around 9 PM local time by the next day I'm fine.

But I add a few days before our tour/cruise from some adjustment/down time

[MickeyWatch]

Originally Posted by Disneydiana

The best advice I've ever received was to stay awake as soon as you get to the city. We took a flight out of Chicago to London. We napped on the plane but by the time we got to London it was early morning. We forced ourselves to stay up and went to bed on London time. The next morning we were refreshed and ready to go. Unfortunately we did not follow our own advice coming home I was passed out most of the day and it took me a while to get my head together.

We did the same thing on our flight to London in June for the DCL Baltic Cruise. A tour guide met us at the airport at 6:30 a.m. and we had a day tour of London, Windsor Castle, Ascot, etc. before he dropped us off at our hotel in the late afternoon. It was tough to keep going all day after the overnight flight but it worked for all of us, including DD10. We felt fairly adjusted to the time change by the time we got on board the Magic the next afternoon.