How to Turn a Layover Into a Mini Vacation: 4 Best Stopover Strategies

If you’ve ever sat in an airport lounge on a layover in a new city wishing you could actually get out and explore the town, this guide is for you. Booking a stopover is the ultimate travel hack and our favorite way to add an extra country to our itinerary. It can break up a long-haul flight and save money on the total airfare, if you plan it right.

In this post, we’ll walk through how to turn a long journey into a chance to see somewhere new. We’ll cover the stopover tactics that have worked best for us, including:

• How to use official airline stopover programs
• The Google Flights Multi-City strategy
• Our own DIY approach to long layovers (this is the secret sauce to have the most flexibility and save the most money)
• A bonus category that’s easy and often cheaper

1. Airline Stopover Programs: The Official Way

Several international airlines offer free or low-cost stopover options in their hub cities. It’s essentially a “buy one, get one” deal for your vacation. Because these airlines want to promote their home hubs and national tourism, they make it incredibly easy to leave the airport. Here are a few examples:

Turkish Airlines

If you’re flying internationally on Turkish Airlines and your layover in Istanbul is 20+ hours, you may qualify for a free hotel stay through the Turkish Airlines Stopover Program. This is one of the most generous programs we’ve used:

• Economy: 1 night free at a 4-star hotel.
• Business: 2 nights free at a 5-star hotel.

Our Honest Take: We booked a long-haul flight from the US to Europe with a 20+ hour layover and emailed stopoveristanbul@thy.com more than 72 hours before departure. We were assigned the Sheraton Istanbul Ataköy Hotel in 2023, which was far from the new airport. While the hotel was lovely and the service was great, it wasn’t in the heart of the tourist district and it was not 5-star.

We took a taxi along the coast road into Sultanahmet, where we could see the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. We were worried about traffic, but we did this early in the morning and had the sites to ourselves before a memorable breakfast at Seven Hills Hotel’s rooftop restaurant. It was well worth the experience, but only because we had a plan to leave the hotel area and see what makes Istanbul special in a short timeframe.

Smart Tip: If we did it again, we’d prioritize staying closer to the main attractions to maximize every minute. Notably, Turkish Airlines has expanded its hotel list for 2026, including more central options.

Icelandair

Icelandair is the gold standard for travelers from the US and Canada heading to Europe. They let you add up to seven days in Reykjavik with no additional airfare (but you’ll have to pay for your accommodations).

Our Honest Take: We’ve used this a few times and it’s consistently our favorite way to see Iceland, especially when Icelandair has one of its frequent fare sales from the US to Europe.

• The Adventure: While the Blue Lagoon is definitely considered touristy, we think it’s well worth the stop. In fact, we go every single trip. If you have more time, the Golden Circle is a classic, but you really need a full day for it.
• Our Preferred Route: If you have a longer stopover, we recommend renting a car from Blue Car Rental at the airport and driving toward Vik. You’ll hit incredible waterfalls and black sand beaches without the heavy bus crowds on the Golden Circle route.
• Smart Logistics: If you’re just checking out Reykjavik and the Blue Lagoon, use the FlyBus and dedicated Blue Lagoon buses. Do not take a taxi in Iceland. The prices are shockingly expensive and can easily blow your budget.

Other Programs to Watch

While we’ve flown all these airlines and been to their hubs, we haven’t tried their formal stopovers:

• Qatar Airways: This program offers 4- and 5-star hotel deals in Doha starting as low as $14 per night. It’s great for breaking up a trip to Asia or the Maldives.
• TAP Air Portugal: Allows you to stay in Lisbon or Porto for up to 10 nights. They even provide a mobile app with exclusive discounts for stopover passengers.
• Etihad Airways: Offers up to two nights free at select hotels in Abu Dhabi. It’s a great way to break-up a long-haul from the US to Southeast Asia.

2. Search Google Flights Multi-City

If you aren’t flying a specific airline with a stopover program, you can still build your own using the Multi-City tool on Google Flights. This is how we find secret deals that a standard round-trip search won’t show you. This strategy works because airline pricing isn’t always linear. Sometimes adding a stop can actually decrease the price of the overall ticket. Just note that it can also be way more expensive.

How to book it:

1. Go to Google Flights.
2. Change the dropdown from “Round trip” to Multi-city.
3. Enter your legs individually (Example: Leg 1: JFK to LHR on Oct 1; Leg 2: LHR to FLR on Oct 4; Leg 3: FLR to JFK on Oct 11).
4. You might find that spending three days in London before heading to Florence is cheaper than flying to Italy directly. But London can be very expensive, so be sure to factor in all costs if budget is your main priority.

Smart Tip: If you don’t want basic economy fares, use the “bags” filter on Google Flights to ensure the options include a carry-on. Many international search results are for basic economy fares, which don’t include a carry-on, so this will weed those out (for the most part).

3. The DIY Stopover Strategy (Our Favorite)

Sometimes the best stopovers are the ones you build by stitching together different airlines. We’ve saved thousands over the years by flying a legacy carrier (like Delta, United, or American) to a major European hub, then taking a “puddle jumper” on a budget airline like Ryanair, EasyJet, or Vueling to our final destination.

Real examples we’ve used:

• United to Amsterdam + Croatia: If we booked a straight itinerary to Dubrovnik, it would have cost a small fortune. Instead, we found a $650 round trip economy deal on United to Amsterdam, where we met up with family for a few nights, then took EasyJet roundtrip to the Balkans for $100 (including all the add-ons).
• United to London + Ryanair: We flew into Heathrow, spent the night exploring London, then took a taxi the next morning to Stansted and flew to Palermo, Sicily. Even with a $250 taxi (no Uber would pick us up at 4:30 AM on a Sunday), the total trip was still cheaper than booking a legacy carrier all the way to Sicily.
• French Bee to Paris + Vueling: French Bee offers $1k premium economy roundtrip flights from Newark to Paris. We’ve been taking this flight every year for the last few years and exploring more of Paris before taking a train or budget flight elsewhere in Europe. We can sometimes even upgrade to lie-flat seats for $400.

Luxe-for-Less Budget Airline Rules: We always add priority boarding, a carry-on bag, and preferred seats to our budget flights. Even with these upgrades, the total is almost always significantly less than a legacy carrier.

• Online Check-in: Some airlines charge a massive fee just to print your boarding pass at the airport. Always do this on your phone.
• Bag Fees: If you don’t prepay for your bag online, the price can double or triple if you have to pay at the gate.
• The Personal Item Rule: Ensure your backpack actually fits under the seat. Budget carriers in Europe are notoriously strict and will check the dimensions.

4. Finding the Longest Layover

Even if you aren’t using a formal program, you can create a meaningful stopover by picking flights with the longest available connection on a preset itinerary. This is often as simple as choosing the 14-hour layover option instead of the 4-hour one when you book your ticket. And it’s usually cheaper.

Our Etihad Example: On our recent trip from Bangkok to Doha, we deliberately picked a flight with the longest layover in Abu Dhabi. We arrived in the afternoon and left the next morning. Since we booked last minute – less than 72 hours before departure – we couldn’t use Etihad’s official free hotel program.

The Smart Play: We used one of our Hyatt Free Night Certificates at the Grand Hyatt Abu Dhabi. We had a stunning room, a delicious room-service mezze dinner, and a much-needed reset. Comparing this DIY stay to what we’ve seen of the official stopover hotels, the Grand Hyatt was a significant step up. Next time, we’ll try the official program to give you a side-by-side comparison, but never underestimate the power of using your points and certificates to turn a boring layover into a five-star experience.

Why We Love the Stopover

Beyond the money saved on airfare, stopovers make travel an adventure. They break up long-haul flights and allow you to sample a city you might not have otherwise booked. We’ve gotten to know some of our favorite cities – like Copenhagen, Paris, and Reykjavik – so well by adding a few nights year after year.

Some words of caution before you book:

• Check the Visa Rules: US citizens are currently exempt from visas many European countries for 90 days, but always check for updates before you fly. New ETA requirements in Europe and the UK require a few extra steps and payments.
• Mind the Clock: A 10-hour layover sounds like a long time, but once you factor in deplaning, customs, and getting back to the airport a few hours early, you might only have four to 5 hours in the city. That’s probably plenty of time to do something memorable but be aware of traffic and other constraints.
• Transit Matters: Only book a DIY stopover in cities with great airport transit. If you’re spending 2 hours each way getting to and from the airport, it might not be worth it.
• Pay Attention to Price: If cost savings is your goal, be aware of budget airlines add-ons, transportation and hotel costs, and any other expense that can take away from airfare savings. Sometimes we’re willing to spend a little more to add a new city we wouldn’t have otherwise seen, other times we’re trying to stay in a strict budget. It all depends on your goals!

Have you ever booked a stopover that you loved?

Drop a comment below and let us know which city we should try next!