Which airline are you travelling with? Singapore air has tours in s'pore. Probably British air too. Arab Emirates has trips in Dubai. Ask your airline for their stop over itineraries.

Most airlines will give you a stopover en route. Why dont you contact Trailfinders or one of those companies to find out your options?

Why on your way back? We always do it on our way to Australia. Kills your jetlag and you're pretty fresh starting your Australia trip instead coping with your jetlag after arriving Brisbane.

I agree totally with Tet

" why on your way back " ?????????

anyway, this is your forum post.

Hopefully, you will reply back to us and give appropriate advice regarding leaving London for Brisbane .

thanks for sharing.

totally disagree. a two day stopover on route from europe to aus does zilch for the jetlag factor on arrival. 3-4 days, maybe a little but 2, never.

It looks like your flight options would be Cathay or Qantas(possibly code-sharing on BA between HK & Lon)for a Hong Kong stopover and JAL if you want to go to Tokyo.

Cathay have great stopover packages for HK and they seem reasonably easy to book yourself via their web-site.

I agree with Lien 2 days isn't long enough try and push the stopover out to 3-4 if you can, sepecially if you choose Tokyo. There is so much to see there and the trip from Narita into Central Tokyo is quite long. We originall had out stop over there booked for 3 nights and almost 3 full days but added on an extra day and were so glad we did.

FWIIW if I am only going to have a stop in one direction I always do it on the way home. I rarely suffer much from jetlag on the way to a holiday but cope it coming home. It also gives me a few days to rest up after a bit after a long busy trip.

2 days did it for us. Arrived Brisbane, had a good night sleep, picked up the car next morning and all problems were over. After 60 intercontinental flights

I know about jetlags. On our way home we just want one thing, be back home asa possible. But that's just a matter of personal preference of course.

Tet

Wow, lots of advice there, thank you! I will definitely check it out and report back any useful findings.

The reason for stopping on the way back is exactly the same - to reduce jetlag. This was recommended by a friend who regularly goes to Melbourne; she said it made it much easier to get back into work which sadly I have to when I get back. Although it might be a good excuse to take a sickie ...

I'll certainly have a think about having the Tokyo or Hong Kong stopover first - any tips on how to cope with jetlag on the way back to the UK without a long stopover?

Thanks very much.

It's different to many people but flying east generally is harder than flying to the west. You probably arrive early in the morning and are leaving the far east just before midnight. After a couple of hours in the plane they'll bring you some food. After that we take a light sleeping pill and try to sleep for app. 5-6 hours. After arrival we stay up till app. 10 pm and go to sleep. Works for us. Maybe consider to fly back on a friday and arrive saterday morning. Then you have the sunday before go to work.

Curious how other people cope with this.

Good luck, whatever you decide you'll have a great time down under!

Tet

One other thing I meant to add, as you are wanting to go to Brisbane make sure you get a flight directly to Brisbane. You or your Travel Agent may consider options on Qantas/BA codeshare due to price and/or availability. Just make sure that the flight is direct to Brisbane & not via Sydney. It looks easy on an itinerary but the reality of flying in to Sydney at the end of a 24 hour flight often arriving early morning and then having to clear customs and immigration and then transfer from International to Domestic and then do another 90 minute flight is a killer. To be avoided at all costs.