Your favorite layover airport in Europe

Outside of summer, I worry less about AMS, but it wins among those three -- overall the schedule would matter more though.
FRA vs MUC--def avoid FRA if possible.

If the choice is between those my favourite is Amsterdam.

Of the 3 CGD and LHR are too large and too disorganized. So, AMS. Given the opportunity, even if it means a longer flight i use IST. Better airline, large but well organized airport

Amsterdam, hands down.

Munich and Amsterdam.
Never Heathrow if at all possible.
They are all huge and take some navigating.
Have a good 2-3 hours for any layover.

We are going with AMS more and more including because we are now adding a couple of days there going and back to explore places in the Netherlands. Schiphol and the train station makes that so easy. KLM has good coverage of flights around Europe which is also helpful.

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I'm surprised at all the votes for AMS, the articles I've seen lately seem to think it's gone to heck recently

Phred, shows you how bad LHR and ChuckyD are and why IST looks so good.

When I had only seen the headline, my immediate response was Istanbul (IST). I have had layovers at LHR, AMS, CDG, and MUN and they all worked out, but they don’t compare to IST.

IST is in a class by itself as an airport. Modern with a variety of facilities. Where else will you find free napping areas complete with recliners? The lounges are amazing quality, the shopping and restaurants are plentiful.

AMS is ideal for layovers, because everything is under one roof. There is no need to take a sky train or whatever to get from one terminal to the other. You simply walk to the next gate. If you transfer from a non-Schengen to Schengen destination, you’ll need to go thru passport control. If you have a tight connection, your flight number will be displayed at the fast lane and you can bypass the regular line.

And to answer the question from Carol “Where else will you find free napping areas complete with recliners?” ; at Amsterdam Airport! There are several areas with recliners. One area for instance is in the airport library, so you can even read a book while resting. Another area is the so-called Airport Park where you can relax on loungers or bean bags with the (recorded) sound of birds in the background.

Amsterdam is the best.

I'm not a huge fan of Amsterdam, but among the ones listed it would be my choice. Charles de Gaulle can be a bit confusing and I generally avoid Heathrow if I'm able.

Although my favourite airport for connections in Europe is Copenhagen, small and compact and easy to navigate. But still large enough to have a decent selection of restaurants and shops.

Of the first three, I would rank them as AMS (best), LHR, then CDG at the bottom.

Hands down, no question, AMS. When I have transited through there, I am at my connecting gate in 30 to 45 minutes, sometimes less, and that includes immigration. The food selection could be better, it has the feel that some serious remodeling is on the horizon, so that is both good and bad, but most times I have a short connection, so no big deal.

Since I usually fly Delta, I do not transit through FRA or MUC maybe ever, but have been in both and would have no issues with Munich. Frankfurt I really can not speak to, though I land there in 2months.

CDG, every time it has been a mess, but it works. LHR, while it might sound tempting in that you avoid immigration, you still have to go through Security (though in-transit security is not as bad as the main security to enter the airport) and it seems the chances are high that you have to change terminals.

I am like Claire above, I am finding more and more that I am using AMS as my "gateway", either transiting through, or landing and spending a couple days, or a couple days at the end. My next trip in March, I fly into Frankfurt, then rather than fly out of Frankfurt, I added a few days and will wind up flying out of AMS. I can get a mid-day flight, better choice of schedule, no early mornings for me anymore, plus I enjoy checking out the smaller towns.

Schiphol..

Munich and Milan

Of the ones the OP mentioned, Amsterdam. Otherwise I like Shannon. Frankfurt is OK, but I just use it to fly out of. Same with Munich, although not lately. It's different when you live in the EU.

LHR Terminal 5 has been it for decades and still is my preferred airport. (Although now I am trying to train from there rather than taking a short European flight.) AMS is fine but I have never walked so far in any airport to reach my flight. I feel like you can’t shave off any time there because of it. CDG…nope.

Of the three Schipol in Amsterdam. My last couple of connections through LHR have been horrible and I now avoid LHR unless it will be my final destination.

Since this is a US to Europe question, I like to make any connections necessary in the US before taking the longer non-stop to my final destination. Have you considered connecting on this side of the pond and then going straight into Vienna?

But what about the shopping? Let's get our priorities straight, people.

Of the three, I would say AMS.

Also I have no desire to fly so much further south and east of my actual destination as Istanbul. That is serious extra time flying that I can do without. Flights are already long enough. I want to break them up way before I would get there.

For shopping, I agree with Badger : Copenhagen.

I have actually flown out off and back into Schiphol very recently and I didn’t find it a mess at all. I’m curious why you would say that.

My only real issue with AMS is that it always seems to be really crowded (a fitting metaphor for Europe's popular destinations?). The airport is perfectly fine if you don't have to squeeze through crowds everywhere, but on my last few times through it seems that every corridor, every gate, every hall, has been packed with people. Maybe I've just caught it at bad times, but this has been my consistent experience connecting there over the past 5-6 years.

Skytrax has this to say about Amsterdam Schiphol Airport:
“ Amsterdam Schiphol Airport continues to provide an excellent and convenient transfer point within Europe, and the synergy between KLM and the airport authority ensures a seamless passenger experience. Overcrowding can be an issue during peak periods, especially for security screening points. However, the airport remains innovative and provides excellent land connections through integrated rail networks”.

Source; https://skytraxratings.com/airports/amsterdam-airport-schiphol-rating

I have no favorite layover airport but want to use the chance for a short memorial to former Europe's fastest airport Berlin-Tegel (TXL). The decentralised ring structure of gates with all functions at every gate alllowed a taxi-to-cabin time within 15 minutes. As former business traveler I was always fascinated and grateful to have more time in the morning to sleep. For in-flying business travelers the taxi time to the western center of Berlin from the airport was 20 minutes.

TXL was finally closed on Nov 8, 2020 by left and green politicians against a votum of the citizens of Berlin (56.4% voted for keeping TXL open). Since the closing of TXL the city of Berlin has no international airport within city limits; airport Berlin-Brandenburg (BER) is located close to Berlin city limits and very good connected to the center by train.

Copenhagen, if you can swing it. We're doing Helsinki as a transfer CDG to LAX this summer (actually autumn; late October) and will report back. Anything but Heathrow, honestly.

Surprised no one has said Frankfurt. It is probably the easiest airport that is so close to the city, you can go do some sightseeing. Trains only take around 13 min. to get you into the city center and there is a train at least every 15 min. Posts all the time on the German forum about going into the city on a layover. Not something you can do in Munich or Paris or London.

FRA has always been a horrible airport for transfers and very mediocre for layovers. I have missed more transfer flights through there than any other airport including CDG. It is indeed close to the city, but the question here is about the actual airport.
There are so many things you can do at Schiphol. It is a great place to waste a bit of layover time. I have never felt that way about FRA. In fact, it is at the top of my list of worst places for that. If you are too early to locate your gate number, you can end up in a hallway limbo there with almost zero options for places to sit or relax, until your gate finally does open. It is horrible torture and the number one reason I did not list it.
WRT proximity, Schiphol is 15 to 20 minutes with trains every 10 minutes if leaving the airport is indeed a choice you might want to make.
I won't mention what how difficult it can be to get around FRA in a car.... even having been there many times, I still end up getting twisted around and especially if I need to top off the tank.

Of the airports mentioned, MUC I guess. Haven't been through AMS in a very long time. Haven't had any real bad experiences as of late with any of the airports mentioned, although I do fly thru FRA in a couple of days...

Ms Jo, I understand you are biased for Frankfurt, and for good reason. Interesting city and not my favorite, but a very decent airport for transfers.

Thought we were talking about layovers and not transfers? Two totally different subjects.
With a layover of many hours, which airport is best? Thus, I posted about Frankfurt, because the city is close to the airport and easy to get to with even a short layover of 5-6 hours.
Oddly, Mr. E. over the years, I have met dozens of people on this forum for coffee, shown them my favorite sites, especially the ones not in the RS guidebook, but you have never contacted me when you were here. Perhaps try that the next time you are here.

You understand, I was serious. Frankfurt is very interesting. Transfer or layover FRA isn't bad at all. I only do long layovers at IST cause I like the hotel and I can show up in Europe, clean and well rested. But 1.5 to 3.5 hours FRA does the job nicely.

Thanks everyone for the great responses.

We do like AMS a lot, but were not able to find flights that worked for us thru AMS.
As far as Istanbul, I'm sure that's nice, but NOTHING routed us that way - it's actually out of the way enroute to Vienna and timing is also important to us.

Someone asked why we just don't fly direct to Vienna - we'd LOVE to, but from CLT, there is NOT ONE direct flight to Vienna on any airline.

We ended up booking on AA (Delta is my fav & I was hoping that would work), but we are booking MultiCity tickets - flying home from Munich & AA has a Direct Flight MUC to CLT.

Our layover is at LHR, three hours and we will NOT have to change terminals which is a plus.

Thanks for all the replies - I found them all very interesting & enjoyed reading them all.

All those talking LHG, or any UK airport, need to remember you'll have to have the UK ETA and pay the added fee just to land there. Expect delays as this gets to be another checkpoint.

KGC

Transit passengers no longer need ETA permit for airside transfer at Heathrow Airport.

https://traveltradejournal.com/transit-passengers-no-longer-need-eta-permit-for-airside-transfer-at-heathrow-airport/#:~:text=Transit%20passengers%20no%20longer%20need%20ETA%20permit%20for%20airside%20transfer%20at%20Heathrow%20Airport,-By&text=London%20Heathrow%20airport%20has%20welcomed,permits%20simply%20to%20change%20planes.

KGC- the rule changed- you no longer need ETA if you're not staying in the UK.

You do not say what city you want to depart from, but from CLT, Munich is the best option from what I can see. MUC is a very easy transfer from my experience.

Expect delays as this gets to be another checkpoint.

There is no evidence that I am aware of that the ETA is causing any delays. The ETA is linked to the passport so is checked at the same time as the passport at the UK border.

isn31c., I think the implication was that you would have to go though passport control, when normally on a transfer not entering the country you would (probably) not have to ... but no longer the case.

Oddly, Mr. E. over the years, I have met dozens of people on this
forum for coffee, shown them my favorite sites, especially the ones
not in the RS guidebook, but you have never contacted me when you were
here. Perhaps try that the next time you are here.

Careful, I get back a few times a year visiting family .... I might do that.

Hello! Just did a month in Italy, started before New Years, and I did A LOT of research (plus bugged my traveler friends) about this since I didn't want to get stuck someplace during the Holiday.

An initial question... Seems likenl you flown to the EU before, but have you done it post-Covid? Post Brexit? I don't mean this to patronized, but the number of sad/angry/confused "frequent travelers" I have come across in these past few years holding up the line at airports seems to be more frequent than before...

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES fly through LRH. Every time a friend layovers there, it's a MASSIVE problem. Even within the UK. Every airline books too short a layover, given the fact that you have to get your bags (carryons are 50/50 gatechecked these days) and deal with secuirty/customs. Brexit has made it WORSE than it was before to the EU. LRH is a last resort to the UK post-Covid, and since you are not headed there, AVOID AT ALL COSTS

On the positive side, we just did Munich. Lovely smallish airport. Easy to navigate if you dont read German (as I don't) because their signage is similar to us. There are 2 terminals you will most likely have to transfer between (EU vs international, but not always) and they seem to transfer your luggage (our carryons made it with us, but we were around a sports team transfering)

Given your other choices, I've never been to AMS, but other friends love it. CDG I know from experience (pre-Covid) is massive and the French have different symbols than we use here in the USA, so it can be confusing navigating the large airport, especially if you're on a short layover. And I speak modest French and can read all of the (limited) signage. According to "my sources" the last few years were a mess preparing for the Olympics. My most frequent traveler friend (and the most finicky) is giving them another chance next month, hearing okay things from his cohort.

Hope this helps! Enjoy Vienna!

Having connected in the last year at LHR and AMS give me LHR any day. Maybe I just got AMS on a bad day but I’ve done it twice in the past few years and I have no idea why this airport is so highly ranked.

Regardless, layover, transfer, arrival, departure back to California, my favorite airport in Europe is London LHR, although I like MUC and Paris CDG

Flying from CA I can get a direct non-stop flight to Vienna from LAX, easy to reach on Amtrak and the connecting bus.

AMS or Munich for sure. Both have very nice facilities to keep you entertained and, in a worst case scenario (like cancellation, missed, or bumped flight) are great places to get stuck since they are fun places to visit with easy transport connections to the airport.