All things being equal, like price/basically just an overnight at an airport hotel, which airport/airline would be better coming home from Dubrovnik to Chicago? Flight times is really are not going to allow for us to explore any of the cities.
Munich/lufthansa
Brussels/Brussels air
Zürich/Swiss air
Thanks
The key, apart from price, will be the flight times and connection times in Munich, Brussels or Zurich. Does one start at a more social time, does one have a short but not too short connection time etc. Without those details I don't think any of us will be able to offer any useful advice. Is the overnight hotel to be in the European hub?
Shame Turkish Air isn't an option. Great reasonably priced hotel, security side, very near the gates.
Brussels and Zurich airports are quite close to the city which gives you more options of places to stay at a more reasonable cost and a quick train ride to the airport. I believe MUC airport is much further to the city - only time I overnighted there was in 2021 and I stayed at the Novotel that was 1-2 stops away on the bus (I think it was bus 350)
Mr E - what hotel are you referencing at IST - I’ve only ever checked the Yotel and I’ve always seen prices in excess of 300-350 euros. I just passed through IST yesterday but managed to snag a sleeping room in the TK business lounge since my connection was only about 7 hours
Flight times are all arriving said cities early evening (approximately 1830 -2130) and all leave the next morning approximately 0900ish
Mr Ed, I was looking at Turkish but yesterday prices jumped up with them. I do love Istanbul.
The Istanbul airport is great and Turkish Air is among the best airlines in my book. I just checked the hotel. Yup gone up a bit. My last stay was 4 years ago. But still starts at about 200€ on the right dates booked far enough in advance. There is another post about vacations feeling like work, Turkish Air, IST and the Yotel Security side really work against that fear.
When I am faced with a decision like this, I often choose the city I would prefer to be stuck in if my flight were canceled.
Laura makes a good point. However, if you want to stay in the city instead of the airport, both Zurich and Brussels above fast and frequent trains that take only 15-20 minutes. The sbahns into Munich take about 40. Both Brussels and Zurich have more options either at the airport or to nearby hotels. Booking.com can help here, with their filters.
Speaking of which Turkish has had a program in the past that brought you into town, put you up, gave you a tour then got you on a flight onward. I never did that but I have laid over 2 or 3 nights at no extra cost and done it myself. Few places more interesting than Istanul. If the Turkish Air flight were $400 more but it meant seeinh Istanbul then the $400 is a bargain.
MUC is indeed some distance out from the city centre - but as the OP states there won't be time for exploring anyway. As well as the hotels actually at the airport the small town of Freising is very close, and some of the hotels offer an airport shuttle as an alternative to the frequent local buses and trains. It's got a strollable central area with restaurants for the evening. Less than 15 minutes to the terminal in taxi or shuttle, at some airports you can spend that long moving within the airport. https://tourismus.freising.de/en/
Personally, I prefer Munich. Lots of good accommodation and food options right at the airport. Also it’s just a nice airport and very efficient.
Munich and Frankfurt? Neither make my top 10 list. But sometimes its just about the $$
i like Munich. We like to stay in Neufahrn, at the Gasthof Maisberger. Nice, large rooms, fair price. Have a nice German meal there in the evening. Walk 100 feet to the train station, 2 stops to the airport. Very convenient.
Honestly, with layover times like that, I would take the choice of whichever has an affordable hotel and easy transport to and from your gate. Work that together with the timing of the flight from Dubrovnik and that would be my choice. All three cities make it easy to get from the airport to a hotel in the city and back. But I haven’t checked out hotels AT the airport in any of these.
If going into the city is your choice, I’d want to find a hotel right by the train station so you don’t need a second mode of transportation to get back the following morning. I just stayed overnight at the Ibis off Grand Place in Brussels and that would work. Zurich is quick and easy to get to the Main train station, but I don’t know about a close hotel.
And if everything else is equal, I’d choose the one arriving at 18:30.
If Zurich ends up being your choice, we have stayed at The Radisson Blu directly at Zurich Airport. It was nice to be able to just walk to the gate for our early morning flight home.
Thanks, everyone.
These were all Saturday flights that wound up getting us home on Sunday, which I wasn’t terribly thrilled about.
I looked at it for the Friday, which actually was cheaper, quicker, and must be one of the days united does Dubrovnik to Newark, so that’s what I booked.
