Ah, cheap flights. There’s nothing like bagging yourself a bargain on a destination you’re dying to check out.
If there is a downside, it’s that cheap flights sometimes come with stopovers that are too short to warrant spending the night in a hotel, but too long to while away the hours shopping or eating in the airport.
If you happen to find yourself with five or so hours to spare in one of the airports that offer free city tours, though, it’s a whole different ballgame. In addition to getting to your destination far more cheaply than you’d imagined thanks to your cut-price flight, you can also get an introduction to a new city or revisit the best spots in one you already know and love.
Flight search site Skyscanner helpfully compiled a list of the international airports that have free tours on offer – some of them so good that it might be worth making sure you do have a stopover just to take advantage of the tour.
It’s no surprise that the world’s best aiport offers four daytime heritage tours as well as a nighttime city sights tour, both of which take in some of the most interesting parts of the diverse city-state, from the famous Merlion to the super-trees at Gardens by the Bay. You can register for the tours in the airport’s transit area.
There’s a catch to this one – you have to have flown on Turkish Airlines – but if you qualify, Skyscanner reckons the five tours on offer are fantastic. Ranging from 2.5 hours to a whopping nine hours long, they take in the grand covered bazaar, the Blue Mosque and plenty more, with all entrance fees and a meal included. To join a tour, register at the hotel desk in international arrivals.
Get a real taste of local life by taking one of four free tours of the local towns Shibayama, Tako, Sakae and Narita City, hosted by a local volunteer who’ll also make sure you get an introduction to Japanese culture and food over the three hours of the tour. To take part in our of the tours, head to the transit tour desk in arrivals.
Doha’s a pretty common stopover destination if travelling through the Middle East, so if you find yourself there with time to kill, take the free three-hour tour of the city that Skyscanner promises covers four key city landmarks. It’s first come, first served, though, so to take part, register at the tour desk in the transit area of the airport.
These are just a taste of the complimentary tours available, with city trips also on offer at Seoul’s Incheon (mind you, you may not want to leave the airport, which comes in second only to Changi in the world’s best airports ranking), with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong, at Taiwan Tayguan International Airport in Taipei, Salt Lake City International Airport in the US state of Utah and with KLM in Amsterdam.
Detailed information on tour timings are available from the carriers’ or airports’ own websites.