By Josephine K., guest blogger studying Korean in Seoul
When booking your ticket most people just want the quickest flight to their final destination. However, a layover can be tons of fun if you don’t mind the wait. This was my first time traveling abroad and I couldn’t wait to start my AmeriSpan program in South Korea. Originally I thought that a layover would be a bad idea, let alone one that lasted 8 hours. However, it was a great beginning to my time in Seoul.
My flight took me from the United States to Amsterdam (where I had the layover) and then from Amsterdam to Seoul, South Korea. When I first got there I thought I would probably just spend my time looking at a few shops inside the airport and then just go on my laptop for the remaining time. Lucky for me I when I was trying to find where my gate would be for my connecting flight (so I wouldn’t get lost later after exploring the airport) I found a booth for Amsterdam excursions.
For less than 40 euro I could go on a guided tour of Amsterdam, and not just one of those bus tours, but a canal tour. They took me out of the airport and onto a bus, where they drove into the city where I would then go on the canal tour. The nice thing about this was that not only did they take me from the airport, but back as well. This really saved me from getting lost and insured that I was able to catch my connecting flight. The tour only took 2 hours including the commute. For a first time traveler this was a lot of fun!
I got to enjoy the sights of a city I’d never seen, and still had plenty of time to catch my flight. I was even able to come back and do a little shopping in the airport. Unfortunately, Schiphol (Amsterdam airport) was undergoing a lot of construction so a few shops were closed as well as the museum that is located inside the airport. However, I still had a blast looking through all the other shops (it is pretty much a giant mall) and yeah, I’ll admit, I was still able to spend plenty of time online with my laptop.
Go to AmeriSpan’s Korean school in Seoul
Read all of Josephine’s blogs from Seoul Korea.
ShareThis
