UK - to stopover or not?

We fly to London next year & will obviously be taking the children with us (we'll be there for a year).

We're not sure if it's going to be better to have a stopover of a couple of days somewhere or just keep going without stopping (for any longer than we need to)?

I can see the pros & cons of each scenario but DH thinks that getting there as quickly as possible is the way to go.

Thoughts?

we went to the UK last year and went straight thru. I agree with your DH just to get there as qucik as possible.

It is stressful travelling at the best of times with kids (not like the old days where you could drink too much and pass out ) and to break the trip I think would add to the stress.

Good luck and have fun

Having done the trip many times (but not with kids) if you fly through Singapore or Hong Kong a stop over is great. You don't even have to leave the airport in Singapore cos they have a hotel in the airport building which is great if you have a few hours between flights. If you go through LA then don't stop, its a nightmare, did it once and I will never fly through LA again.

Singapore is great for a stopover with kids. We haven't done it (we live here on a permanent stopover lol) but have had various friends come through over the past 5 years away and they've all said it's been great.

If you fly SIA and do a stopover deal you get a bunch of tickets to things like the Zoo and discounts on food and things while you're here.

Hong Kong is also a great place to stop but not so easy with kids, bit harder to get around with a stroller and not as much kid-friendly stuff to do.

We've just been to Europe, and for the first time ever we did a stopover. Thank god for that!
DD only slept the first 1,5 hrs on the flight to Singapore, and then stayed awake for the remaining 9 hours . I can't tell you how very glad I was that we were able to leave the airport and spend the night in a hotel.
I don't know how I would have managed if I had to go straight onto another 14-hour flight.
DD has never been the best of sleepers, and even though everyone told me little kids sleep great on planes - well, not her. She also refused to lie in the bassinet (but it's still great to put your luggage), and she doesn't really play with toys, or watch tv, so you can imagine how hard it was to keep her entertained for hours and hours on end.

The stopover gave us all the chance to stretch our legs and get a few hours sleep. For me it was a lifesaver.
We had our stopover in Singapore, and the hotel was outstanding! Everyone in Singapore was so friendly, I couldn't recommend it enough.

I have always stopped over but never flown with kids so I have no idea. I love stopping over, it's a holiday in itself... but yeah the kids thing. I can see pros and cons with both too. Pros - it's not such a long hideous trip and maybe you can throw Disneyland at LA in the mix or whatever else works.

Cons is having to go through the airport etc. more times and the take offs and landings (some babies cry through it). If your stopover ends up being one night I would say NO not worth it. But if you can spend a bit of time there then maybe. HOWEVER your plane will have to refuel at some point so I figure that if you can make a holiday out of it it could be the better option?

LA it's the queues that get to you. With kids that might be awful. Singapore has Santosa Island I think it's called? Big water park. I guess you just have to weigh it up! If you have good sleepers - perhaps all the way through to the UK is the way to go. Not so good sleepers - a hotel at Singapore?

Edited by newlywed

We just came back from a holiday in the UK last week and on the way to the UK we stopped in HK for 2 nights and then did it straight through on the way back from London to Tauranga. Our 2 year old slept 5 hours on the first flight to HK and then 2 on the flight to London, and pretty much did the same on the way back - i don't think the stopover on the way there made any difference to our son although mentally it's quite difficult to get off an 11 hour flight to get straight back on for another 13 hours! We found Hong Kong okay for kid friendly stuff, one of our friends stopped over for a night there and stayed at a Disneyland hotel, not far from the airport and lots of kids stuff to do obviously! Next time we fly there i would just fly straight through.

It's good reading this thread. we're going to Edinburgh for Christmas and eveyone thinks we're mad not to stop over, but I'd rather just get it over and done with. The flight that is, not the holiday