🛌 How to spend a comfortable night at Stansted Airport

Last updated Feb 27, 2025

Stansted is the third most popular airport in London. It is not without reason that the largest European company Ryanair has especially warm feelings towards it. Often the best tickets are sold for departures from London early in the morning, especially if you are buying a tour to England.

Of course, “early birds” cannot be intimidated by the heartbreaking “departure at 5-6 am”, but there is a nuance here too. If you, like me, don’t have friends with a sofa in the English capital or an extra hundred pounds for a taxi, then I hasten to congratulate you on your first night at Stansted Airport.

What's the problem? The last express train arrives at the airport at midnight. If the plane takes off at 5 or 6 in the morning, then you won’t be able to go through security in the evening and enjoy shopping or a sweet nap in a quiet zone. To avoid overcrowding, customs opens only from three in the morning. Since 2018, the airport has adopted rules prohibiting tourists from sleeping outside the lounge. They even introduced a special patrol here, which was supposed to wake up the smoked travelers.

There are also snack bars in the waiting room. However, when the clock strikes midnight, everything instantly closes and the game of “hot chairs” begins. There are no benches or sofas in the hall. Having arrived early to have dinner, I, as it turned out, “hit the jackpot”, thus getting my chair, which I did not part with until three in the morning.

There are so few places to sit that travelers take their clothes out of their suitcases and sit on them to avoid freezing on the cold floor. Yes, yes, at night the entrance doors periodically open and close, driving away the cold wind from the street. Such conditions do not spare both the elderly and families with children.

How to survive your first night in Stansted? Probably the best option would be to spend the night in a hotel in Stansted. Just pre-arrange for an early check-out and transfer, and as part of a tour to the UK you will not have to worry about this.

The choice of hotels for such a small city is unexpectedly large: from the Radisson and Hilton chains to authentic English “inns” – small inns. The taxi ride from there will be shorter and therefore cheaper.

If you find yourself in the same boat with me, then I’ll share my checklist:

Be sure to bring a power bank for your phone. You won't believe how quickly your battery drains after running around with an online map of London;
Snacks and water. I advise you to take a bottle of water and some snacks with you if you do not plan to arrive at the airport before all the eateries close. By the way, you won’t have to buy water a second time. After customs and security, there are plenty of water fountains. So you can “refill” an existing bottle;
Jacket or sweater. Unfortunately, there is a draft at the airport. Therefore, it is better to immediately have a warm layer with you, or better yet two;
Entertainment. Personally, the book saved me, but I also noticed a mailbox, or rather a column. There is a WHSmith bookshop in the waiting room where you can buy stamps and postcards. Why not take a moment and drop a couple of letters to your family about your weekend in London?
Make friends with other tourists. After some time, you will still have the desire to leave your more valuable than gold chair and take a walk. If you, like me, are traveling solo, then an awkward moment arises: do you leave and lose in the “hot chairs”, returning to the cold floor, or do you sit until the end? In my experience, tourists were more than friendly and were happy to help me save my place. We even had a fun conversation. For some reason, this situation reminded me of the forced “friendship” of passengers in a train compartment car.

After the customs area, the usual European airport will open with various shops, food courts and lounges. If you have a little time left, I recommend going to the “quiet zone” and lying on the soft benches. There are also chargers for equipment.

I hope your night in Stansted is peaceful and, most importantly, quick. I advise you to be patient and have a good book, or maybe a tablet with your favorite movies. As they say, “safe travels” and see you in London!