Typical layover in Europe – My experience is based on the 7ER out of NYC a couple of years ago, so it may not be current or valid, but I found myself in a similar situation as yours. Typically, the layover in Europe out of NYC is around 24 hours. It would take quite a bit of seniority to get the layovers that were 2-3 days, if they even exist post-COVID.

Managing sleep – well it’s really called managing your fatigue. The majority will tell you that when you arrive, sleep no more than 2-3 hours and then get up and go have dinner with the crew. And when your behind in your sleep that’s solid advice, but doesn’t leave a lot for getting around. By the time dinner is over, it’s dark and most things are closed. And that didn’t always work for me. When we still had good destinations (SVO, CPO, TXL, PRG, ARN), and COVID wasn’t around, I loved just getting out as soon as we arrived and playing tourist. But I knew that I was going to have to get solid sleep that night and committed myself to physically running myself down. You’ll find other people might use melatonin or beers to adjust their sleep pattern. Really, it’s trial and error.
And so much of what you ask depends on how you personally sleep. What I mean is, can you sleep going over and back on your rest breaks? Can you get adequate rest by getting 1-2 hours of sleep when you arrive in theatre, and by command drop back to sleep later that night in Europe when your body clock tells you it’s the middle of the day? That is, can you adopt to Europe’s time zone when your body is feeling a different one? If you're young and enthusiastic and can sleep anywhere, you will have a blast. However, if you are the kind of person that likes a good night’s sleep, well it might well be a struggle, but you’ll find ways to adopt. Do a quick search of APC posts and you will find a lot of great info.

It’s really what you want to make of it and how you can manage the fatigue and still have a good time. Enjoy!