Stopovers don’t have to be boring. In some cases routes with stopovers can be cheaper than their non-stop counterparts, but many travellers prefer to opt for the more expensive, direct flight alternative. That’s obviously completely fine – some people are in a hurry – but if you want to save cash and have the time to spare, stopovers are no longer the soul-sucking exercise in staving off boredom by doing laps of the duty free and reading yesterday’s paper that they used to be.
Of course, it’s all very well making outlandish statements like that and walking away without providing a shred of proof to back them up, but we’re not like that here at KAYAK: we’re fully prepared to follow the bold claim we’ve just made with some cold hard evidence to back it up. That’s how science works, guys.
So without much more ado, here’s a collection of airports deserving of your temporary presence. Because a four-hour stop on the way somewhere isn’t a waste if you spend it in an IMAX…
Singapore Changi Airport
Let’s start with the best: the Singapore Changi Airport could possibly be counted a holiday destination in and of itself. For a start there’s a rooftop swimming pool, like that’s a totally normal thing!? There are a few rooms dedicated to gaming (there’s a big pile of Xboxes and PlayStations you’re welcome to have a go on whenever, by all accounts) and there’s something called a napping facility, which sounds like heaven. Eleven full-time horticulturists maintain some indoor gardens, which include over half a million plants, waterfalls and koi ponds and, oh, there’s a four-story slide, just for fun. That’s top tier stopover action, right there. Our map will probably be necessary to help you make your way from the waterfall to your gate.
Vancouver Airport, Canada
The most tranquil entry on this list, as well as playing host to a number of high end boutiques, a butler service (!) and all the good Canadian vibes it’s possible to house under one roof, Vancouver Airport has a ridiculously huge aquarium that contains 114,000 litres of water and more than 5,000 creatures that run the gamut of British Columbia marine life. That’s a solid few hours of catching the eye of your partner through the water like Claire Danes and Leo Dicaprio in Romeo + Juliet. Vancouver layovers have some romantic potential. You’ll be hoping your flight’s delayed.
Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport
If you’re into luxury, Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport has everything you could desire.
If you’re into luxury, Paris’ Charles De Gaulle is, predictably, a pretty great place to get ‘stuck’ for a few hours. The city’s famed tea salon Ladurée has two boutiques; Chaumet, the jewellers to Napoleon, and Van Cleef & Arpels, jewellers and watchmakers, both have stores in the airport; and you can even reserve goods ahead of time and have them delivered to your gate. What a world we live in. And as you can imagine, given it’s Paris, some of the best wine and spirits in the world are scattered throughout a number of different shops in the airport. As you can tell from our guide, the airport’s served by airlines from Cuba to Japan, so there’s a good chance you could end up whiling a few hours away in style.
Dubai International Airport
Oh, maybe we spoke too soon about Vancouver being the most tranquil on the list, because any airport with a Zen Garden sounds pretty chill, and Dubai has one of those. Do you have one of those? It also has the world’s largest duty free store – reckon you’ll find something worth buying in 58,000 square feet? You couldn’t not, really. There’s a swimming pool too and—as our airport guide will tell you—it’s almost always 30 degrees there, so it’s never not appropriate to dive in.
Hong Kong International Airport
The Hong Kong International Airport is a great shout for a number of reasons, for instance, there’s an iSports gym with a computer-simulated basketball court (what even is a computer-simulated basketball court?), an actual real-life 9-hole golf course, and a 4D IMAX cinema. 3D is usually enough for most people, but at the Hong Kong airport they’re so into people not having boring stopovers they wanted one extra dimension on top of the usual three. Now you can smell and feel movies as well as have them get right up in your grill. Just make sure you know when your flight’s leaving: you might not be able to fit in all of Das Boot.
Once you’ve made your decision to travel via one of these joyous airports, keep checking our KAYAK Trips airport guides to track your flight status, arrivals/departures and even an airport map in case you get lost.
