Top 10 unexpected airport attractions

Live music: The Austin-Bergstrom Airport in Austin, Texas, home of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, has local artists playing on multiple stages expressly for ticketed passengers every Monday through Friday. The Nashville International Airport, in country music’s hometown of Nashville, Tenn., also features a regular line up of free performances. Keep an eye out for other concert events and series as you travel. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson offers concerts every few months, and Dulles International Airport just outside Washington, D.C., has been known to host a jazz series.

Museums: Some cutting-edge airports are partnering with area art museums to create in-terminal exhibits and even branches. Case in point: the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol, an annex of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, a Dutch national museum known for its collection of the masters from the Golden Era, located at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Free of charge specifically for passengers, this museum has a permanent exhibit, including 10 pieces by Dutch Masters, as well as a regularly changing series of new shows. At San Francisco International Airport in California, a partnership that started with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco evolved into a fully accredited museum within the airport. The SFO Museum has more than 20 galleries throughout the airport showcasing rotating art, history and cultural exhibits.

Movie theaters: Travelers passing through Hong Kong International Airport can lose themselves in more than just a basic movie. The airport offers passengers the story immersion of a full IMAX experience, with 2D and 3D movies. The theater in Singapore’s Changi Airport ups the ante with 3D and 4D offerings!

Medical and dental care:  Look for medical and dental clinics in airports like Vancouver International Airport in Canada, Zurich Airport in Switzerland, Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan, San Francisco International in the U.S. and Frankfurt Airport in Germany.

Pet care: The Pet Hotel at Tokyo’s Narita Airport offers on-site boarding so you can pick up and drop off your pet as part of your travel plans. And, with adjoining vet and grooming services, the Pet Hotel can take care of your pet’s needs while you are away or help get a traveling pet ready for takeoff.

Workouts:  In the U.S., yoga rooms have sprung up at places like Burlington International Airport in Vermont and San Francisco International in California. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas not only offers a yoga room but a marked walking trail that helps passengers and employees step their way to a workout.

Games: Some of the great options we found: iSports, a venue dedicated to playing simulated sports, from boxing to car racing to basketball, at Hong Kong International Airport, and free Playstation 2 and 3 areas at both Paris area airports (Orly and Charles De Gaulle). 

Classes:  Korea’s Incheon Airport has dedicated whole sections of the airport to educating passengers on local culture. Featuring local architecture, food and dance performances, these cultural zones also offer craft classes where you can learn to make traditional artifacts such as fans and “lucky” bags. At Hong Kong International, a “Tea through the Ages” exhibition includes tea-making workshops. Another short-lived (but we hope revisited) learning experience: a series of quick but tasty French cooking classes offered to passersby in Paris’ Orly Airport and Charles De Gaulle Airport.

A brush with nature: Changi Airport in Singapore may set the standard here with a Butterfly Garden, which boasts an indoor waterfall and more than 1,000 butterflies, in one terminal plus a sunflower and an orchid garden in another terminal. Vancouver International in Canada brings the ocean inside, though, with its two Vancouver Aquarium Marine Exhibits. The main tank, a 30,000+-gallon aquarium, holds more than 5,000 sea creatures, while a second tank, a 475-gallon aquarium, is dedicated just to jellyfish.

A pet to pet: Those traveling via Miami International may well get a first-hand chance to see the power of a pet when it comes to smoothing the edges of the flying experience. Casey, a four-year-old golden retriever and official airport ambassador, roams the airport with her human partner, Liz Miller, two days a week to dole out stress release and affection. Sporting a blue “Pet Me” bandana, official credentials and business cards, Casey is a popular sight and tension balm for grown-ups and kids alike.

Top 10 unexpected airport attractions