Best Airports for a Layover

1. Changi International Airport, Singapore
URL: http://www.changi.airport.com.sg/
Rightly lauded in reverent tones by many of the 35 million travelers who have passed through it, Singapore’s Changi is what most airports strive to achieve in their services to the weary traveling classes—many of them unsuccessfully. The duty-free Shopping City offers everything from fashion and accessories to fine jewellery and fragrances. It also boasts a fitness center and shower facilities, complimentary Internet and charging facilities and a movie theater. But it’s the small touches that enable Changi to standout: a palm court with comfortable loungers and lily ponds that have massive goldfish.

2. Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong
URL: http://www.hongkongairport.com/
Having replaced the cramped and overtaxed Kai Tak, Hong Kong’s iconic former airport, the new International Airport—located on a man-made island and connected by a high-speed train and a speedy Ferry Transfer service—has become a favorite for travelers. In addition to two sprawling terminals with world-class shopping, it features a 2,000-square-foot lounge with eight shower rooms and nine semi-private rooms for napping. For those who want more time to themselves, there—s the Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong, which features two swimming pools, a manicured courtyard garden and a fitness center with spa facilities, connected to the airport by an air-conditioned gangway.

3. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas, Texas
URL: http://www.dfwairport.com/
Sprawling over two million square feet and built at a cost of $1.4 billion, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal D brings a touch of European élan to the world’s third-busiest airport. The state-of-the-art, 28-gate terminal features a dozens of shops and upscale eateries, as well as a posh, 298-room Grand Hyatt Hotel. To help liven up its hangar-like spaces, travelers will encounter large sculptures, outsized landscape paintings, multimedia displays and colorful abstract mosaics.

4. Zurich Airport, Kloten, Switzerland
URL: http://www.zurich-airport.com/
Just 15 minutes from the city center by rail, Kloten is often lauded as Europe’s best. The airport features clean dayrooms, a bustling nursery, and (new this year) a slew of eateries and lounges, along with the more than 50 shops and concept stores that have been luring shoppers for years. There’s also a Swiss International Airlines lounge which supposedly features the “world’s longest bar.” Best of all, the airport provides seamless transport links from its basement-level train terminal to any destination in Switzerland, thanks to a rail network that is never, ever late.

5. Munich Airport International, Munich, Germany
URL: http://www.munich-airport.de/
Built on the outskirts of Munich, 45 minutes by rail from the city center, Munich Airport’s Terminal 2 takes eco-friendly construction to new heights: The airy steel and glass structure is powered by solar panels. Beneath this expansive superstructure are duty free shopping and (next door) a Kempinski Hotel with a proper Presidential Suite, for those who wish to overnight. For business travelers, though, the most important feature is this: Terminal 2 boasts the shortest connecting times on the continent. But the airport isn’t for just grown-ups. At Kinderland, children can do arts and crafts, climb a tower with a ball basin and play with giant soft LEGO blocks—all under the supervision of trained staff.

6. Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea
URL: http://www.airport.or.kr/
Asia’s sixth-busiest airport is a six-year-old architectural marvel of sweeping steel and glass that’s regularly awarded top honors—most recently as the “Best in Service Award in Class” at the 1st International Conference on Airport Quality and Service by the IATA. They got it right: Beneath the airport’s sprawling dimensions (it’s the third-largest passenger terminal in the world, after Hong Kong and Bangkok International) are a slew of unique amenities, including an indoor driving range and golf course, a billiards hall, a hospital and an endless bounty of food and beverage outlets.

7. Central Japan International Airport, Ise Bay, Japan
URL: www.centrair.jp/en
This is the country’s third-largest airport, and like most new-build projects in the land-squeezed country, it was created on a D-shaped artificial island. The two-year-old enterprise is clean and efficient, of course, but what makes it especially notable is its jaw-dropping fourth-floor Sky Town shopping center, which features 61 shops and restaurants organized into a pair of streets. There are top-notch noodle canteens, superlative sushi bars and full-out restaurants that are so popular with locals that waits of up to an hour are not unheard of. There’s also an equally impressive duty-free area airside.

8. Lufthansa First Class Terminal, Frankfurt, Germany
Designed by Frankfurt architects Hollin & Radoske in a former Frankfurt Airport parking lot, the €30 million, two-story structure is an beautiful appointed space awash in hand-tufted woollen carpets and bespoke designer fixtures. It’s available only to first class passengers or Lufthansa’s elite frequent fliers. Russet shades from B & B Italia, meantime, dull the daylight filtering into the cigar lounge, where some 36 single-malt Irish whiskeys are on offer. Boarding is unlike that at any terminal: it’s done via a chauffeured Mercedes S-Class or Porsche Cayenne that will elegantly whisk guests plane-side.

http://www.forbestraveler.com/jets-planes/best-airports-layover-slide.html