World's Strangest Airport Attractions

From teeth cleaning to “4-D” movies, fliers are finding unusual ways to make the most of their layovers.

En route to the Czech Republic her junior year of college, Rachal Royce was faced with five hours to kill at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport—not enough time to visit the city, but just enough to go a little crazy. Fueled by a few café au laits, she paced the corridors of Terminal 1 looking for something—anything—to keep her occupied until her flight. That’s when she stumbled across free Sony PlayStation kiosks and settled into a fierce multiplayer game of Hot Shots Tennis.

“I must have played 15 games with some guys in my group and dominated every single one, even the playoff,” says Royce. “The guys were furious, but I gained their respect. Two of them ended up being my best friends in Prague that semester. Finding the Sony PlayStations was a happy accident.”

For so long, airport layovers have meant tucking into a Robert Ludlum novel or impulse shopping in duty free. No longer. Much to the delight—and relief—of travelers of all ages, new resources are cropping up to help fliers beat the layover blues, including Travel + Leisure’s new Navigator guides to 20 of the world’s top airports. Among a slew of new iPhone apps are handy interactive airport maps designed to assist fliers daunted by the sheer size and distance between terminals. There’s even a website dedicated to finding the best airport bar, complete with Top 10 lists, ratings, and reviews (“This place is like the beach but [it’s] at an airport…and with a strong Wi-Fi signal”).

• Don't Miss: T+L’s smart guides to the world’s top airports

“Much like the city that never sleeps, JFK airport remains open around the clock,” says a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey “Passengers taking off late on red-eyes can get massages at certain airport spa kiosks until midnight. We also have new computer-based welcome centers.”

Not surprisingly, it’s the unexpected services and attractions, big and small, that are generating the most airport buzz. Asia’s largest 4-D projection screen, for example, is not in the heart of Tokyo, Beijing, or Shanghai—it’s at the Hong Kong Airport. Curious fliers can not only enjoy the latest blockbuster, but they can even go inside the movie, thanks to 3-D glasses and extreme real-life special effects—wind, water, and murky foglike clouds. Other popular attractions are decidedly low-tech, not to mention unique to the country or city, like Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport’s “chewy” ice cream vendor, who roves Terminal 1 astounding travelers by stretching this Turkish treat like ribbons of taffy.

But it’s not all fun and food at airports these days; some industrious businesses are appealing to travelers who want to use their free time in smart, productive ways. At São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil, fliers fearful of cavities, overdue for a visit to the dentist, or just looking to brighten their pearly whites for their arrival are in luck. Inside a spotless office, a small team of licensed dental professionals does everything from quick teeth cleanings and X-rays to whitening—and for a fraction of the cost in the U.S.

Even meditation rooms—which are popping up at airports around the world—can seem like novel attractions inside a humming terminal. Nature, too. Inside Singapore Changi International Airport, an enclosed tropical oasis teems with no fewer than 47 species of butterflies native to Singapore and Malaysia. Here, butterflies roam freely, alighting on hanging ferns and travelers’ shoulders. It’s hard to imagine a more unusual—or peaceful—place to wait for your boarding call.

• Don't Miss: T+L’s smart guides to the world’s top airports

Where: Dubai International Airport, Terminals 1 and 3, DDF Raffles kiosks

Details: Since 1988, the Finest Surprise raffle (tickets $139) has offered up an ever-changing selection of cars and motorbikes as prizes. Odds are one in 1,000 for the car series and one in 2,000 for the “special” car series. Recent cars include an Aston Martin DB9, Mercedes-Benz S500, and Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe, all shipped to the winner free of charge. If you’re willing to part with $274 for a ticket, you can win $1 million in the newest raffle, Millennium Millionaire; odds are one in 5,000.

Where: Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, Terminal 1, Oxygen Lounge Juko

Details: In this minimalist space, guests hook themselves up to self-serve tanks that pump exotically flavored oxygen, from eucalyptus menthol to cinnamon, into their lungs; choose from 10-minute (600 yen/$6) and 20-minute (1,200 yen/$12.50) sessions. The benefit? You decide—many claim increased oxygen eases headaches, induces alertness, and even reduces the effects of jet lag.

Where: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Ground Level, Rijksmuseum

Details: Amsterdam’s premier art and history museum, the Rijksmuseum, opened this airport annex in 2002, pioneering the world’s first airport museum. The permanent collection consists of 10 paintings by Jan Steen, Jacob van Ruisdael, and other Dutch masters. Temporary exhibitions throughout the year feature art borrowed from the city museum’s permanent collection, including works by Rembrandt and Frans Hals. Admission is free.

Where: Vancouver International Airport, Levels 3 and 4, Vancouver Aquarium displays

Details: British Columbia’s vibrant native sea life is on display in two outposts of the Vancouver Aquarium. In the Departures area, a 30,000-gallon tank houses some 850 marine plants and animals—including rockfish, anemones, and sea stars; upstairs, a smaller cylindrical tank holds more than 100 undulating moon jellyfish.

Where: Hong Kong International Airport, Terminal 2, 4D Extreme Screen

Details: Asia’s largest 4-D projection screen—a 360-seat theater where films come not only with 3-D glasses but also special effects such as wind, fog, water spray, and bubbles—happens to be in Hong Kong’s airport. Check the website for movie times for blockbusters such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Where: São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, Terminal 2, HC Clinica Odontológica

Details: If you’ve been putting off a visit to the dentist, this spotless dental office will clean your teeth, whiten, and take X-rays for a fraction of the U.S. price ($40–$60). The doc is in from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Where: Paris’s Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Terminals 1 and 2, Sony PlayStation kiosks

Details: Take time out to play on one of 73 free Sony PSP3s set up near departure gates throughout the terminals. Conceived with Sony for Aéroports de Paris, game stations have side panels for privacy, and stools let you sit for hours playing 20 of Sony’s best-selling demo games, like Burnout, Top Spin, and NBA.

Where: Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport, International Terminal, roving cart

Details: Turkish ice cream is stickier and chewier than its Western counterpart—it stretches. The secret ingredient is salep, the ground tubers of wild orchids. Available in chocolate or vanilla, sold from a cart and twirled on long-handled paddles, this is a completely authentic Turkish ice cream experience: even the most discerning Turks give it two thumbs up.

Where: London Heathrow Airport, Newall Road, Heathrow Academy

Details: During the recent construction of Terminal 5, a team of 80 archaeologists scoured approximately 250 acres around Heathrow—the U.K.’s largest single-site dig—and excavated more than 80,000 artifacts dating back to the Mesolithic Age (circa 6000 B.C.). Among the findings were a hand axe (circa 3000 B.C.) and the only wooden bowl that has ever been found from the Middle Bronze Age (circa 1500 B.C.–1100 B.C.). Stop in here—or at the Museum of London—to see what was unearthed.

Where: Singapore Changi International Airport, Terminal 3, Butterfly Garden

Details: Stop along Changi’s Nature Trail for a breath of fresh air. This tropical garden near T3’s koi pond is home to 47 species of butterflies that roam free among hanging plants, including carnivorous pitcher plants, and palm trees; there’s even a waterfall. Don’t miss the butterfly breeding and feeding corners.