A Portland layover - 3 stories

Beautiful Portland Oregon
creative commons image tonymoore on Flickr

The best 6 hour layover - Shannon Brown
The MAX train from Portland Airport makes a layover in this funky time a breeze. Why not on the way to Hawaii?

One of the coolest parts of our recent trip to Maui was that we were able to fit in a stop to Portland, courtesy of a 6 hour layover in our itinerary. It was like two trips in one! We made plans to meet up with our dear friends in downtown Portland for lunch. Scott and I hopped on the MAX at the airport and enjoyed the 40 minute ride into downtown. Can I just tell you . . . being back in that city just puts a huge smile on my face and fills my heart... [read Shannon's story]

Love the layover: at play in Portland, Oregon - Stuck at the Airport
Harriet Baskas writes about airports and layovers all over the USA, but this time it's a coming home of sorts, when she stops by Portland...

It’s always a bit strange for me to spend time in Portland, Oregon. It’s the first city I lived in when I moved out west and it’s the city now portrayed in a fun and fractured way in the IFC show Portlandia and in Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors, a book that claims to describe “all that this magical, dreamy city has to offer.” This visit I was a guest of Travel Portland – and most definitely a tourist.. [read Harriet's story].

Layover in Portland, Oregon - Kaleidoscope Flux
Granted Ionatan's layover in Portland was on a Greyhound bus journey, but who said all layovers have to be associated with airport travel?

I was fortunate enough to experience a 5-hour layover in what has been routinely called America's greenest city. One of the world's most environmentally-conscious cities in terms of land-use planning, Portland represents a fascinating blend of traditional port-based industry with alternative lifestyles and liberal politics. As the third most populous city in the Pacific Northwest, Portland provides everything from historical landmarks to world-renown rose gardens. As a town built on port industry, it provides all the right grunge. Below are some photos from my layover; never have I been so happy to have to wait for a bus... [read Ionatan's story]. 

Related resources
12 hours in Portland - 12 Hour Guides
The Layover List: Portland, Oregon - Flight Attendant Joe
'Portlandia' tour of Portland
The 420 from PDX
Portland Layover Ideas and Things to do in Portland
Portland OR International Airport (PDX) transportation guide

Romantic layover ideas

Buenos Aires: Aeropuerto Internacional
Ministro Pistarini - Corazones Argentinos
"Corazones Argentinos", part of
 Corazones Vivos 2006,
designed by artist Daniel Ontiveros. EZE

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we've scoured the planet for tours and activities with a romantic twist. So, whether you are inspired, horrified or just amused, here's what we found:
Best Private Tour: Bologna In Love Walking Tour
Private Romantic Gold Coast Gondola Dinner Cruise for Two
Private Tour to Tunnel of Love from Kiev
Paris Hotel Romantic Set-Up
Moonlight ride by Ninebot - New generation of Segway - Rome
Overnight Private Tour: Romantic Kumarakom and Alleppey Houseboat Tour with Candlelight Dinner - Kochi, India
9-Night Romantic Private Tour of Athens, Santorini and Peloponnese Coast
Win Your Heart Picnic on the Beach in Phuket
Proposal in Paris
Proposal in Quito
Western Style Wedding Ceremony in Phuket
Get Married on Vacation (Gulf of Mexico beach, Tampa)
Civil Wedding Ceremony on a Miami Beach
Private Wedding Cruise on Monterey Bay
Married Over Manhattan: Helicopter Wedding in New York City
World Famous Drive-Up Wedding in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Wedding at the Graceland Wedding Chapel
Elvis Wedding at Graceland Wedding Chapel
Elvis Wedding Ceremony Package
Las Vegas Wedding at A Special Memory Wedding Chapel
Las Vegas Limousine Wedding Ceremony
Las Vegas Limousine Wedding Package
City of Lights Wedding or Vow Renewal
Helicopter Wedding Ceremony Over the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Night Flight Helicopter Wedding Ceremony
Grand Canyon Wedding or Vow Renewal
Grand Canyon Helicopter Wedding
Grand Canyon Helicopter Wedding or Vow Renewal
Valley of Fire Wedding or Vow Renewal
Valley of Fire Wedding by Private Limousine
Destination Wedding: Valley of Fire Ceremony
Destination Wedding: Red Rock Canyon Ceremony
Paris Eiffel Tower Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony with Photo-shoot
Paris Eiffel Tower Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony with Photo-shoot and Video-shoot
Paris Luxembourg Gardens Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony with Photo-shoot
Paris Luxembourg Gardens Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony with Photo-shoot and Video-shoot
Vows Renewal Package in Cancun
Renew Your Wedding Vows in Florence
Renew Your Wedding Vows in Paris

Related resources
Looking for love on a layover
Pilots Do Hook Up With Flight Attendants, Say Flight Attendants
How to Field Marriage Proposals while Traveling - Love at First Layover

A New York City layover - 3 stories

The Manhattan skyline from the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg
creative commons image, Travel Junction on Flickr

A hipster's extended layover in New York City - Curiosity Travels
On Jessica Wray's 30 hour NYC layover with friends, the 3 managed to fit in beverages on more than one open air rooftop bar with a view.

After a short but scenic ferry ride, we arrived in Williamsburg to check out the rooftop bar at the Wythe Hotel. Housed in a refurbished historic factory, the hotel itself is a hip place to be and the rooftop even more so. We spent a couple of hours enjoying IPAs on the outside patio with the NY skyline just across the water... [read Jessica's article]

24 Hours: New York City - Nicholas Andriani
A confessed introvert, writer Nicholas Andriani, more inclined to wilderness than cities, describes the appeal of New York City during a short visit.

Take a taxicab or Uber, your choice, to the Jane Hotel. Built in 1908 for sailors docking in Manhattan, the Jane Hotel offers historic, cabin-like berths for single and double occupancy... [read Nicholas' story]

What to do on an 11 hour layover in NYC - Adam Atmtx
Lots of lessons learned, inspiration and incredible photographs in Adam's timeless blog post about his 2012 New York layover. From JFK, he fit in both a trip to Manhattan and the transit museum in Brooklyn.

I took the Air Train from the Airport to the Howard Beach subway station. There I waited 30+ minutes until the A train arrived. Surprisingly, it was nearly 9am until I got the World Trade Center station in lower Manhattan. Chalk it up to a couple of detours and transfers to get around some subway maintenance... [read Adam's story]

Related resources
Layover Ideas and Things to Do in New York City
New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) transportation guide
New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) transportation guide
New York Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) transportation guide
New NYC Airports blog for aviation buffs

Layover idea: crude oil bath

Baku old domed roof tops on the "Haji banu" (Bath House)
creative commons image, good_day on Flickr

Azerbaijan luxury spa treatment: crude oil bath.

While the treatment may sound odd to Westerners, the treatment has long considered to be therapeutic. Having performed ablutions in oil since the 6th century BC, Azeris claim the ritual heals everything from impotence to skin complaints.

While Naftalan crude oil is too heavy for normal export uses (unlike Azerbaijan's plentiful Caspian Sea oil), it contains about 50 percent naphthalene, a hydrocarbon that is the active ingredient in coal tar soaps, which are used to treat psoriasis. As such, it is only used for medicinal purposes. People using the oil generally sit in a bath and are covered in oil up to their necks. There are numerous petroleum spas in the city of Naftalan itself. While the naphthalene in the oil is claimed to give it therapeutic properties, Western experts say it, and bathing in crude oil in general, might actually be carcinogenic.

Listed as #4 on the Telegraph Travel's list of the city's 10 weirdest tourist attractions, Baku, Azerbaijan is a good place to try it. "It’s a popular therapy amongst the oil-igarchs and their wives, and the carcinogens are overlooked," points out the Telegraph.

Want to take the oily dip? Here are some options:

• So You Wanna Do the Oil Baths? Shani Backstrom shares her experience, along with do-it-yourself tips, in her blog, The Iceberg Mosaics
• Private Tour: 2 Day Baku Tour with World's Unique Crude Oil Spa
• Private Tour: 3 Day Baku Tour with World's Unique Crude Oil Spa and Cooking Class
• Private Tour: 4 day Baku and Shemakha Tour with World's Unique Crude Oil Spa and Azerbaijan Cuisine Cooking Class

A little history:
Archaeological findings in the region date to the 12th century AD. The qualities of Naftalan oil has been known since early times; Marco Polo noted them. The oil in the area was known to people as far as China and India, and was traded by caravans throughout countries of the Near East. Modern use of the oil has dated to the 1870s under Czarist Russia. Oh, the baths have also been featured on The Amazing Race.

Travel tip: Baku is home to the Museum of the Dwarf Book, and the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum.

Related resources
Bathe Like An Oligarch At Azerbaijan’s Oil Spas - Travel + Leisure
Take a crude bath in Baku - Men's Journal
Crude Oil Spas of Naftalan, Azerbaijan - Amusing Planet
Things to do in Azerbaijan
Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport transportation guide

Christmas layover cheer

Perchance you find yourself travelling over the holidays, with a layover on Christmas, we are sending along this little bit of cheer. Make the most of whatever you have, wherever you are.

Merry Christmas!

creative commons image, click for source info

Layover bucketlist: Downton Abbey

Highclere Castle, aka Downton Abbey

Yes, you can visit Downton on a layover.

That's good news for fans of the acclaimed television series, many of who have "visit" Downton Abbey on their bucketlist. As real fans, they know they can't actually visit a place that doesn't exist (that's more than we can say about the tourists who flock to wrong village in search of Downton Abbey).

If you are an independent traveller, or just have lots of time, you can visit many sites on your own (see Best Stops on a Downton Abbey Tour: Put Yourself in the Picture at These Downton Locations).

If you have less time, such as being in London on a layover, there are several Downton Abbey tours you can take that will ease your access.
'Downton Abbey' Town and Country Tour from London
'Downton Abbey' and Highclere Castle Tour from London
'Downton Abbey' TV Locations and Blenheim Palace Tour from London

No time for a scheduled tour?

A few private tour options:
Private Tour: 'Downton Abbey' TV Locations Tour of London by Black Cab
Private Tour: 'Downton Abbey’ Film Locations Tour by Private Chauffeur

 ... and for the serious fan:
Private Tour: 'Downton Abbey' TV Locations Tour of London and the Cotswolds by Black Cab Including Highclere Castle

Related resources
American tourists flock to wrong village in search of Downton Abbey
Discover the real Downton Abbey at Highclere Castle and Bampton
Downton Abbey film locations
Best Stops on a Downton Abbey Tour: Put Yourself in the Picture at These Downton Locations
London attractions: Highclere Castle
London Layover Ideas and Things to Do in London

An Amsterdam layover - 3 stories

The pink granite Homonument in Amsterdam
creativecommons image ianloic on Flickr

How I Experienced the Best of Amsterdam in…8 Hours? - LandLopers
Matt's frank account of his short Amsterdam visit a few years ago is refreshing, including his take on the city's ill-named, but historically significant, Homomonument.

I’m not necessarily proud of the fact that I only spent a few hours in Amsterdam, but that was the plan from the beginning. But that limited amount of time allowed us to focus and to enjoy the city in a way more leisurely travelers don’t. So without further ado, here are my recommendations for experiencing a slice of life in Amsterdam when you have less than a day. [read Matt's story]

Amsterdam | NL - Oxie on the Go
Oxie (aka Oksana) shares details on everything from her Uber experience and Airbnb stay, to city pass and Van Gogh Museum visit. Helpful info.

Amsterdam has been on my bucket-list for quite some time now simply because of the rumors of its beauty! So when I found out that I had a 28 hour layover here on my way home, you can only imagine how thrilled I was! Even though I only made it into Amsterdam at 4 pm (16:00), the whole trip was literally a blessing! It’s always a bonus to... [read Oxie's story]

How NOT to soend your layover in Amsterdam - WanderTooth
Katie and Geoff lept at the chance to have a layover in Amsterdam, but in retrospect would have done it much differently. Good lessons for us all:

We stopped in Amsterdam on our recent trip to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania by timing our flights to have a 10-hour layover. On our way there. This was a bad call, and not something you should do. Here’s why. Having never been to the city, we jumped at the chance to spend a layover in Amsterdam, not really considering we’d be coming off a 9-hour trans-Contilantic (trans-contilantic = trans-continental + trans-Atlantic), compounded by a nine hour time difference. Sometimes we’re I’m stupid like that. The city is set-up for layovers, so theoretically a layover in Amsterdam shouldn’t be a problem. Our bags were checked through all the way through... [read Katie and Geoff's story]

Related resources
Layover Ideas and Stuff to Do in Amsterdam
Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport (AMS) transportation guide
The Netherlands: Schiphol Layover - TripAdvisor
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Airport Schiphol - closed for renovation, reopens summer 2016