If I had a few hours to kill between flights at Beijing International, I'd head to 798 Art Zone, a cluster of old factory buildings near the airport that have been converted into a Soho-esque neighborhood of art galleries, cafes, and boutiques that is now the center of Beijing's contemporary art scene.
Photo: AP

There's still time to enter our Airport Layover Contest for the chance to win a Palm Centro smartphone and possibly a three-night trip to the Regent Palms Turks and Caicos. If you've got an idea for the best way to spend several hours of downtime between flights when you're in or near an international hub -- any major hub in the world -- click here to enter the contest. Can't think of anything right now but want to read the 68-or-so terrific layover ideas that readers have posted so far? Click here. I can't wait to test some of them myself! 

First, though, it's author and political pundit Michael Kinsley who will be testing the winning ideas. We're sending him around the world in September for this express purpose, in fact. Michael's told me he'd like one of the layovers to be some sort of museum visit. Luckily, a few readers have already posted some nifty museum ideas -- from dashing into London on the Heathrow Express to see The National Gallery and/or The British Museum to popping across the street from Christchurch Airport in New Zealand to the International Antarctic Centre (which I've done, by the way, and it's fabulous). Any other museum or art-oriented ideas for Michael? Just click here to enter the contest. Good luck!

Cliveden, a British country house hotel with a renowned restaurant, is only 12 miles and a 20-minute cab ride from Heathrow Airport. Perhaps Michael Kinsley should pop by for lunch or dinner between flights?

We launched our Layover Nation contest only four days ago, yet already some of you have contributed terrific layover ideas.  Michael Kinsley, the author, pundit, and guinea pig who will be testing the winning recommendations when he flies around the world in September, is definitely seeking a culinary experience for one of his six-or-so layovers. We've already gotten some nifty suggestions for restaurants near airports serving typical local food and representing an atmospheric escape from the airport, but we'd love to hear more.

To enter your idea into the contest, just follow the directions here. I'll be back in a few days with more guidance from Michael as to the types of activities that would excite him most (I know he's up for some shopping too). Meanwhile, take a look at the entries thus far, as well as those from the readers of HotelChatter and Jaunted, which are running this contest too.

My mouth is drooling already!

That's Cliveden's Terrace Dining Room.

Michael Kinsley will be racing around the globe. Which airports should he choose?

Attention readers:  Here's your chance to demonstrate your travel savvy and possibly win big.

In September Conde Nast Traveler contributor Michael Kinsley will be flying around the world, testing some of the best activities you can do during airport downtime.  But there's one problem:  We don't have his itinerary.  That's where YOU come in.  Send us your best ideas for things to do between flights when you're in or near major international air hubs. 

If we pick your recommendation, you'll win a Palm Centro smartphone (we have six to give away). And if, upon his return, Michael finds your tip was his absolute favorite, you'll win three nights for two at the The Regent Palms Turks and Caicos (plus air fare from the U.S. or Canada).

Ready?   All you need to do is add your suggested activity to the comments section of this blog post, making sure your text includes:

(1) the name of the airport
(2) the name and location of the activity
(3) a description of how to get to the activity from the airport and back again
(4) an estimate of the length of time the whole experience takes
(5) a description of what makes this experience so great

Need help?  Here's a sample entry, from my own personal travel annals:

Munich Airport: If Michael has four hours to kill, he has time to take the S-Bahn train from the airport to Marienplatz, Munich's medieval town square, see the sights--the Rathaus (City Hall) with its famous glockenspiel, the beautiful old Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), et al.--then walk 10 minutes to the Hofbrauhaus, the world's most famous beer hall, dating from 1589. Sit down at one of the long communal wooden tables of old, order up a liter (you won't drink the whole thing, of course, but you want to have to use both hands to lift that giant mug; makes for the best snapshot), listen to the oompah band, and soak up the Bavarian atmosphere. Yeah, sometimes it can get a little touristy, but it's one of the most colorful places in the world to have a beer, what with the Stammtisch (a table reserved for the regulars) and the locals dressed in traditional lederhosen and Bayern hats adorned with feathers and brushes. Michael can even strike up a conversation with the locals sitting next to him; enough of them speak English.  Caveat: IF Michael is making this trip between September 20 and October 5, forget Marienplatz and the Hofbrauhaus: Just go straight from the airport to Oktoberfest!

You have until July 31 to enter our contest; the sooner you enter, the greater your chance to win. Feel free to suggest as many different ideas as you like; the more recommendations you post, the better your chances. And be sure to check back in September, when Michael will be blogging on the road--from the destinations you've helped pick. Here are the prize details and contest rules. Good luck!

 

Have you returned from a trip designed and arranged by one of the custom travel planners listed in Wendy's Rolodex in Conde Nast Traveler's August 2008 issue?  If so, I'm eager for your feedback.  Please click on "Comments" below to post your review of the arrangements made by the travel agent or tour company. Tell us:

* The destination you traveled to
* The travel specialist's name
* The month/year of your trip
* Your positive and negative comments about the experience
* Your advice for anyone planning to hire this travel specialist
* Your name, city, and state

This shared feedback is meant to benefit all Conde Nast Traveler readers by helping us find the best travel planner for an upcoming trip and utilize that person's services smartly so as to achieve the best possible travel experience.

If you'd prefer to comment privately, please email me at perrinfeedback@cntraveler.com.  This is not the place to nominate someone new for the list or to give feedback about someone not listed in Wendy's Rolodex. To do either, please email me.
 
Thanks, everyone.

If YOUR family were stranded at the airport, what would YOU do?
AP Photo/Ric Francis

While Wendy's snowed under with projects for Conde Nast Traveler's August issue, we're republishing her greatest hits from this blog. Wendy will be back on June 13 with our biggest contest ever!

FROM APRIL 11, 2008

American Airlines canceled 570 more flights today, putting the total number of canceled flights this week at about 3,050 and the total number of displaced AA passengers upwards of 170,000 or so (I've lost count). The groundings are expected to continue through Saturday.

If I were one of those stranded passengers, I'd be buying a one-day pass to the Admirals Club for $50 and waiting out the delay in the club lounge. You can't do that with young children in tow, however. (If you have to ask why not, you're clearly not a parent of preschool boys.) Which brings me to the strandees who are likely having the toughest time of all: The parents trying to keep their young kids occupied, napped, exercised, fed, hydrated, and tantrum-free. After you've worn out every Crayola marker in your carry-on, read every Dora the Explorer book, and sung the Thomas the Tank Engine song 15 times, here are some ideas for killing the hours left:

10. Go on a family scavenger hunt through the terminal in search of: emergency diapers, juice boxes for sale, a newsstand that has not run out of The New York Times, and an empty electrical outlet.

9. Use the cot and blanket supposedly provided by AA to make a fort. (You can build a wall out of leftover McDonald's Happy Meal boxes.)

8. Buy ten packs of Starburst Fruit Chews and use all the colorful little blocks to build towers, castles, and parking garages. 

7. Ride anything that moves: the train between terminals, the escalators, the shuttle bus to the long-term parking lot. As for the baggage carousel . . .

The Breakers, a Vanderbilt mansion, offers tours specifically for children.
Photo: The Preservation Society of Newport County

While Wendy's snowed under with projects for Conde Nast Traveler's August issue, we're republishing her greatest hits from this blog. Wendy will be back on June 13 with our biggest contest ever!

FROM AUGUST 20, 2007

Who woulda thought that Newport's elegant turn-of-the-century mansions, built by the robber barons and their descendants as "summer cottages," could be child-friendly? But last week in Rhode Island I happened upon two that anyone sightseeing in New England with tykes should know about. 

The Breakers, the 70-room palazzo built by railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt II in 1895, actually has a family tour geared specifically to children.  Offered daily in summer, the tour starts at the Children's Playhouse. (Imagine having McKim, Mead and White design your kid's playhouse!) 

The Vanderbilt tots used to hang out here in the Children's Playhouse. Our tour was led by the fabulous guide Ellen Sadlier (right). Aug. 14, 2007.

Our guide must have been a kindergarten teacher in a former life. Charlie, 5, and Doug, 3, were riveted by her stories about the Vanderbilt children, and especially by the silk-carpeted grand staircase down which the kids used to slide on sterling silver trays. (Speaking of Vanderbilt progeny, a bit of trivia I learned:  Did you know that CNN's Anderson Cooper is Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-grandson?) A parent-friendly bonus: For ages 5 and under, the tour is free.

More on Newport's kid-friendliest "summer cottages," after the jump.

Atlanta's new World of Coca-Cola provides oversized balls, frisbees, and horseshoes to occupy kids while their parents wait in line to get in. That's Doug, my 3-year-old, on August 3, 2007.

While Wendy's snowed under with projects for Conde Nast Traveler's August issue, we're republishing her greatest hits from this blog. Wendy will be back on June 13 with our biggest contest ever!

FROM AUGUST 8, 2007

Just back from Hotlanta, where my family and I spent several days trying to beat the heat with a variety of air-conditioned indoor, and the breeziest possible outdoor, activities.  Four train/tram rides, three 4-D movies, two trained-animal shows, and one planetarium later, I can assure you that the best thing to do with kids in Atlanta is still The Georgia Aquarium.  Since I reported on that last summer, however -- and Stephan just added his report last month -- instead I'll list the top three other activities I'd recommend to families with more than one day to kill and preschoolers in tow:

1. Ride the Ducks at Stone Mountain Park.

The "Ducks" are actually DUKWs -- 1940s-era amphibious trucks used in World War II.

You start out riding through the park and then splash into Stone Mountain Lake, where each kid onboard gets a turn in the driver's seat. That's Doug and me, August 1, 2007.

Every rider gets a duck necklace that quacks loudly when you blow into it. You get to keep it as a memento. My kids accidentally "lost" theirs (ha!) soon after the ride ended.

Charlie (then 3), Doug (not yet 2), and me on a transatlantic flight 2 years ago. Note the Sit 'n' Stroll car seat that Doug is sleeping in.

While Wendy's snowed under with projects for Conde Nast Traveler's August issue, we're republishing her greatest hits from this blog. Wendy will be back on June 13 with our biggest contest ever!

FROM July 17, 2007

Last week we learned about the mom and tot who were booted off a plane after the aircraft's flight attendant objected to the 19-month-old's behavior:  He kept saying, "Bye-bye, plane" during the flight safety instructions and preparations for takeoff.  The mom, Kate Penland, says the flight attendant suggested giving her son Benadryl to quiet him down. "I'm not going to drug my child so you have a pleasant flight," responded Penland.  The flight attendant then told the captain that Penland had threatened her.  He returned the plane to the gate, and Penland and her son were forced to disembark, even though by then the boy was sound asleep.

The incident has stirred up passionate opinions.  There are nearly 2,000 comments about it on MSNBC.com, and loyal Perrin Post readers have added their two cents to Stephan's post "Bozo Flight Attendant Tosses A Toddler." 

I've got far too many unanswered questions about this incident to opine on who was right and who was wrong, but I can tell you, as a mother of two preschool boys who were toddlers not long ago (they are now 5 and 3), that there are steps Penland could have taken that likely would have prevented the entire unhappy incident in the first place.

My tips for any parent taking to the skies with an active or fussy (in other words, normal) toddler this summer, when planes are so packed and delays so rampant:

1. Buy your child his own seat on the plane.
Kids under age two can fly for free if they sit in a parent's lap, but most of the one-year-old boys I've observed on planes are far too squirmy to sit happily on a lap in the close confines of an aircraft for a prolonged length of time. In Diane Sawyer's interview with Penland and her son, Garren, on Good Morning America, Garren was "fussy" (Penland's term), wriggling free from her lap, kicking, climbing onto the coffee table, and being such a busy wiggleworm (normal for a child that age) that he was removed from the set by co-anchor Chris Cuomo. Penland told Sawyer that Garren's behavior on the show was similar to how it had been on the plane before they were kicked off. This tells me he would have been better off in his own seat.  Once my own sons turned six months old, I found I had absolutely no choice but to buy them their own seats.  The reasons for strapping a toddler into his own seat:

Where there are cities crowded with tourists, there are street scams.
Photo: Atlantide Phototravel, Corbis

While Wendy's snowed under with projects for Conde Nast Traveler's August issue, we're republishing her greatest hits from this blog. Wendy will be back on June 13 with our biggest contest ever!

FROM July 27, 2007

Headed abroad this summer?  It's important to be aware of the tried and true ploys that petty thieves use ... and how to evade them.  The other day I warned you about a common scam in Italy: the fake street fight.  One little boy pretends to beat up another. When the victim approaches you in tears, asking for money so he can get home to safety, you pull out your wallet -- and the kids snatch it and race off.  Here are three other scams to watch out for:

While Wendy's snowed under with projects for Conde Nast Traveler's August issue, we're republishing her greatest hits from this blog. Wendy will be back on June 13 with our biggest contest ever!

FROM APRIL 19, 2008

Yesterday's USA Today reported that "air travel is slower than at any time in the past two decades. . . . Congestion on the ground and in the sky is adding more than an hour to some routes as planes take longer to taxi and fly to their destinations. . . . Airlines are building extra time into their schedules, adding as much as 50% to expected flight times."