The world’s best airport, an auto adventure and more
Welcome to The Check-In, our weekend travel feature.
Travelers vote Singapore’s Changi Airport as the best in the world
Are you flying into Changi Airport in Singapore? You’re lucky.
Changi has been named the world’s best airport for 2023 by Skytrax, an airline and airport ranking site. The airport has won this honor multiple times, thanks to features like a butterfly garden, a 130-foot indoor waterfall, an IMAX theater and more than 280 shops and restaurants.
The airport has “something for everyone,” Skytrax’s Peter Miller told CNN Travel. To create its ranking, Skytrax asks travelers from around the world to rate their airport experiences, and Miller said the feedback shows that Changi “does well because it offers such a wide range of facilities and amenities for all types of customers – Families, business travelers, and leisure travelers are all well catered for.”
Two North American airports are on the 2023 list: Seattle-Tacoma International and Vancouver International. Skytrax also presents individual awards, and LaGuardia Airport in New York’s Terminal B was the top pick for the best new airport terminal in the world. It has its own water feature, art installations throughout, and private suites that travelers can book to escape the crowds.
Gunter Fischer/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Jordan’s “beautiful” Wadi Rum Trail connects travelers with Bedouin guides
A new 75-mile trail offers visitors a new way to explore Wadi Rum.
This stunning area of southern Jordan near the border with Saudi Arabia is known for its “dramatic desert landscapes, rust-red sandy beaches and enigmatic gorges carved with petroglyphs”. lonely planet‘s Lauren Keith writes. Tourists often see Wadi Rum as they drive through on their way to other attractions and the Wadi Rum Trail aims to change that. It has been explored by 10 local Bedouin tribesmen and gives visitors the chance not only to trek through the area but also to climb and scramble.
Adam Pretty/Getty Images
This is not for solo travelers – the trail has been designed so that a Bedouin guide can lead visitors on the journey, which takes 10 days. Sabbah Eid from the Anaza tribe supervised the search for clues and narrated lonely planet The route is “beautiful” and “encourages and supports the local people of Wadi Rum. It bridges past and present, preserving the heritage, climbing routes and trails of the ancient Bedouins, and educating the modern generation about eco-tourism.”
Download this: Audio
Equal parts travel guide and podcast, Autio turns every drive into a history lesson. This immersive storytelling app features a library of 10,000+ audio vignettes about people, places, and things in the United States. Each story is between two and four minutes long, and the app uses GPS to determine a user’s geographic location to fetch stories based on their location.
“Stories are updated and added every week, so no two trips are ever the same,” said Woody Sears, CEO and co-founder of Autio The week. “Our growing library of stories is fueled by suggestions from the Autio community because we believe history is made every day.”
Courtesy of Auto
Stories range from profiles to landmarks and VIPs to tales from a bygone era, and turning on Autio can keep car journeys and even quick trips around town from getting boring. Speakers include Autio co-founder Kevin Costner, John Lithgow and Phil Jackson, and Sears said the goal is to ensure the stories reflect America’s diversity while being politically unbiased and honest about the country’s past. “We don’t censor hard truths,” he said. “Being able to respect someone else’s authentic story gives you the space and freedom to tell your own.”
Autio is free to download with a 1-year unlimited subscription for $36.
Plan accordingly: Upcoming events to add to your calendar
The 2023 UFO Festival lands in Roswell, New Mexico from June 30 through July 2 with events such as an alien hunt along the Spring River Trail; Lectures by UFOologists at the International UFO Museum; laser shows featuring music by Queen, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd at the Robert H. Goddard Planetarium; a parade and costume contests; and a Roswell Invaders baseball game. Whether you’re a true believer or not, the UFO Festival sure is way out there.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
Sample some of the world’s best sake at Joy of Sake on April 22 at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Joy of Sake is the largest annual sake celebration in the United States, with 576 different brands to sample, all in tip-top condition. Attendees will want to come thirsty — and hungry: Tickets cost $120 and include unlimited sake samples and appetizers prepared by local chefs. This is a 21 and over event.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
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