Do a Gamla Stan Drive-By – “Flying from London to Oakland, I had six hours to kill in Stockholm. I stored my luggage in the airport lockers and went to Gamla Stan (above), the city’s beautiful Old Town (the airport bus leaves every 15 minutes for the 30-minute ride). I went to the Royal Palace, took a fiica at the centuries-old Kaffekoppen, and only used my credit card, so I didn’t need to get any kronor.”

Hit a Fancy Hotel Bar – “Toronto Airport’s year-old UP Express train gets to central Union Station in under half an hour. So on a recent four-hour layover en route to Zurich, I went to the pint-size York Station bar, hidden inside the classic Fairmont Royal York. It’s one of my favorites in the city for a gin and tonic.”

Buy Stocking Stuffers in Germany – “I got into Frankfurt at 6 a.m., en route to Doha to see family last December. Facing a six-hour layover, I hopped the airport train straight to Romerberg, the Old Town, where vendors were unpacking pastries and handmade decorations and setting up for the Christmas Market. I browsed a bit and picked up ornaments for my parents to hang on the tree.”

GOOD NEWS – Sweden’s Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is turning up the heat on Norwegian Airlines. For the first time ever, SAS is flying nonstop from Miami to Copenhagen and Oslo, and this past March they kicked off nonstop service from Los Angeles to Stockholm and Boston to Copenhagen. We say, let them fight it out: As the two airlines go to battle over market share, we come out the big winners, with more direct routes at super-competitive fares.

UNBELIEVABLE NEWS – We’d love to know who approved this idea. Kalashnikov—you know, the maker of the AK-47—has opened a souvenir shop in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. That’s right: inside the airport. Sure, it’s located after security and it sells fakes, but who wants to see an assault rifle of any kind mid-flight over the North Atlantic? And yes, they’re also selling I LOVE AK T-shirts as last-minute souvenirs.