Category: mapping

In many areas of the United States it’s spring break. For many, that means heading to the airport for what is still the public’s fastest form of transportation. No matter whether you’re headed to sunny climes or on a business trip, if you have a connection to make, you have a high likelihood of passing through one of these airports. The 30 busiest in the world are mapped below, explorable by total passengers and country.

View World’s Busiest Airports in a full screen map

A full 40% of these busiest airports are in the United States. Many of these top airports are major hubs for major airlines, leading to a lot of traffic. Delta pioneered the hub and spoke system in the 1950s with what is still its main base of operations in Atlanta. It is still the busiest airport in the world.

Los Angeles’ LAX is the hub for multiple airlines and is popular for international destinations. Both United and American Airlines use Chicago O’Hare as a hub. Dallas, the fourth-largest US airport (and ninth overall), is also American’s home base.

Other US airports in the top 20 include Denver (#17) and New York’s JFK (#18).

Outside of the US, China has the most airports in the top 30, with four. Beijing is the second-busiest overall, and Hong Kong rounds out the top 10. Germany is the only other country with multiple airports on the list: Frankfurt (#11) and Munich (#30).

Only three continents are represented by the 30 busiest airports: North America has 12 of them, Asia has 11, and seven are in Europe. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Indonesia is the only airport in the southern hemisphere to make the list of busiest airports.

Air travel continues to grow, overall and at most of these top airports. Istanbul (#12) has seen an 11% increase in travelers over the last year. Seoul (#24) and Shanghai (#19) have increased by 9.7% and 7.6% respectively.

As you plan your travel, either now or in the future, consider these top airports as you put together your itineraries.

When you think of Hollywood, the physical place in California, a few images come to mind. At the top is likely the giant sign in the hills. Amongst those iconic Hollywood images is likely the Walk of Fame, the sidewalk adorned with literal stars for the famous. Over 2,000 people and groups are honored on the walk, some multiple times.

View Hollywood Walk of Fame in a full screen map

The first permanent star was placed in 1960, though it took until 1978 for it to be designated as a cultural monument. Today the Walk encompasses 1.3 miles of Hollywood Blvd and nearly a half mile of Vine St.

The stars are broken into categories, with the majority being for motion pictures (1,134) and television (598). Nearly 42% are for stars of neither large or small screen. Other categories include recording artists (442), radio personalities (243), and live performers (42).

There are also a handful of special types of stars. A mayoral star belongs to Johnny Grant, long-time honorary mayor of Hollywood, who is credited with revitalizing the Walk. Other special stars include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Victoria’s Secret Angels, and Disneyland (in honor of its 50th year).

There are 197 people with two or more stars, denoting their contributions in more than one category honored by the Walk. Gene Autry has five stars, for live performance, motion pictures, radio, recording, and television. It would take 14 minutes to walk along and see all of Autry’s stars (and you’d have to cross the street twice to do so).

Bob Hope and Tony Martin each have four stars. There are 32 people with three stars.

Each category is distributed along the Walk, which means some famous co-stars aren’t that close to each other. There’s half a mile between Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. It’s over a mile between comedians Laurel and Hardy. It’s almost a ten minute walk between Abbott and Costello’s stars. Since both were part of the original group, there’s no argument about who was on first.

Others are remarkably close. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are just around the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Vine St from each other. There’s just a few feet between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Many others share stars, such as magicians Penn and Teller, comedians Rowan and Martin, and actors Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

Explore the map above to find other insights and to look at only certain categories. If you happen to be on the Walk at this moment, put your nearest address into the search box in the map to find your nearest star using BatchGeo’s store locator feature.

All 30 major league baseball teams have now descended on one of two US states. In warm, dry weather, the teams will practice and prepare for a marathon 162 game season to start April 5. For Spring Training, teams in Florida are part of the Grapefruit League and Arizona teams comprise the Cactus League. The facilities are very different from the giant ballparks they play in during the regular season. The ambiance is much more minor league than the flashiness of giant stadiums. Perhaps that’s what makes them so appealing to baseball fans as vacation spots.

View Spring Training Stadiums in a full screen map

Practicing in warm locales is a baseball tradition that goes back to its early days, 125 years ago. Originally, the teams chose their own spots and likely didn’t play exhibition games due to the distance between facilities. Now they’re close enough that visitors can usually see two games at two different stadiums on the same day.

A glance at the map shows that the Cactus League of Arizona is much closer together, with 15 teams sharing 10 facilities. All Cactus League stadiums are located in the greater Phoenix metro area. The furthest distance you’ll drive for Arizona Spring Training is about an hour between HoHoKam Stadium in Mesa (to the southeast) and Surprise Stadium in Surprise (to the northwest).

If you want to visit, the Cactus League has a nice trip planner that allows you to select the teams you want to see. You’ll need to use the Grapefruit League’s full schedule and manually filter the teams on your own.

Travel can play a big role in how many teams you can see in Florida. At the longest, it takes three hours to drive between Space Coast Stadium near the beach east of Orlando to JetBlue Park in Fort Myers (to the southwest). Google even suggests a 50 minute flight as a viable travel option. In fact, that might be the easiest way to catch a Washington Nationals day game followed by a Red Sox or Twins night game.

One thing true in Florida that can’t be said of Arizona: you’ll always be a short drive to the water. All but three of the Grapefruit League teams are along the coasts. Even the inland teams are surrounded by lakes, with the Tigers playing in a city named Lakeland.

No matter which spring training region you choose to visit, you’ll find warm weather. Phoenix averages in the mid to high 70s fahrenheit during the month of March. Florida is typically a little higher. So break out your shorts and enjoy some baseball.