Smart Traveller

In the past, I have felt some sympathy for travelling smokers. It can't be much fun in those depressing airport smoking rooms. But not after a lung-clogging transit through Vienna airport.

Four hours breathing smoke is not an ideal last impression of a country that prides itself on its fresh air and green credentials.

Vienna airport is officially a smoke-free zone. The problem is that smoking is allowed in cafes and restaurants in the transit areas.

Given the paucity of seats in the airport, there's nowhere else to sit at peak periods - so not only do you have to part with piles of cash to justify sitting down, you get smoked out, as well.

Given that, it seemed timely to do a check with the Airports Council International as to which airports are smoke-free and which are not.

In Europe the anomalies abound. Smoking is permitted in Swiss airports, although Zurich airport allows it only in lounges.

The situation varies from airport to airport in Germany but generally you can smoke in restaurants and bars with designated smoking rooms.

Hamburg airport has had a voluntary ban on smoking since 2005 but it is allowed in booths. I transited through Hamburg last year and thought how much the booths looked like the cone of silence in Get Smart. The air around them suggested they were just as effective.

Spanish airports have designated smoking rooms, as do the Italian ones. But the French have banned smoking completely.

Council spokesman Robert O'Meara says smoking is allowed in Greek airports, and that is unlikely to change because of the number of smokers. "It is believed that the Greek government will be the last one to initiate any such regulation," he says.

The situation is better (for non-smokers at least) in the US, where airports are smoke free. All big airports in Asia are the same but have smoking rooms.

Right on Q

Sydney's Q Station, the former Quarantine Station turned historical tourism precinct, is now accessible by weekend ferry.

The service operates from Circular Quay and goes via Manly to Q Station at North Head. It leaves Circular Quay at 9.30am and 11am, with return voyages at 5.15pm and 10pm.

Q Station opened in April after nine years of redevelopment that cost more than $17 million. It is said to be one of the most haunted sites in Australia.

General manager Simon McArthur says the ferry's schedule ensures visitors can access all the site's facilities and tours. The cost is $26 return.

Inside the A380

We've had a look inside Qantas's prized new possession - the A380 - and we have a hot tip for readers. When you can book and select your seat on the aircraft online next year, request row 38, seats E, F, J or K - they're the emergency exit seats and have almost as much room as in business but, alas, not the new-generation Skybed. Elsewhere, the bar-lounge on the upper deck is small but swish and super-comfortable. Unfortunately it's only for the 14 passengers in first class and the 72 in business.

Give peace a glance

For some reason that no one has been able to identify, Alfred Nobel's will gives the task of selecting the peace prize winner to the Norwegian parliament. Consequently, the prize is presented in Oslo in December each year.

The rest are awarded and presented in Stockholm.

Nobel's decision has created one of Oslo's most popular tourist attractions, the Nobel Peace Centre. A revamped 19th-century railway station on Oslo's waterfront, the centre pays homage to all previous winners in a series of beautifully executed exhibitions and installations.

Attendances top 80,000 annually. See http://www.nobelpeacecenter.org.

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