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• TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

  Help! My car rental company is taking me to court

  Q: We recently rented a car through Hertz in Scotland. When we returned the vehicle, we asked a representative if he wanted to inspect it. He declined.

• America's still on the move

  Forty-five percent of U.S. consumers will take a vacation or leisure trip between Thanksgiving and March that involves paying for overnight accommodations, according to a new survey by Deloitte LLP.

• Destinations | Cayman Islands, St. Louis, Boston, Egypt

  Like most big stars, King Tut gets all the attention while it's the guy who discovered him has the really interesting story. Now British archaeologist Howard Carter gets his time in the limelight: The mud-brick house in the Valley of the Kings, where Carter lived 87 years ago when he unearthed the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, has been renovated and turned into a museum. Visitors can see the office in Carter's home where he cataloged his finds, as well as tools he used in excavations and a collection of photographs of the work under way.

• Travel Briefs | Snow globes get cold shoulder

  Pity the lowly snow globe with white flakes raining down on a snowman or Santa Claus tucked inside its dome.
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  Atlanta for kids

  Atlanta has a secret. Most people know it as a great Southern city for conducting business or holding a convention. Fewer know it as a fine vacation destination and very few realize the city has lots of free activities for families on a budget. Here are dozen to make your kids smile.
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  FRANCE

  A brilliant impression of Claude Monet

  The artist's home in Giverny has been restored to appear as it did when Monet lived there.
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  SOUTH AFRICA

  Downtown Jo'burg shows its artistic side

  The Newtown cultural precinct is alive with painters, musicians and actors -- and don't miss the crocodile nuggets and ostrich fillets.

• TRAVEL COMMENTARY

  Passenger rights stalled by tarmac delays

  The approach of cold-weather season reminds me of tarmac delays. Like the Northwest Airlines flights grounded during a 1999 blizzard at Detroit's Metro Airport, leaving passengers without water or working toilets for more than seven hours. Or the JetBlue Airways customers stranded for nearly half a day during an ice storm in New York back in 2007.

• HOTELS

  Check out these websites before checking in

  Whether you're looking for super deluxe or the cheapest room possible, these lesser known sites might just fill the bill.
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  What's Happening | Barcelona

  By metro, tram, bus, bike, car or on foot, taking in the streetscapes, panoramas and often-startling architecture of Barcelona can make for a full itinerary. But while you're here, you'll also want to check out what's inside -- art, history, and of course, tapas and wine.

• How to fly when you've lost your ID

  Nothing puts a damper on a vacation like realizing that your wallet or purse is missing. Lost or stolen money and credit cards is bad enough. Without identification, though, you have to wonder what adventures await you at the airport as you try to catch your flight home.

• TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

  One airline ticket for the price of two

  Q: I need your help untangling a flight problem that involves Hotwire, US Airways, United Airlines and Frontier Airlines. A few months ago, we were supposed to fly from Los Angeles to Dallas on US Airways and Frontier. Our first outbound flight was a codeshare flight operated by United.

• Travel Briefs | Let it snow

  EURO TRAINS QUICK CONNECTION On Dec. 13, the Thalys high-speed train will make it quicker to travel from Brussels and Paris to Amsterdam or Cologne, Germany. Time saved: one hour. Info: 800-622-8600, www.raileurope.com or www.thalys.com.

• Destinations | New York, Florida, North Carolina, France

  The American Museum of Natural History has opened a major new exhibition, Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World. The exhibition brings to life one of the greatest trading routes in human history, showcasing the goods, cultures and technologies from four representative cities: Xi'an, China's Tang Dynasty capital; Turfan, a verdant oasis and trading outpost; Samarkand, home of prosperous merchants who thrived on the caravan trade; and Baghdad, a fertile hub of commerce that became the intellectual center of the era.
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  CRUISE LINES | OASIS OF THE SEAS

  City on the sea: Largest ship arrives in port

  Now that the world's largest cruise ship has arrived, it will be inspected on Saturday and set sail for its first regular cruise on Dec. 1
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  BED CHECK: SWITZERLAND

  Igloo Village may be the coolest hotel in the Alps

  ZERMATT, Switzerland -- Each year the Igloo Village hotel is rebuilt from new snow.

• TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

  An unmade bed -- and no place to go

  Q: I recently stayed at the Howard Johnson Oceanfront Plaza Hotel in Ocean City, Md. When we arrived at the hotel early Friday morning, the room was not cleaned, the bed was not made from the previous occupants.

• Destinations | The Caribbean, Mexico, New Orleans, New York

  The galleries at El Museo del Barrio have reopened after an 18-month renovation. The museum's facilities have been reconfigured to include a cafe, a new facade and a redesigned courtyard. The reopening coincides with the launch of an exhibition, Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis, exploring connections between Latino and non-Latino artists of the early 20th century, and how their exchanges and cross-influences impacted avant-garde art movements.

• Travel Briefs | Contest for young filmmakers

  Why does Orlando make you smile? If you're between the ages of 13 and 18 and can show the answer on film, you're invited to take part in a competition sponsored by the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Florida Film Festival and an organization called KIDS FIRST! The contest theme plays off the destination's marketing slogan, ``Orlando Makes Me Smile.''
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  Alabama's civil rights landmarks trace a story that is still being written

  You need to get to the rain forests before they're all gone, and the polar ice caps may have melted by the time you try to see them, but it's Alabama that demands your immediate attention. And by Alabama I mean that place where elegant black ladies of a certain age stand sentinel over the trails through civil rights country.

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