TRAVEL IN EUROPE Frankfurt is the picture of metropolitan living

Cosmopolitan Frankfurt, while low on Old World charm, offers a good look at today’s no-nonsense, modern Germany.

CONSUMER TRAVEL ‘Best’ credit card for free flights? Well, it depends

“What is the best credit card for frequent fliers?” That’s one of the questions readers ask most frequently, and like so many such broad questions, there is no “oneanswer-fits-all” response.

Sea breeze, great food and politics

Point: “Listening to Barack Obama is like going to an Italian opera. You weep. You laugh. You’re moved. Then you get outside and say, ‘What just happened?’”

TRAVEL IN EUROPE Brighton’s where Londoners let their hair down

Brighton is South England’s fun city and the destination for students, bohemians and blue-collar Londoners looking to go “on holiday.”

Shocked a traveler again in Arkansas

It’s not entirely a coincidence that singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked is booked for a show in Hot Springs during the city’s 18th annual Documentary Film Festival.

TRAVEL IN EUROPE Zippity quick Eurostar is really the way to roll

Europe is investing in its infrastructure, and travelers know the results are breathtaking. With the English Channel tunnel, trains speed from Big Ben to the Eiffel Tower in about 2 1 /2 hours. You zip under the English Channel in 20 minutes... looking out the window for fish.

CONSUMER TRAVEL High-tech phone best left at home on European trip

If you’re headed for Europe this fall or winter and want to stay in touch by phone, one option is to take a wireless phone that works there as well as here.

Walking uneven surfaces requires balanced outlook

Taking to Mother Nature's bounty with a degree of pleasure requires a singular task: to repeatedly put one's foot down solidly. Sounds simple.

Math skill is needed for hotel's best 'deal'

I recently stumbled onto a report I dubbed "Hotel Confidential: What Innkeepers Won't Tell You About Pricing."

CONSUMER TRAVEL: Factory visits still provide most bang for tourist buck

If you're a senior citizen on a budget, you can't beat free for admission to a visitor attraction. Despite the lousy economy you can still find factories that allow you to see how the stuff you buy is made. Admission to most is free and the fees are nominal at the few that do charge.

Mighty Maginot

Built in the 1930s, France's line of underground fortifications still amazes

In the 1930s the Maginot Line was viewed as a military marvel, an impregnable network of underground fortifications stretching along France's border with Germany - from Belgium to Switzerland - designed to stop the Nazi onslaught and prevent a repeat of the bloody trench warfare of World War I.

Like a rock

Quebec's Perce promontory looms as one of the Gaspe Peninsula's enduring natural attractions.

The secret to a happy honeymoon is marrying the right person at the right time. Then almost any place will be the right place.

ARKANSAS TRAVELER: Toltec Mounds: Plum Bayou culture's legacy

They really are very tempting. The mounds rise up out of the wide, flat prairie, reaching 40-50 feet into the sky.

CONSUMER TRAVEL WiFi expected to be flight diversion

Settle into your seat, open your laptop computer or high-tech phone, and spend the remaining flight hours sorting your e-mail, keeping up with the news, discovering you could have found a flight for less than you paid, and most of the other things you do online.