I always use Rick Steves’ wonderful guidebooks for the basic, nitty-gritty information about traveling in Europe. However, he assumes that you will have only a week in Paris and tailors his recommendations accordingly. For those of you privileged to spend more time there, I have some ideas of things to see and do.

I exchanged houses with a young couple in Paris for two weeks in May ’10. The chance to live in a flat instead of a hotel was a treat, not to mention that it saved me a lot...

My wife and I spent three weeks in the Oslo area with our daughter’s family in May ’10. We stayed at their home in Skui, but our experiences and observations may be of interest to others traveling to Norway.

Having previously visited Oslo and Bergen and taken one of the coastal ships to the North Cape, we knew that Norway is expensive, that most Norwegians speak English and are friendly and that the scenery is fantastic.

Oslo’s airport is excellent. It has good shops, and there...

I can’t believe that on my first trip to Rome, about 20 years ago, I carried shoe polish and a travel iron! Since then, I’ve condensed what I take, traveling with a carry-on only and doing laundry as I go along.

I agree with other travelers that wrapping wet laundry in a towel and wringing it helps it dry faster. But rather than carry laundry soap from home, I do my laundry with whatever is available in the hotel — from shampoo to cakes of soap — and my clothes look just fine.

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