Curves is the big brother of levels, and definitely the tool to use on a regular basis for default editing of the tones in your photographs. The main aim when using curves is to create an 'S' shape with your line so that your image should come out well balanced. Of course, if you want to create an extreme of different effect then this rule doesn't apply, but as a general rule of thumb the 'S' shape will help with general retouching.
Curves also has a range of presets that can create different effects for you, still giving you the room to edit afterwards by moving the line around. Below is the initial image of the lighthouse we were given and directly below that my edited version. I looked through the presets (something I have been completely unaware of, although I am extremely familiar with curves) and chose the cross processed preset as the one i like the best but also provided a valid example of obvious change using the curves tool.
Original
Cross Processed Preset
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