If you’re yearning for a peaceful yesterday,...

If you’re yearning for a peaceful yesterday, zero in on the Colorado Rockies and a day trip aboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The season got under way last month. By June 22, the train--with its huffing, puffing steam engines--will be making four trips daily between Durango and the colorful mining town of Silverton. Gorgeous scenery. Rocky Mountain peaks, yawning canyons, aspens/evergreens. During the three-hour journey, the train passes through meadows flowing with columbine. Rail cars cling precariously to ledges hundreds of feet above the Animas River, with its rapids, misty gorges. On the 2 1/2-hour layover in Silverton, passengers dine at the Bent Elbow and the High Noon Hamburger Emporium. Others crowd shops along Main Street, buying Indian jewelry, quilts, knickknacks. Silverton’s boom days ended years ago. Today the town survives by mining silver from the pockets of tourists.

Round-trip train fare, Durango-Silverton: adults, $37.15; youngsters 5-11, $18.65. Contact the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, 479 Main Ave., Durango, Colo. 81301, (303) 247-2733.

For hotel/tourist information in Durango: Durango Area Chamber Resort Assn., P.O. Box 2587, Durango, Colo. 81302, (303) 247-0312.

Silverton: Silverton Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 565, Silverton, Colo. 81433, (800) 752-4494.

Washington Hideaway: Ex-schoolteacher Kathy Falconer and her college instructor husband Jeff have opened a new B&B; in the Bavarian-style village of Leavenworth, Wash. Rises in the folds of the Cascade Mountains on the Wenatchee River. Four rooms with baths, riverfront decks. A wood-burning stove in the living room with a big bay window (views of the river and the Cascade Mountains). A path leads from the inn to a beach (sunbathing/fishing). Kathy serves a full breakfast (juice, fruit, cereal, Mexican tamale pancakes, egg puffs, crepes, sausage and apples, German baked potatoes, ham, homemade applesauce, etc.). Rates start at $90 double (weekends), $80 (weekdays), including breakfast and dessert and a beverage in the evening. All Seasons River Inn, 8751 Icicle Road, Leavenworth, Wash. 98826, (509) 548-1425.

Other inns:

--Run of the River, 9308 E. Leavenworth Road, Leavenworth, Wash. 98826, (800) 288-6491. Five rooms with hand-hewn log beds, Jacuzzis, hot tubs, wood-burning stoves. Decks overlook the Icicle River. Hosts: Karen and Monty Turner. Rates from $90.

--Pine River Ranch, 19668 Highway 207, Leavenworth, Wash. 98826, (509) 763-3959. Four rooms, a guest cottage, hayrides. Hosts: Mary Ann and Mike Zenk. Rates: $69 and up.

--Haus Rohrback, 12882 Ranger Road, Leavenworth, Wash. 98826, (509) 548-7024. A three-story, Bavarian-style pension with nine guest rooms, three suites. Hosts: Kathryn and Bob Herrild. Rates: $65 and up.

--Pension Anna, 926 Commercial St., Leavenworth 98826, (509) 548-6273. Eleven rooms with baths plus three suites, decks. Hosts: Ann and Bob Smith. Rates: $70 and up.

For a complete listing of pensions, hotels and motels, write to Laura Jobin, Director, Leavenworth Visitor Information Center, P.O. Box 337, Leavenworth, Wash. 98826, (509) 548-5807.

With its Bavarian theme, Leavenworth attracts huge crowds (particularly during summer). Oompah bands, A-frames, buildings with window boxes. Restaurants serve sauerbraten, bratwurst, schnitzel. Cuckoo clocks, Swiss watches, dirndls, Hummel dolls on sale at gift shops. If you can’t make it Germany/Austria this summer, do a detour to Leavenworth (about 118 miles east of Seattle). Take Interstate 90 via Snoqualmie Pass or Highway 2 via Stevens Pass.

A Home in Spain: A note from Serena Abrahams of Studio City: “In your column you wrote about a reader who wanted a rental in Spain. Perhaps I can help. My daughter lives in the south of Spain on the Atlantic coast where she rents two houses in the little village of Los Canos de Meca . . . perfect for someone who is artistic. No highways. Just white-sand beaches and pine forests. The village is a delight. It’s about five minutes from the sea (between Cadiz and Gibraltar)--a windsurfer’s paradise. The one-bedroom house rents from approximately $1,350 a month during July, $1,900 in August ($250 a week out of season). Rates for the two-bedroom house are approximately $1,600 a month in July, $2,175 in August ($350 a week off-season).”

Los Canos de Meca is an hour by car from Gibraltar. I recall the setting as low-key, peaceful. A good choice for travelers seeking privacy (a population of about 1,000). Vacationers explore Moorish hill towns, make the drive to Gibraltar to catch the ferry to Tangier in Morocco. For details on the rentals, contact Serena Abrahams, 12050 Laurel Terrace Drive, Studio City 91604, or write to her daughter, Karen Abrahams, Los Canos de Meca, Vejer de la Frontera, Cadiz, Spain.

Castle Hotel: Writer Karen Brown has good things to say about Schloss Sommersdorf, a castle hotel that’s 30 miles southwest of Nuremberg, near Germany’s Romantic Road: “A sensational small castle with all the ingredients of a proper fairy tale . . . turrets, tall towers, staircases, stone bridges, ramparts, a moat.” Guests pass over the moat to the courtyard, make their way up a spiral staircase to rooms in the castle. Lots of old world ambience, says Brown. One room features a canopied bed, Oriental carpets, an antique armoire. Owner Manfred von Crailsheim, who grew up in the castle, is described by Brown as “a natural host . . . an absolute delight.”

Schloss Sommersdorf, 8802 Sommersdorf, Germany. Rates: $35-$125 for doubles with breakfast. Other accommodations are described in Brown’s guide titled “German Country Inns & Itineraries” (Globe Pequot Press, $14.95). Copies in your bookstore.

New Zealand Guide: A new trip planner titled “Go As You Please” is being distributed by Air New Zealand. The 60-plus-page guide is aimed at independent travelers. Lists prices of hotels/motels/farmhouse holidays. Details on motor homes/camper, van/car rentals. Tells about Travelpasses good for transportation on motor coaches, railroads, ferries. Other details on a camel safari out of Alice Springs in Australia. Besides New Zealand/Australia, the booklet provides information on Fiji, the Cook Islands, Tahiti, Western Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii.

Copies available from your travel agent or Air New Zealand: (800) 262-1234.

Potpourri: Chefs from France and the United States will be on hand to celebrate the third-annual “Cuisines of the Sun” (July 11-15) at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows on the Big Island of Hawaii, (800) 367-2323 . . . . Free meals for youngsters/unlimited golf for adults is the summer feature of the Stouffer Esmeralda in Indian Wells, (619) 773-4444 . . . . Homes near Muirfield, Scotland, are being reserved for U.S. visitors attending the British Open (July 16-19) by In The English Manner, (800) 422-0799 . . . . A package providing accommodations, a champagne breakfast and a balloon ride over the American River ($195 per guest) is offered by the Coloma Country Inn, P.O. Box 502, Coloma, Calif. 95613, (916) 622-6919 . . . . Correction: To contact travel/wildlife photographer Michele Burgess, who leads tours to exotic world destinations, write her at 20741 Catamaran Lane, Huntington Beach 92646 . . . . Call (800) 862-2212 to obtain copies of a 64-page guide featuring U.S. national parks.

Reader Recommendations

Oregon--Erin Walsted, Orange: “Inn at Nesika Beach, 33026 Nesika Road, Gold Beach, Ore. 97444. Rates: $75-$85.”

Illinois--Jane Shaffer, Burbank: “The Brockway House B&B;, 331 E. Carroll, Macomb, Ill. 61455. Rates: $42-$62.”

Canada--Samuel M. Rosen, Newbury Park: “Ocean View Cottage, RR2, S46-C10, Gibsons, British Columbia VON 1VO. Overlooks the Georgia Strait. Rates from about $35 to $50 U.S.”

Israel--Michael and Marilyn Leviton: “A fine French restaurant, Cezanne, 12 Shmuel Hanagid St., Jerusalem. Moderately priced ($11-$15). Its sister restaurant, Kamin French Village, 4 Rabbi Akiva Road, is almost as good.”

We regret that only a select few recommendations can be used. They must be brief (typewritten or printed). Only one recommendation per reader, please. Include prices and addresses.