Sightseeing was never so easy

Grab your fedora or your pillbox hat and head on down to the station.

There’s something undeniably nostalgic and romantic about train travel, and two tour companies are making the most of it this fall.

Purchase a full-fare ticket on the Montana Daylight and you’ll get a companion ticket at half price for all departures through Sept. 30. Operated by Montana Rockies Rail Tours, the Montana Daylight is America’s longest-distance daylight-only tour train, running between Spokane and Bozeman.

The restored 1940s- and ‘50s-era streamliner cars chug along 478 miles, following the historic route of the Northern Pacific, America’s second transcontinental railroad.

The line was completed in 1883, and you’ll pass the site of last spike driven that year, finally joining east and west. You’ll also visit the Livingston Depot Center, a 1902 building housing exhibits and photos of the railroad’s construction.

The train, which only travels during daylight hours to maximize sightseeing opportunities, stops overnight in Missoula. It departs Spokane on Sundays.

Montana Rockies Rail Tours offers three levels of service: Discovery, Big Sky and Montana Gold. Prices vary depending on how fancy you like things, but the full fare for the tour starts at $529 per person based on double occupancy, with $264.50 for the companion ticket. There’s more information at (800) 519-7245 or www.montanarailtours.com.

If you’re the spontaneous type, sign up immediately for Train Holidays’ Fall Colors in the Canadian Rockies tour on Sept. 18. Another runs on Oct. 16. Both originate in Portland, but you can catch the eastbound train in Spokane at around midnight of the first day.

You’ll spend the night traveling to Glacier National Park on board the Empire Builder. On Day 2, the tour puts you up at the Best Western Rocky Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, and then you hit Going-to-the-Sun Road in open-air “jammer” buses all the way to Canada’s Waterton National Park.

You’ll stop at Fort McLeod, Alberta, on Day 4 before arriving for a three-night stay in Banff. There you’ll ride the gondola up Sulphur Mountain, visit Banff’s hot springs, take a sunset cruise on Lake Minnewanka and look around Yoho National Park.

You’ll head to Jasper via Lake Louise on Day 7, and after two nights there you’ll board the Rocky Mountaineer for a daylight journey through the Canadian Rockies along the Canadian National Railway. On Day 10, you pull into Vancouver, B.C.

The entire 11 days, including train travel, hotel stays, breakfasts, and sightseeing tours, runs $2,195 and up. Make your reservations at (800) 543-2846 or www.trainholidays.com/th.

Take a … hike!

This fall, I officially and legally join the ranks of the football widows. You’ll find my husband-to-be most Saturdays in the near future dressed in a garish display of Nebraska boosterism, pacing in front of the television, forcefully offering advice and counsel.

I do not share this rabid interest, and I can’t imagine taking his particular show on the road. But that’s just me.

You, on the other hand, might really enjoy tracking your favorite pro football team across the country, and New England-based Sports Travel and Tours is prepared to help you out.

With one phone call or a visit to their Web site, you can enroll in their “Any Game … Any Place … Any Time” program and follow the Seahawks to San Francisco, New York, Tempe or anywhere else they play.

Choose from among three types of seats – nosebleed, moderate (corners or upper level sidelines) or premium (lower level sidelines) – and three types of hotels. Prices for any game from September through the playoffs start at $285 per person, based on double occupancy.

Sports Travel and Tours will also arrange airfare and ground transportation, if you like.

“We’ll customize the package to the customer’s schedule and their budget,” says Christine Dadmun, director of operations and communications.

Call (800) 662-4424 or check out www.footballroadtrips.com to learn more.

For Seahawks home games, The Fairmont Olympic Hotel offers a Seattle Seahawks package topped off with a little touch of luxury.

The party kicks off at check-in, with Northwest microbrews or root beer and a homemade pretzel. You get two game tickets, taxi vouchers for the trip to Qwest Field and back, overnight valet parking at the hotel, and accommodations starting at $399 per couple per night, plus tax.

You’ll have the pleasure of basking in the hotel’s Italian renaissance architecture and polished elegance no matter how well the Seahawks play. But in the event they win, be advised: The Fairmont’s swanky lobby doesn’t seem like the place for a celebratory belly buck or head butt. Save it for your room.

The package is available for game weekends: Sept. 29, Oct. 10, Oct. 31, Nov. 21, Nov. 28, Dec. 6, Dec. 26 and Jan. 2. Call (800) 223-8772 or visit www.fairmont.com/seattle for reservations.

Regional events

• Harvest Huckfest, Sept. 25 and 26, Whistler, B.C. Races, events like Ride with the Stars and the Huckfest Party, and other mountain biking fun at the base of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. (888-218-9690, www.whistlerblackcomb.com /bike/events)

• Silver Salmon Octoberfest, Oct. 8 and 9, Astoria, Ore. Nearly 100 booths of German goods, local artwork and fresh seafood, all in celebration of the region’s native fish. Sample barbecued salmon, regional microbrews and wines from Helvatia Vineyards. (503-231-3086, www.oldoregon.com)