If you’re anything like me, ever since you watched Maria gloriously belting out “the hills are alive with the sound of music”, you wanted to go to that place shown in the film. You wanted to see this captivating, picturesque, and musical city of Salzburg for yourself to see how it compares with the Hollywood representation. Make no mistake, a lot of the film was shot in actual Salzburg and not just a far-off studio. This means that if you add Salzburg to your list of must-see European destinations, you can see the “Do-Re-Mi” steps, the “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” gazebo, and the Von Trapp family mansion in real life. As soon as I knew this, I made sure we bought tickets for The Original Sound of Music tour so we could fangirl all around Salzburg.
In this post, I’ll tell you all about our experience on this tour and why I think if you’re a die-hard fan like me, it just might be worth the extra money spent to go on the tour too.
We went on The Original Sound of Music tour which costs around 50 Euros per person. For more info about the tour including where you can purchase tickets, click here.
Our 4 hour tour departed at 9:15 am (there is a morning and afternoon option) from a central location in Salzburg. The bus pulled up with scenes from the movie all over it and everyone gets on (it was packed!) There are TV screens throughout the bus and they play clips of the movie as you’re driving from place to place. A lot of the time people would sing along to the songs (although I remember wishing more people sang). Also while driving between places, the tour guide would give some background information about the filming (which I found very interesting) and how the various actors and actresses have affected the community.
Our first stop was Mirabell Gardens where you can see the iconic view of the Hohensalzburg Fortress from the “Do-Re-Mi” steps. This is also where the Pegasus Fountain and the hedge tunnel are located.
Next stop took us a little bit farther outside of Salzburg to the Leopoldskron Palace which is the filming location for the Von Trapp mansion’s backyard and the boat scene where they all fell in the water.
Next stop was Hellbrun Palace and Gazebo. Hellbrun Palace served as the front of the Von Trapp mansion. On the ground of the palace, they built a replica of the gazebo – the iconic spot where “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” was sung and where Maria and Captain Von Trapp shared their first kiss.
The next stop was Nunnberg Abbey Convent, where Maria was on the road to becoming a nun. On the tour, this is just a drive-by since Nunnberg Convent is an active convent and you can’t go inside (hence, I didn’t get any pictures). You are welcome to attend a real church service if you would like to see the inside.
The tour then went to the Lake District where various shots of the surrounding area were taken for throughout the movie.
Last stop of the tour is Mondsee Wedding Chapel which is where they filmed the wedding of Maria and Captain Von Trapp.
The bus takes you back to Salzburg and you want to immediately re-watch the movie and soak it all in. The only thing I was disappointed in from this tour was that they didn’t take you to where they filmed the opening scene where Maria is singing “the hills are alive with the sound of music”. I guess that filming location is bit farther away, so it’s up to you to find a way to get there!
In conclusion, I think if you are a big fan of the movie, this tour is a fun way to see the sights, get some background information about the filming of the movie, and enjoy a fun atmosphere with other fans in the bus, singing along to scenes of the movie. But if you aren’t a fan of the movie, or kind of so-so about it, the tour probably isn’t worth the time and money, especially when a lot of these locations you can go to yourself for free.
I hope this helps you decide if you want to embark on a Sound of Music tour yourself – or just watch the movie and sing along.
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