You’ve heard that classic song, “the hills are alive, with the Sound of Music …” right? Well if you didn’t know, Salzburg is actually where the Sound of Music was filmed back in the 1960s. During our recent tour of Austria, we absolutely could not miss doing a Sound of Music tour. It was also a bucket list item for my mom who’s favourite movie is the Sound of Music.

After doing a lot of research trying to figure out which tour was the best, it came down to only one option; The Original Sound of Music tour by Panorama Tours. Any guesses why? They were the first tour company to offer Sound of Music tours after the movie had ended.

It all started because the original owners of the Panorama Tours were responsible for shuttling the actors and crew back and forth from the set. Naturally, they would be privy to all of the filming locations and would get insight (or perhaps overhear) on the film from the actors and crew.

Soon after the Sound of Music became a box office hit, fans started travelling in drones to Salzburg to try and replicate some of their favourite scenes. It wasn’t long after that the original ‘chauffeurs’ of the staff at the Sound of Music started putting together unofficial tours. I bet you can guess what happened next, they took off!

The logistics

Today the tours run twice a day and often they are so busy they have more than one bus in the morning and the afternoon. While they do their best to try and accommodate everyone with these extra busses I would still recommend booking as far in advance as possible, especially if you plan on travel during the busy season.

It’s really easy to book the tickets online through their website. There are other tours you can do with the company as well. A popular tour before or after the Original Sound of Music Tour is the Salt Mine tour. Unfortunately, I can’t talk to that tour having not taken it but from what our tour guides were saying, it was definitely worth it.

The location where you’re getting picked up is well marked and very hard to miss (especially if you’re looking for the big busses). Their offices are located right near Mirabell Palace, which was also a filming location in the movie!

The Tour

I will give a fair warning for anyone who gets motion sick easily; this tour is a bus that takes you on windy roads. I typically suffer but wasn’t too bad on this trip. My father, however, did not feel very well after visiting the mountains and countryside. I would advise taking a non-drowsy Gravol before your trip just in case – you want to make sure you’re getting the best experience!

Our tour guides were fantastic. For being first thing in the morning they kept the group lively and entertained. They even started the group on some sing-a-longs which is to be expected in a tour like this one!

Throughout the Sound of Music tour they have the movie playing so you don’t have to try and jog your memory to envision what the guides are talking about. I found that incredibly helpful.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about what you’ll see and experience on the tour because that’s half of the fun. Some of the highlights do include the gazebo where Leisle sang “I am Seventeen”, the homes where the family lived, the nunnery where Maria originally came from and the church where the Baron and Maria got married.

Can’t-miss

The one part of the tour that’s optional that I would highly recommend you don’t miss is grabbing an Apple Streudel from Mondsee. As the last stop on the tour, I’m willing to bet you will be a little peckish and it’s the perfect spot to grab a bite. In fact, the Apple Strudel’s were so delicious we drove back the next day and stopped over on our way to Hallstatt.

When it came to taking photographs on the tour, it was really quite easy and there was plenty of time. If you want to get a photo with nothing and nobody in the shot then I would recommend trying to be one of the first ones off the bus and hanging back a little after the group has started to go back to the bus.

If you can snag it, we were the second row from the front and I found that to be a great place to sit for getting on and off. Alternatively, there is a door in the middle of the bus so sitting near there would be a great spot as well I’m sure.