Passau to Saltzburg transportation with 4 hour Sound of Music Tour for Viking passenger on 9/15/26

Debbie Downer here. Cant realistically be done in the time frame you've given. The trip by car is 2 hours each way in ideal circumstances. So 8 hours with a 4 hour tour would barely fit within your parameters, but this allows zero time for meet up, parking, bathroom breaks, lunch, traffic tie ups, parking, and drop off. Note that if you arrive back late from an independent tour, the boat will not wait for you. However unless something has recently changed, Viking offers it's own excursion to Salzburg from Passau, which includes your meal. And the boat will wait for your return.

We have been on the official Viking excursion to Salzburg from Passau. The tour guide talks a lot about the Sound of Music and spends time at the locations in town. Obviously they don’t go to the sites outside the city.

It was a long day that we really enjoyed.

Hello,

Many thanks for your helpful replys.

1. My concern for the Viking Excursion offered is that they minimally discuss which exact Sound of Music places they will visit. If you have taken that trip before, can you please elaborate on which exact Sound of Music offical experiences you were taken to? And, yes, I saw the included lunch which has "sound of music" songs, etc., but that isn't the same as seeing an official location. The tour appears to have more "classic/Mozart" included stops? I tried reaching out to Viking for specificity, and their phone people couldn't elaborate.
2. I have been in touch with a few tour companies who advise they will "customize" a private trip, have the driver to take us back and forth to Passau port, and in a worse case scenario, if our time for apx. 4 hours Sound of Music tour isn't enough to see everything, we can make "field adjustments" to ensure we get back to port by 5 pm. But, I'd rather work with a recommended tour guide if someone has done this before.

Best, Angela

Sorry to say that, but you should lower your expectations. There is just not enough time. Driving between Passau and Salzburg and vice versa will cost you 4 hours, given the optimal circumstances. Commercial SOM tours have a duration of an half or even a full day. You should concentrate on the SOM places within the City of Salzburg, not on locations in the surroundings.

As you cannot explore the city by car, you should do a walking tour on your own, selecting the most interesting spots from this list.
https://freewalkingtoursalzburg.com/sound-of-music-filming-locations/
(I doubt that you can do all 14 items in that short time frame.)

Here's another forum post about the same trip: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/travel-from-passau-to-salzburg-germany

Thank you everyone for your good comments. After rethinking the tour, it's probably best for us to stick with the Viking port excursion they offer for the day as it is clearly the easiest and guarantees port return on time.