sound of music

We did Bob’s Sound of Music tour in December, and were disappointed for the €50 per person. We asked before we booked how much time was spent in Van, vs. getting out to see things and were told about 50%. Ended up sitting in the van 80% of the time with a lot of drive bys and not many photo ops. The highlight was the stop at the Van Trapp movie house on the lake, where we were out of van 5 minutes to take some pictures. Stopped to see the Gazebo (15 minutes) where there was also a Christmas market. We purchased a couple of cookies to snack on, and were scolded when we brought food into the van. The third stop out of the van was the movie wedding church, where we had 30 minutes to shop for souvenirs (not interested), so sat in a cafe for expensive coffee. (It was dark and cold by then). Overall, way too much time driving and looking at sites through the windows.

Just to mention, I’m a huge SOM fan, and still was disappointed.

The actual movie incorporated lots of make-believe places and scenery so to "see" all the SOM music sights is quite impossible. Salzburg is a nice place, but exceptionally touristy because of the SOM and also because of Mozart's birthplace.

I enjoyed the Bob's SOM tour because it was a van with a small group. I don't imagine the big bus tours have any more time out of the bus than Bob's does. The nice thing about Bob's is that you can interact with the driver, who is also the tour guide. You can see the sites in Salzburg yourself. Unless you will have a car and know where the other places are you will want a tour.

I did the Panorama big bus tour and was perfectly happy with it. There was a lot of time on the bus, but our guide Peter kept us occupied/entertained. I feel like we had more like 45-60 minutes at Mondsee to see the wedding church, to get a snack, and/or to shop. My friend and I viewed the church and then created our own optional activity -- a very short walk to the town's lake where we enjoyed the surrounding landscape (and the ducks!).

I’ve done the Panorama tour in 1970, 1987, and 2011. Enjoyed it each time. Note that most of the in town locations are not accessible with the bus but are easily seen by walking the altstadt

My sister and I did the big bus -- Panorama, and enjoyed it. Yes, it's kitschy but that was kind of the point. The countryside was beautiful. We sang along with the movie clips, as we know all the words, and had fun. But most of the bus seemed to only know Do-Re-Mi. Yes, you are on the bus a lot of the time, but you do cover a lot of territory.

look into Maria's bike tour. We booked it for our visit in May and are excited about it

We took Bob's all-day van tour combining SOM sights and a scenic drive to Hallstatt. Substantial amount of walking-around time in Hallstatt, which was beautiful if crowded. Lovely drive through lakeside areas.

Regardless of which tour company you use, try to get one that goes to Mondsee in the Salzkammergut to see the church where the wedding was filmed. It's a lovely drive and the town is lovely.

We did the half day Bob’s tour and liked it. This was in June and the weather was perfect which helps! Also there were 4 of us and just by chance there was no one else on the tour that day so it was basically a private tour. It was the 8 passenger van.

It was interesting to see the big busses pull up after us and note how crowded and herded they seem. Go with a smaller tour.

I liked the stop in the wedding church town. Some free time to see the church and visit a small town was good - I’m not into staying with a guide 100% of the time. We also stopped to walk around at the gazebo and the outside of the house (by the lake), and at a viewpoint over the lakes (not from the movie but beautiful).

I've done Bob's Tour twice, and loved it each time. I've gone in July and June, and both times the weather was lovely. The first time, we stopped at a little restaurant for apple strudel (not included in the price); I can't recall if we stopped on the other tour. For both, there was a stop for a luge ride, which was a lot of fun. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Salzburg, but getting up into the hills is worth a night or two there, for me.