Sound of Music / Hallstatt

I have not, but surely someone has and did not catch this.

I have but was traveling with a group of 13 people and we had our own van. Our driver was very knowledgeable and more like a professor than a tour guide cheering on a bus load of people to sing Sound of Music songs, as we visited the Sound of Music sites. In Hallstatt, he let us out to wander on our own and met us back at a designated time. It was a really nice day and good for a group of adults, but I am not sure if it was a typical day or not.

And thanks for bumping this, Debbie - I HAD missed it.

I haven’t, but 496 others have who have written reviews of their experience on Trip Advisor.

Emily, where do you see all of those reviews on TA? When I looked specifically at Bobs SOM + Hallstatt, I only see 15 reviews.

EDIT Nevermind, I see. There's 496 reviews of all Bobs tours, but only 15 reviews of the SOM + Hallstatt.

Hoping for answers, too -- I just booked for December 26 since Hallstatt is on DH's bucket list. Maybe the other tourists will be waiting for better weather ?

So I looked back at my photos. We stopped first where you look across the lake to what was the front of the captain’s house. Then we went on and had a stop at the gazebo ( Schloss Helbrunn, which you can’t enter). Next was a brief stop at the top of a mountain for a look across at what I think was Lake Hallstatt but might have been Wolfgangsee. Soon thereafter we stopped at a fun little summer toboggan ride (€5). Totally unexpected but we all enjoyed it. :) Then on to Hallstatt for several hours of wandering with lunch. Then on the way back to Salzburg, we stopped in Mondsee to see the church and have some coffee or ice cream.

Looks like it says they usually use a 9 seat van but we had 13 so had an appropriately sized vehicle - very comfortable. Our driver was very knowledgeable and talked about many topics - not just Sound of Music sites. I have seen the Panorama tour busses and read about them going down the road singing all the songs - but ours wasn’t like that. Maybe it would have been had we made it so, but the group’s general mood was calmer. :) It was very nice and fit our group well.

Also, we were there mid-July, 2018, and Hallstatt was full but not terrible like I hear about. Some people rented a boat and went out on the lake. Some wanted to take the funicular way up but that was a lengthy process, so if that is on your plan, do it immediately. I imagine it will be absolutely gorgeous in December, Laura.

We were just in Salzburg and truly a highlight for us was taking the time to see the trick fountains at Schloss Hellbrunn!!!!! I was really shocked it wasn't more crowded, and you can still see the very tiny and totally underwhelming gazebo which is placed next to the restrooms. In the movie the gazebo seemed this grand structure, but believe me when I tell you that it was tiny, very plain, and not worth the trip out to Schloss Hellbrunn to only see this! The gardens are lovely, there is an amazing playground, the trick fountains were really fun, and I wish we had time to tour the house itself. Maybe rent a car to see Hallstatt yourself? There is a bus that runs from Salzburg out to Schloss Hellbrunn, and is super easy to navigate by yourself.