Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg

I'd explore on my own. The city is beautiful and walkable and most of the SOM sights are in town.
I grew up with the Sound of Music (first movie I saw in a theater) so as goofy as it might be I was pretty excited for the tour in Salzburg. Unfortunately I was also fairly disappointed as our guide was a little off on the fun factor. We don't take many organized tours but I do know a guide plays a major role especially when something like SOM should be all fun.

My sister and I enjoyed the SOM tour, but if I had only one afternoon, I would spend it exploring Salzburg on my own. It's charming and offers many fun places to stop for coffee or cocktail or just to enjoy the river.

I agree with heading to the castle in the afternoon. Look up the sites of the SOM - many of them you can see just walking around Salzburg, so you could pick a couple of favorites. If you really want to see the replica gazebo, it's a quick bus ride from the base of the castle.

While touring on your own you can include some of the locations:

http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/s/soundmusic_1.html#.WSE7P_UrLrc

If you LOVE the SOM movie, I think the tour could be a good way to spend your afternoon. The SOM is one of my all-time favorite movies so I loved the tour.

We took the Original SOM Tour. It enabled us to cover more ground much more easily than we could have on our own and we learned new things about the movie from our tour guide. Here's a map of the tour route. Singing SOM songs on the bus with other SOM fans was just fun. After the tour ended, we revisited some of the tour stops on our own.

If you don't LOVE the movie, then you might be better off exploring the town on your own.

We loved our bus tour, hokey but fun.

Should note that some of the sights in town you don't see on the bus tour anyway so for a complete tour you have to do some on foot (or pedicab). Loved seeing some scenery on the way to the church where they filmed the wedding, we missed seeing the castle up close to do that tour.

I, too, love the movie. I have a DVD with a running commentary by director/producer Robt. Wise on the making of the movie, and have listened to it many times. That is why I would never take an SOM tour.

An awful lot of the movie was actually shot in sound stages in Hollywood, not in Salzburg. Much of what they show you (e.g., Leopoldskron) was not in the movie, but they tell you it was. The gazebo the show you was only used for a few distance shots; the close up with singing and dancing was filmed in a should stage in Hollywood.

The Do-Re-Mi steps are at Mirabell, just off the main street, about half way between the Hbf and the old town. There is a bus from the Salzburg Hbf to Mondsee, where it stops a few blocks from the wedding church. You can also go by train to Werfen where she starts to teach them to sing (Do-Re-Mi) with Hohenwerfen castle in the background.

While the tours may not be 100% authentic - the fun likely is. Spending a day with others who are big fans of the movie is part of the lure for the tour.

Spending a day with others who are big fans of the movie is part of
the lure for the tour.

Hardly worth, IMO, $50.

Leopoldskron and Hellbrunn were not in the movie. The gazebo at Hellbrunn was only used for distance shots; the singing and dancing scenes were shot in a sound stage. Mirabell, Nonnberg Abbey, St. Gilgen, Wolfgangsee, and the church at Mondsee are readily accessible without an expensive tour.

I'm with the tour was fun crowd. Of course it was mostly shot on soundstages. If fifty bucks is gonna break your budget on your trip to Europe, then sure, skip it.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

To each his/her own.

Different strokes for different folks.

One man/women's meat is another's poison or another's treasure is another's trash etc.

Too much to see and do in Salzburg. The tour can take most of the day. I'd like to add that if you like beer and a cool setting, go to the Augustiner Brewery. It's decribed in Rick's book.