Two nights in Salzburg

"Would anyone recommend a Sound of Music tour ?"

The absolute best SOM tour is DIY (do it yourself. You can see almost everything from the movie for free).

I did that in 2002. I came into the Hbf on the train from Munich, walked down Rainier Str. towards the old town and suddenly found myself in front of Maribelle Palace, where they sang Do-Re-Mi on the steps. The Pegusus statue is there, as is the arbor they ran through. I preceded to the old town where I saw the Cathedral square, where Marie caught the bus to the Von Trapp house. Near there was the Residenz, where they hung the giant Nazi flag after the Anschluß. I went up the funicular to the fortress, which wasn't a detailed venue for the movie, but was often in the background. After coming down the front of the fortress, I walked around to Nonnenberg Abbey, which is only shown from the outside in the movie. That just about covers everything seen in Salzburg in the movie. I have since traveled out to Mondsee to see the wedding church and down to Hohenwerfen castle, which was behind Marie and the children when she was teaching them to sing.

Everything else on the commercial tours is a sham. Leopoldskron was not shown in the movie, even though most tours tell you it was. The gazebo at Hellbrunn was a small building only used in distant shots on the temporary patio set. The actual singing and dancing "gazebo" scenes were shot in a Hollywood sound stage, as were all of the inside scenes and the cemetery. scenes.

If you want to know the truth, find the DVD of SOM, the one with commentary by producer/director Robert Wise and listen to his commentary on the making the movie.

I am not telling you this in order to spoil your fun, I just want you to be forewarned about the facts. You don't need to spend a lot of money to see the real SOM venues in Salzburg.

You may find the to SOM or not to SOM past discussion interesting:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/sound-of-music-from-munich

Some considered the SOM tours a terrible waste of money. Others considered it a trip highlight. It did seem that those who choosed to take the SOM tour justified the price. I for one enjoyed the tour and appreciate our guide's commentary separating fact from fiction.

That said, if you only have one full day, arriving late afternoon and departing in the morning, and are not big SOM fans, there is a lot to see and do in Salzburg. If you arrive early or at least midday, you might be able to fit in a morning tour on your last day.

It's all a matter of your priorities. Check out the RS Prague guidebook what to see list and figure out it you have time.

Thanks chaps will take that all on board as regards the Sound of Music tour. Cheers Paul.

Our foursome (all 50 something adults) had a great time at the Augustiner Bräu - and the beer / food were excellent.

The funicular / fortress tour is entertaining and gives you some of the best possible views of the town / area. Even though when we went (spring) it was a bit wet we could still 'see for miles and miles'.

One recommendation - we attended a Mozart Dinner 'concert' in the Stiftskeller at the St. Peter church and it was first-rate. The musicians and performers we had were fantastic, the venue was wonderful and even the food / wine were surprisingly good.

Have fun! We really enjoyed everything about Salzburg except the rain :-)

Wow. that's a fabulous view Bruce and thanks for the suggestion, certainly will consider it. Cheers Paul

" arriving 26/07 on bus from Berchtesgaden"

Make sure you are aware of the bus schedule. The last bus from Berchtesgaden leaves the Berchtesgaden Hbf at 18:15. If you leave later than that, you'll have to take the train via Freilassing.

Paul, make sure you allow sufficient time in the Berchtesgaden area, we were their a week or so ago and enjoyed it thoroughly, so much to see and do ( particularly if you have a car) absolutely beautiful spots to see.
In Salzburg we did the RS walking tour on our phone/ipod. it is a nice city to wander around poking about in all the little alley ways/shops, in the old town. as others have said, if you are interested in the sound of music, perhaps watch the movie before you leave, to refresh your memory and search out even a few of the places in the city. we visited the abbey ( and other places) by DIY,

I second the suggestion of the view from the fortress. It was amazing! There is a restaurant at the fortress called Panorama and it has the amazing views in it's outdoor terrace. We sat right by the wall and had drinks and it was the highlight of our stay. Not sure how the food is, but with that view I wouldnt care! We also went to the same Mozart dinner mentioned above and enjoyed it. Have a great time!

Lee

Thanks, yes i am getting the 09.15 bus which drops us close to our hotel. I have decided to miss the Sound of Music tour, get a Salzburg card instead as see as much as we can in the 2 days, i have changed my plans and will return to Salzburg for one night after 3 night touring.

Cheers

Paul

Thanks Tamara, yes i will head to the fortress on the first afternoon, tour round and then stop for a drink or two.

Cheers

Paul

glennlorrainer

I have 2 nights in Berchtesgaden but only 1 full day because we are arriving from Munich but stopping off at Prien am chiemsee. We hope to see someone we met last year in one of the bars - quite a character, then on our full day see the things we missed last year. Yes i have the Sound of Music on DVD, its a guilty pleasure, may watch it today.

Cheers

Paul

Salzburg was my favorite stop on our trip! So much to do in the area and the people were just the friendliest.

The Sound of Music Tour was fun for us, but we also could have done it on our own. I'm a huge fan of the movie, so I wanted to do the whole tour.

If you're looking for a fun bar to relax at in Salzburg - Chez Roland, just across the river. My husband & I really enjoyed having a drink to relax at the end of the day there. We also loved hanging out at the Fortress (which now has WiFi) to get a drink and FaceTime our friends/family after a long day sightseeing.

We did go to Augustiner Bräu and had a great time as well. Stiegl has a brewery on the outskirts of town that had the best beer tour we'd ever been on and the atmosphere was so much fun! I highly recommend that one!

With only two days, I would stick around Salzburg and not venturing out too far - the suggestions above will make for a great few days!

Pictures in case you wanted to see: http://mrdurr.smugmug.com/Travel/2014-Salzburg#!/