Sound of Music from Munich?

The sound of Music was filmed in and around Salzburg. There are "Sound of music" day trip tours starting in Salzburg, information here.

Probably the most economical would be to take the train from Munich to Salzburg yourselves and do a SOM tour from there. Bob's small group tours are often recommended here and I agree that it was a good experience (http://www.bobstours.com/). There are organized tours from Munich but they would be more expensive. I was staying in Salzburg when I did a SOM tour many years ago so I can't recommend any particular tour from Munich but hopefully someone who has done this will respond to your question.

Yes, you need to get to Salzburg as in Austria. While the story/movie family inadvertently escapes into Germany, the movie is based in Salzburg.

Lengthy discussion in the Austria forum: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/austria/best-way-in-touring-the-sound-of-music-location

SOM tour companies are noted in the discussion as well as some who don't like to pay for the tour. It's your choice and your Euros and time.

I joined day trip to Salzburg. Can share experience 3 days later. Think it is €58 per person inclusive of return trains. May not be the cheapest option but quite reasonable I think.

Sorry. Just checked the price. It should be USD57 per person.

Thanks all…appreciate your help!

If it’s really worth $50-$60 to you to ride around town in a bus or van, with a bunch of other clueless Americans, singing Do-a-deer, seeing sights you could have seen for free or sights that really have nothing to do with the movie, go for it. It’s "your choice and your Euros and time".

But know, much of the movie, including the nuns singing Marie, the interior scenes in the Von Trap home, the cemetery flight scenes, “I am 16, going on 17", were not shot in Salzburg, but in sound stages in Hollywood. Other venues, such as Mirabelle Palace and Residenz Square are readily accessible in town.

Leopoldskron was not used in SOM (it was being used as a school at the time, and the school operators thought the shooting would be too disrupting to the school). A temporary set, duplicating the patio at Leopoldskron was built elsewhere on the lake. It no longer exists. The house shown in those lakeside scenes is the Frohnburg, which was not on a lake. The “scene” was shot at two different locations and spliced together.

If you want to be informed, get the DVD of SOM, the one with the commentary by Director/Producer Robert Wise, and learn the truth. If you do, you probably won’t take a SOM tour.

Thanks Lee — appreciate your accuracy, but we truly are in for the fun…the nostalgia, growing up with that movie — I don't want to go to a Hollywood movie set; I'd rather imagine! Indeed, we will be singing…probably the whole way down on the bus with the rest of SOM lovers!

In fact, we'll have so much fun…you may just want to join us!

Really, Lee ... "a bunch of other clueless Americans..." Come on. Was that necessary? Bursting the OP's Sound of Music bubble is mean enough but being so insulting at the same time is over the top. Melinda showed a lot of class with her response to you.

Have fun on your SOM tour Melinda. Have seldom read any reports from people who did not enjoy this tour. Seeing how you asked for recommendations and experiences from those who have done the tour, you can conveniently disregard the debbie-downer recommendations from the one person who has not gone on the SOM tour.

Yes, have fun on your SOM tour. The tour services (at least Panorama) guides are very clear in separating historic Maria facts from movie fiction. The SOM tours and the American movie are entertainment and the tours are not a bad way to be entertained for half a day.

"appears to restrict their travel to a 15-mile radius of Munich"

Totally wrong, Phil. In fact, I've been in Salzburg (which is more than 15 miles from Munich) four times, although twice just passing through town on my way to other SOM sights (Mondsee, St. Gilgen, and Werfen). I've been to Maribell palace, the Old Town (the town square, the cathedral, and the Residenz square), and in the chapel at Nonnenberg.

Although half of the nearly 5 months I've spent in Germany has been in Bavaria (a little over 3 weeks within 15 miles of Munich), I've been in 9 of the German Länder and 7 other European countries.

More importantly, I've repeatedly listened to the several hour's long commentary on the SOM DVD by director/producer Robert Wise where he talks about making the film and where scenes were shot. I know that very little of what one sees on those 3rd party tours, other than what one can readily see for free in town, is really from the movie.

I feel that people should understand the facts before they pay good money for a tour, but, if they are informed and still think it's worth the money, fine.

And, Jo. I've never actually drank sulfuric acid, but I feel confident I can recommend against doing it without actually having had the experience.

I've done a SOM tour and loved it; and it wasn't the Bob's Tour, which I've read is even better, but just a large bus tour (with other clueless Americans...)

Yes, we listened to piped-in music from the movie as we drove to Mondsee, and yes, I could have watched the dvd with all the commentary instead, but I loved listening to our tour guide give us fun trivia and snippets of info about how they made the movie, personal info about the characters (real and actors) as we drove passed the corresponding locations. It's a tour you'll probably only want to do once so if you have the chance, do it.

Yes, but the OP didn't ask for recommendations about sulfuric acid. Getting a bit bizarre there with that comparison.
The main point is that every single time someone posts on here that they want to do a SOM tour, everyone gives positive, helpful recommendations except for one person and then the same wet water is thrown on their excitement and joy. Since years.

I just returned from Salzburg. I did a SOM bike tour. http://www.mariasbicycletours.com/

It was SO fun! One of my favorite days of my whole trip! We rode out in the country and had an ipod with a speaker. We listened to SOM music as we rode bikes!

I've done both - the Bob's SOM tour and gone to many of the SOM places (or fictional / imaginary places) on my own (have been to Salzburg 3 times)! Had a blast on the tour! and if you have limited time I think it's a great way to see many of the sites in the area - as it takes you outside of Salzburg to some of the harder to reach places (I know it CAN be done Lee) - such as the church where the wedding was filmed. If you are a big SOM fan you I think you can't go wrong doing one of the tours. I also don't think it hurts for Lee to give his opinion. Lee I challenge you to take a SOM tour next time you are in the area:) That way you will either find you enjoyed it - or you can give a more unbiased opinion:)

Just another vote for the fun of the tour! I really enjoyed the Bob's Tour. And I did see the commentary video previously mentioned before going on the tour, wasn't clueless, and still enjoyed it.

Last year, we did the Original Sound of Music Tour and loved it. Singing along with the CD on the bus with other Sound of Music fans only added to the fun. The tour guides were very informational. We did not want to rent a car and it would have been much harder to get to all of the different sights on our own.

We used a Bayern ticket to ride the train from Munich to Salzburg and returned to Munich that evening. It would have been nice to spend one to two nights in Salzburg to have more time to explore there. Maybe next time.

Just before our trip to Munich, we watched the "Sound of Music" again so the scenes would be fresh in our minds and I read "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers" by Maria Augusta Trapp. Another relevant book is "Forever Liesl: A Memoir of The Sound of Music" by Charmian Carr (who played Liesl).

I've done SOM tours three times - 1970, 1987, and 2011. I've enjoyed each one. There are a great many sights that are not seen on the bus tours because they are in the pedestrian part of the town. I like to watch the movie before going to Salzburg to remind myself of those locations when I see them.

Love the Sound of Music tour. Every time anyone asks about the SOM tour Lee posts about how stupid is to go on one and that those of us who do are clueless. Well, he's wrong, so enjoy your tour. The tour is fun and you they make it easy to see some parts of Austria that those of us who are not in Bavaria for six months might not see otherwise. And even those of us who have spent six months in Baden-Württemberg enjoy the experience.

Pam

I'll add my voice to those that endorse a SOM tour. A friend and I did the Panorama version of the tour this summer and found it quite enjoyable. Our guide Peter was excellent -- informative and entertaining, distinguishing fact from fiction. At Mondsee, we viewed the church and then walked around the town and out to the lake (instead of hitting the recommended shops/apple strudel cafe), which added value for us. I'll also join Lane in endorsing Maria Trapp's memoir "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers," a quick read that gives a great deal of insight into the family.

The Sound of Music film is a LIE!!! Georg was always a warm, kind-hearted man; Maria had quite the temper; there were 10 children and the film changed their names, ages, and sexes; Georg and Maria had been married for over 10 years when they left; Maria married for the love of the children, not for love of Georg, but she eventually grew to love him greatly; they didn't escape on foot, but left by train and it was no secret...

BUT WE DON'T CARE!!! We LOVE SOM!!!

It's one of our Favorite Things!

I think it would be fun to drive through the beautiful scenery admiring the Edelweiss while singing "Do-Re-Mi", so Climb Ev'ry Mountain, Melinda! Ignore that Lonely Goatherd! I Have Confidence that you've gotten Something Good from this thread.

So Long, and Farewell.

We are doing this same thing. We are going to take a morning train to Salzburg, take an afternoon SOM tour and take the train back to Munich that evening. It appears to be just over 1 1/2 hours each way so it sounds like a great day trip. I can hardly contain my excitement! :)

I am not trying to criticize those who already took the tour, and IMO wasted there money (after all, it's your time and your euro), but to warn others who might be tempted to make the same mistake. Unless it's worth $50 or more to you to ride around in a van, seeing sights that had almost nothing to do with the move, singing D0-Re-Mi, don't do it. A lot of people write in saying how great it was, but they are just trying to justify spending all that money.

Have fun, Jenny! I took the tour and really enjoyed it. Nothing to justify. Hopefully you will also have some time to walk around the old town part of Salzburg. It's beautiful.

" A lot of people write in saying how great it was, but they are just trying to justify spending all that money." Or, perhaps they are perfectly capable of evaluating their own experiences and even though they don't share the travel style or tastes of every individual on this website, perhaps they actually did enjoy the tour, as they wrote? It also might be the case that people have rented a car in Germany and they legitimately enjoyed the experience because it fit in well with their travel style.