Salzburg Tour Guide

I've been in Salzburg three times and never used a tour guide. A little research helps. Most everything can be seen if you walk from the Hbf to the old town, tour it, go up to the Fortress. Do not ever take a Sound of Music tour. They are just a way contrived to get money from tourists.

We spent 3 days there and did not use a guide. In addition to the suggestions, don't forget Mozart's house accross the river from teh old town, same side as teh railway station. We took the SOM tour and found the scenery interesting, even if the SOM information was blah.

"want to learn some of the little falsehoods about the movie".

Like the fact that the building used as the Von Trapp residence was not on a lake, and the lake front patio scene was a temporary set, not Leopoldskron (like they tell you), and the Gazebo you see was not used for the closeup (You are sixteen and Something good) scenes.

I don't think you need a guide either. The old town center has many sites that you can explore on your own.

I did the SOM tour and loved it, kitschy as it was. If you're a fan of the movie, do it once and that will last you a lifetime. Lots of neat trivia, much of it duplicated in tour and anniversary books, but fun none the less.

I hate to be an echo, but we did it with a travel guide and i read a book about Salzburg on the way there. My husband and I LOVED Salzburg, what a great city to wander around in. We stayed right by the Hauptbahnhof and took the bus everywhere.

If you can get into one, do one of the concerts they have there which are fabulous. The fortress was nice and we enjoyed the Mozart houses as well as the good, although a bit expensive, cafe attached to one of the Mozart museums (tanzhaus). We also stopped at the gurtel..something, a shop full of nothing but belts.

If you do go with a tour guide, I can't imagine needing one for more than a couple hours around the old town. Spend the rest of the time getting lost and exploring.

Forgot to mention the Salzburg card. It covers your transportation and entry into almost all of the sites you will want to see - but not the SOM tour.

I'm going to chime in and say I'm another person who enjoyed the Sound of Music tour when I was in Salzburg in 1979 (I am really dating myself lol) and I agree it's for people who really like the movie. Other than that we just wandered around the town and visited the castle. Salzburg is a beautiful city!

Sounds like we have consensus! Thanks everyone --- so looking forward to our time in Salzburg.