austria

The movie was set in Salzburg. There are several tours of the movie set locations.

As far as finding hills "alive with the sound of music", I'm afraid you'll have to settle for cowbells. Me, I gotta have more cowbell!

There's tours you can take out of Salzburg if you like. See the town, drive around the Salkammergut region for all the pretty scenery and cute villages.

Stowe, Vermont Trapp Family Lodge. Lovely hotel in a gorgeous setting.

Salzburg. When I got into town from the train station, I said 'oh my gosh, it's The Sound of Music - where's Maria?!?

I got a fever! And the only prescription...is MORE COWBELL!

Salzburg. I took the 4 hour Sound of Music bus tour that drives you to all the sites that are outside of Salzburg. I usually don't like this sort of thing, but it was cheesy in a good way. And the scenery was beautiful.

Most of the movie was shot in sound stages (Maybe that's why the call it the "sound" of Music) in Hollywood. All of the indoor shots, the Von Trap home, the convent, the cemetery, the Gazebo, were Hollywood sets.

The lakeside patio at the Von Trap home was really a set on a lake near Leopoldskron, made to resemble the patio at Lepoldskron (they try to pass off Leopoldskron as the actual site, but it was not in the movie). The scenes at the patio in SOM were shot in two stages, one stage with Frohnburg, which wasn't on a lake, in the background, the other with the patio, which was nowhere near Frohnburg, in the background.

The gazebo you see is the actual gazebo used for distance shot in the movie, but the gazebo used for close up was a set in Hollywood.

Most of the other scenes in Salzburg, the fortress, the outside of the Abbey, the Mirabell palace (do-re-mi steps), the square where they hung the Nazi flag, are all readily see-able in walking around Salzburg.

Salzburg is a beautiful place to visit even without the SoM connection. This website details many of the various film locations in and around Salzburg:

http://www.salzburg.info/en/art_culture/sound_of_music/shooting_locations.htm

Yes, yes, of course all the inside shots were done in Hollywood! It cost less! But Salzburg has plenty of places to visit from the movie. I took Bob's Special tours and it was a hoot. It's all loaded with myths and legends about the filming, but the location is spectacular and when you go home and watch the musical again, it's like being back in Salzburg again. ; ) Pam

I'm with Doug & Mary...I got a fever! And the only prescription.. is more cowbell! I mean, really.. explore the space. I like what I'm hearing. roll it.

Just being is Salzburg and the region can give you a real sense of the scenery from the movie, but I recall my dentist saying her family loved that goofy tour. If you have the time, why not take it just for some fun?

"all the inside shots were done in Hollywood! It cost less!" That actually wasn't the reason.

If you bother to know the truth, get the S.O.M. DVD, the one with a commetary by director/producer Robt Wise. He has no reason to lie to you.

The actual Nonnberg Abbey was reproduced, imaginatively, in a sound stage in Hollywood because it was a "cloistered Benedictine Abbey" and they were not permitted inside, to even see it, let alone shot. Those nuns singing "How do you solve a problem like Marie" were in Hollywood.

Leopoldskron was never used in the movie. They couldn't get permission to use it. They created a copy of the patio a ways away on the same lake. It was used for the lakeside scenes. The scene of Von Trapp talking to Marie in front of the home, after they dumped the boat, was shot in two parts, the part looking toward the home, which wasn't on a lake, and the part looking from the patio to the lake, from nothing, there was no house behind the patio.

There was a pavilion on the patio set. You see Lisl running to it to meet Rolf. But it was only used for distant shots. The singing and dancing scenes were shot on a set in Hollywood, where they could control the lighting and the rain.

Although Wise does not mention it specifically, the cemetery scene was shot on a set in Hollywood.

Whats left? The Do-Re-mi steps scene was really shot at Mirabell Garden, which is only a few blocks down the road from the Bahnhof. We stopped there and saw it all (the steps, the Pegasus statue, the Dwarfs, the Arbor) on our way to the old town. The old town, with the square where she caught the bus, and the plaza in front of the Residenz, where they shot the Anschluss scenes, are all easily accessible.

The performance at the riding academy was shot in Salzburg.

You can walk around the hill under the Fortress to see the outside of Nonnberg Abbey. I think you can even see the inside of the chapel (I did).

Salzburg is alive with wonderful music and what a beautiful small city it is. Don't believe I have ever heard anyone say they did not like Salzburg. Many say they did not like the SOM Tour but so much other history and music in the city. Two days in Salzburg will fly by but plenty of time to see the city and enjoy the wonderful people and scenery.