SALZBURG ITINERARY

Nannette, I can tell you what we enjoyed with about your same amount of time. On our first afternoon we did Rick's suggested downtown walking tour including the cathedral. After a rest at a pub we walked (we could have taken the funicular) up to the base of the fortress. From there we walked across the top of the Monchsberg (not sure if the spelling is right) and down to the Augustiner brewery for dinner in the beergarden/hall. We then walked along the river back downtown. Our other day in Salzburg we borrowed bikes and saw so much in one day. We biked to the Cathedral for mass, left our bikes at the base and toured the fortress, biked to Mirabell garden and saw some S-O-M sights, biked out along the river to Hellbrunn Palace and did the "fountain tour" (very fun). Last we biked back into Salzburg for dinner. I imagine the second day could all be accomplished with public transportation as well. Have fun planning! If you are staying on Moosstrasse I would recommend the restaurant Reiterhof.

@Lee...From one of those cluless Americans... it's actually 'Doe, a deer', not 'Do, a deer' :)))
As far as the tour... been there a bunch of times on my own, but I took my grandson on the tour a few years ago... and we had fun. Yes, it was cheesy and kind of goofy, but when you can get an 11 year old boy to smile while being immersed in SOM stuff, then it was worth it.

We did same amount of time - arrived and had nice lunch near our hotel - Weiss Taube - sat outside in sun which was nice as it was April (and still chilly but nice in the sun). Then we wandered - saw cemetery and castle (took train thingee up) and wandered all over. Next day we took bus to Berchesgaten and it was rainy/snowy - went to documentation center but Eagle's Nest was closed - hopefully will be open when you are there. Then we returned to Salzburg had lunch and this time we walked up to castle and all around and then across hill to modern art museum and took elevator down. Next day we went to Munich. LOVED Salzburg and would like to return. Me - I have no interest in a guided mini van tour so SOM Tour is out. I love figuring out public transportation and we enjoyed our trip to Berchesgaten - maybe it took 45 minutes

Do it yourself. Most things that are in Salzburg that were actually in the movie (Hohensalzburg fortress, do-re-mi steps) can be seen on your own for free. Most of the rest of the movie was shot in sound stages in Hollywood. Even the gazebo scenes were in a sound stage where they could control the rain. The gazebo they take you too on a tour was only used for distance shots. Leopoldskron was not used in shooting the movie. Instead they made a temporary copy of the lakeside patio at another location. Scenes of the house from the patio were actually of another building not on a lake. Do yourselves a favor. Get the DVD of SOM, the one with commentary by the director, Robt Wise, and find out for yourselves what's authentic. On the other hand, if you just enjoy riding around on a bus, with a bunch of clueless Americans, looking at irrelevant sites, singing " Doe, a deer", knock yourselves out.

Do a deer...Freudian slip? (Freud was Austrian). :-) I love Salzburg and have never been on the SOM tour. If you're a fanatic, however, I'm sure you would love it. I recognize pieces of Salzburg when I watch the movie but I also know that much was done in studios made to resemble places in Salzburg. If you opt for a tour. I would make that a significant part of one day. Then plan at least another day to just walk the center and see the sights by foot. My favorite view is in the evening from one of the footbridges that cross the river (walking toward the Augustiner brewery from downtown). When it's lit up at night, the city rivals anyplace I've seen in the world for sheer beauty.

Yes, Berchtesgaden, with the Eagles Nest, Königssee, and the town itself) is a great place for a day trip from Salzburg. The fastest way to Berchtesgaden is the RVO Watzmann Express bus that leaves from near the front of the Salzburg Hbf hourly. The trip takes 46 min. An RVO Tagesticket will get you the round trip from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden as well as the use of most buses in B'gaden. It cost 9,50€ for an adult. That's 19€ for two people. One caveat, the last bus back to Salzburg leaves the Berchtesgaden Hbf at about 6:15 pm, so the bus is not a good option if you want to stay for dinner. You can also use a Bayern-Ticket (26€ for two) and use the hourly trains via Freilassing. This route takes about 1:20 each way, but the trains return to Salzburg until almost midnight. With the Bayern-Ticket, you also have use of most of the local buses in Berchtesgaden. Because the Watzmann Express goes through Austria, the Bayern-Ticket cannot be used on it. You might also check for something called the "BGL-TagesTicket Bus & Bahn". It costs 12€ per adult and seems to cover the train between Salzburg and Berchtesgaden, as well as most all of the buses of the RVO. The page (in German) says not recognised on bus lines outside of Germany (except to Salzburg). I think they are saying that it is valid for the Watzmann Express bus to Berchtesgaden. Ask the driver of the Watzmann Express if you can buy it from him, and if it is valid for the bus to Berchtesgaden. If he says yes, you can use it for the fast way to Berchtesgaden and still come home late on the train, if you want to.

im actually a fan of Sound of Music but im not a fan of tours tho. i prefer exploring it to ourselves but the reason why im considering the tour coz im afraid we might not be able to visit all SOM sights by public transportation and we dont have the luxury of time to get lost.  we wanna see as many as there is too see in Salzburg.  i have to do some digging online to point me to the right directions :) if anyone can help me out it'd be grately appreciated ;) thank You

It actually IS "Do" not "Doe". Do, re, mi, etc., are the names of the notes. The song uses the mnemonic of "a female deer" to remind you that it is pronounced "doe", not "doo"..

"All" the sights is a pretty big order. The wedding church is actually in Mondsee, which is about 15-20 mi east of Salzburg. The castle on the hill behind Maria when she starts to teach the children to sing is in Werfen, 33 mi south of Salzburg. I've been to both. I'm a big SOM fan. That's why the tour would be a disappointment to me.

Doe a deer... I guess I have seen it written both ways but Nancy is right, I think the real title of the song is Do, Re, Me...but a book I have here for the kids then goes on to have the words as Doe, a deer (probably just for pronunciation) Sorry Lee...(just looked funny out of context):))

My wife has been wanting to do the Sound of Music tour for years and on a trip back later this year I agreed that we would.. but I would prefer to do it on our own. We have watched the movie numerous times and have the DVD with the commentary mentioned which is informative and would be good to watch before you go.
I hope to change my wife's mind about the tour and do the self tour with the help from the link below but if not I will go on the guided tour and enjoy it. This link may be of interest to you. Also the Castle above Werfen is where the movie, "Where Eagles Dare" was filmed. http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/s/soundmusic_1.html

The above link provides pretty good information, but the Terrace at Leopoldskron was not used in the movie. As Robt. Wise explains, they wanted to use it, but Leopoldskron was being used as a school at the time, and the school didn't want the interruptions. They built an exact duplicate of the terrace elsewhere on the lake and used it for scenes. The scene where Maria is talking to the Captain after swamping the boat was actually shot in two parts - one part looking at the lake from the terrace, the other part, with Frohnburg, which isn't on a lake, behind Maria. Frohnburg was only used for exterior shots. The inside was all in sound stages in Hollywood.