salzburg to Venice

A train station clerk in Salzburg mistakenly interpreted my mis pronounciation of Ulm as Rome. Whe punched in the route and ticket price which was about 580Euros. I would imagine Venice would be in the same ballpark. We stayed in a Mozart theme family owned resaurant that had an Indian chef and excellent Indian food. The television service provided the Sound Of Music movie on a continuous loop. My wife got to listen to the annoying thing through the wall from a room inhabited by oriental guests. There's a Sound of Music tour if you are so inclined to part with your money in that fashion. The young woman at the desk said some people in Salzburg wished it would just go away, but its a money maker.

"mistakenly interpreted my mis pronounciation of Ulm as Rome." Funny, because that exact same thing, Rome for Ulm, happened to me in 1988. We Americans just don't pronounce L and R the way the German speakers do. Try to get the DVD of Sound of Music, the one with commentary by producer/director Robert Wise. You'll find that most of the scenes - inside the house and abbey, the cemetery, the close up scenes in the gazebo - were all shot in sound stages in Hollywood. The lakefront patio, where they swamped the boat, was a temporary set, since torn down, elsewhere on the lake. The wedding church is over an hour away in Mondsee. Places like Mirabelle Palace (do-re-mi steps) are right in town and you don't need a tour to see it. Look for tickets from Salzburg to Venice on the Austrian Rail website (www.oebb.at). With sufficient advance puchase online, you might get fares of €29/p for the train to Villach and a modern intercity bus from there to Venice.

Doreen, there are companies that will take you on an SOM tour and it can be a hoot. I took Bob's SOM tour recommended by Rick Steves. It was a van and there seven of us and it was a morning tour. I was really glad I got past the hokey factor and did it. Pam

Or, you can just find some more Americans and stand on the corner singing "Do, a deer, a female deer", and save $60 each.

Instead of the train/bus through Villach, you can do the trip entirely by train. There is an Austrian IC leaving Salzburg at 10:53, changing to EC 87 in Innsbruck. EC 87 goes directly to Venice at 18:10. There are no discount fares from the Bahn for this connection. There might be on the Austrian Rail site. However, there is a German Regional Express (RE) leaving Salzburg at 10:09, connecting in Rosenheim to the same EC to Venice. You can find this connection on the German Rail website if you input "Rosenheim" as a "stopover" (Use 0:00 for the time), and you can buy an advance purchase Europa-Spezial ticket for as low as €39pp.