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Salzburg with Kids: Our DIY Sound of Music Tour

Chances are many of us have seen the classic movie musical, the Sound of Music, countless times over the years. I grew up watching this movie and luckily, my kids enjoy watching it too. The breathtaking scenes of Salzburg, Austria created a long-lasting impact for me along with the unforgettable songs. So, there was no question we were going to do a Sound of Music tour to see the sites featured in the movie while we were visiting Bavaria Germany last month. Salzburg was an easy day trip from Munich by car or train.

Salzburg Austria skyline

Most people do the 4-hour Sound of Music bus tour which takes visitors to several filming locations. The Sound of Music is one of the most popular movie musicals of all time. The movie was based on the book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. It told the story of a young lady (Maria) who left a convent to be a governess to 7 children and eventually became their stepmother.

Sound of Music marionette

We ended up doing our own Do-It-Yourself (DIY) tour for several reasons. We’re usually not the tour bus types, if we can help it, and we had a rental car. Most of the locations were also within the walkable city.

While it would have been fun to do a sing along on the tour, how much can we see in the rain from a bus? So, this was our family’s condensed version of the Sound of Music tour. If you haven’t seen the movie or not too familiar with it, think of this post as sightseeing through Salzburg instead.

Sound of Music bus

Salzburg’s Old Town area, where many of these film locations were, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There was minor damage to the city during World War II so many of its old world architecture and charming buildings were still intact.

Unfortunately, despite traveling in the summertime, there was forecast of rain no matter what day we would have visited Salzburg. That didn’t stop us from sightseeing with umbrellas in hand and dashing outdoors when it stopped raining.

Salzburg Old Town view

My daughter and I have always wanted to go on a grassy hill in the Alps with a twirly dress and sing “The hills are alive with the sound of music”. Contrary to what the movie showed, that mountain in the opening scene wasn’t right by Salzburg.

According to many sources, it’s on Mellwig, near the little Bavarian village of Schellenberg several miles from the city. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find one that came close to it other than this one in Germany and it was on private property. We had to hold off on that “twirling” dream.

German countryside

We started our tour in the Old Town area at Residenzplatz Square. This was one of the squares shown in the movie where Maria crossed singing “I Have Confidence in Me”. It was surrounded by many museums and the Salzburg Cathedral and probably got pretty crowded on a nice sunny day.

Salzburg Residentplaz fountain

The large Horse Fountain or Residenzbrunnen dominated the square and was where Maria also dipped her hand as she passed by. This fountain was built by the Italian master architect, Bernini, in the 17th century. If the triton on top here looks familiar, it was supposed to look like Bernini’s Triton fountain in Rome.

Residentplatz fountain Salzburg

Shades and history of Mozart were everywhere in Salzburg since he was born and spent part of his childhood here. Nearby was Mozartplatz to honor the native son including a pretty tall statue of him.

Mozartplatz Salzburg

One of the movie scenes had the kids riding through this square in a horse and carriage singing the popular “Do-Re-Mi” song. We found a few of these horse-drawn carriages waiting for riders. Rates started at 40 euros($51 US) per carriage (4 persons) for about 20-25 min. We decided to skip on this despite it being a lovely way to see the city.

Salzburg horse drawn carriages

After exploring a fortress and Salzburg cathedral, we headed to Petersfriedhof, or St. Peter’s Cemetery. This was actually one of Salzburg’s popular tourist attractions. This cemetery was the inspiration for where the Von Trapp family hid behind tall grave stones enclosed by wrought iron gates in the movie.

This was Salzburg’s oldest Christian graveyard but was very well maintained. It was beautiful and filled with unique markers and colorful flowers.

Salzburg St Peter Cemetary

The song, Edelweiss, was one of the most beautiful songs in the movie and sang during one of the most dramatic scenes. We were happy we came across these edelweiss flowers in a cart. The song was named after the flowers. It was nice to see these small and delicate flowers finally.

Edelweiss flowers salzburg

The Mirabell Gardens

The highlight of our walk in the city was the time spent in Mirabell Gardens. This was where many of the scenes that accompanied the popular “Do-Re-Mi song” were filmed. Mirabell was such a lovely garden filled with blooming flowers, a maze, hedges, a concert palace and even a playground. It offered so much for tourists and locals that you can also overlook the Sound of Music connection. The gardens were opened to the public in 1854.

Mirabell Gardens Salzburg

The gardens had many sculptures to pose with or ones to ride on.

Mirabell Gardens Unicorn

We followed a footbridge guarded by two whimsical looking gnomes into a small area known as Dwarf Gnome Park (Zwerglgarten). There were many marble gnome statues surrounding an open field.

Salzburg Sound of Music gnomes

They were supposedly modeled after real dwarves and each had a unique personality. The one with the glasses (left photo below) even made an appearance in the movie.

Salzburg Sound of Music gnome

One of the most popular and crowded areas was the set of steps where Maria and the children sang, hopped the music scales and ended the “Do-Re-Mi” song. Of course, we took that obligatory tourist picture here. It also helped to have the Hohensalzburg Fortress as a backdrop.

Mirabell Gardens

The steps weren’t that big but it was fun to watch many people recreate the music scenes from the movie here.

Mirabell Gardens sound of music steps

Who remembers the kids dancing around the statue of the winged horse, Pegasus? Like many things in the movie, things were smaller in real life. This fountain was installed here in 1913.

Mirabell gardens pegasus fountain

My kids, like many others we saw, loved running through the vine tunnel. It was also a great way to stay dry from the rain.

Mirabell Gardens Sound of Music hedge

We had to recreate the scene where the Sound of Music kids ran and jumped through here. My kids didn’t hesitate and had so much fun doing these poses. This was one of my favorite shots from our trip.

Sound of music mirabell hedge

The last part of our day was spent on the outskirts of Salzburg. There were actually two separate buildings used for the exterior shots of the family home. Schloss Frohnburg, a 17th century country house which is now the Mozarteum Music Academy, was used for the front.  The back of the house and lakeside terrace was actually Schloss Leopoldskron, which is now a private college. The grounds and lake also made quite a few appearances in the movie.

Leopoldskron Palace

The Sound of Music Pavilion or commonly called Gazebo was used in a few memorable scenes in the film. This provided the background for the songs “I Am 16 Going On 17” and “Something Good”. It was given to the city after filming and was at Schloss Leopoldskron.

It was later reconstructed and relocated at Hellbrun Palace gardens after too many trespassing incidents.  The gazebo has been closed off since someone tried to recreate the scene in the move and had an accident.

Sound of Music gazebo

We would love to return to Salzburg and spend more time there. We missed many other sites with the rain and our limited time. Seeing the movie scenes in real life gave us a different perspective of the movie. While many of the scenes were filmed inside a movie studio in Los Angeles, it was wonderful to see those outside scenes.

The great thing with having a goal in mind to see these film locations was it also allowed us to see Salzburg’s historical sites and major attractions and explore its hidden corners. I’m glad that we did this tour on our own.

Visiting Salzburg Tips & Basics

  • If you can, spend a few days in Salzburg. There were many sights we missed and it was such a beautiful city to walk around in and spend some time.
  • Many Sound of Music bus tours have two daily schedules (9Am and 2 PM). The tours range from 40 euros($52 US) which can be a van or a 50+ person bus tour.
  • Watch the movie again before you go and again when you return. You’ll see it in a whole new way.
  • Get a Salzburg card, in different time increments, for free admission to all attractions throughout the city including free bus transportation and tour discounts for a reasonable price. Prices started at 23 euros($30US) for adults and 11.50 euros($15 US) for kids for a 24-hour card. This will save you time and money.

Have you done the Sound of Music tour or visited Salzburg?

DIY Sound of Music tour

58 thoughts on “Salzburg with Kids: Our DIY Sound of Music Tour”

  1. I think Salzburg is a gorgeous city and agree it’s worth some time. Those gardens look lovely and well worth a few hours. What a bummer that it rained so much- as sun really does change the mood of a place.
    The Sound of Music tour looks like a great family type tour – and I can just picture you and your daughter twirling in dresses.

  2. Three people in my household wanting to do this tour very, very badly! Emma is a little disappointed that she won’t be able to re-enact “I am 16 going on 17” in the gazebo though! Fabulous photos despite the weather!

  3. Looks to be beautiful and I would like to visit one day. If you ever have the opportunity to ready Maria VonTrapp’s book, it’s well-worth the read and it tells the “real” story of how they managed to flee the Nazi’s. It was not how it appeared in the movie. But I too enjoyed the movie!

    1. Thanks for the recommendation, Patti! One of these days I will read it. I’ve read that there are actually more things in Salzburg detailing the Von Trapp family. It would be an interesting comparison to the movie.

  4. As soon as I read Salzburg and the Sound of Music, I started to hum Do-Re-Mi! :) Looks like you had a lovely day, despite the rain. I almost went to Salzburg when I was in Prague last year, but opted for Budapest instead. It’s still high on my list. Thanks for the tour!

  5. Oh thank you so much for taking me us on this “Sound of Music” tour. One of my all time favourite movies – I used to know every word of every single song – and used to sing along with my mum’s record. What a pitty you couldn’t do the “twirling skirts” “The hills are alive” scene – next time maybe? I still vivedly recall this opening scene.
    Thank you for the wonderful tour. Happy travels and have a great weekend ahead.

  6. I love Sound of Music and all the songs in that movie. The scenery in some scenes are so beautiful. I especially like the backyard lake. It’s really nice to see the photos. Loved reading the post and looking at the photos!

  7. Sadly, I can’t get my daughters interested in Sound of Music. Though I haven’t tried for a few years, maybe time for another go. Had more of a Wolfgang Amadeus focus when I was in Salzburg some years ago, but I did see the church where Maria and the captain married, in Mondsee in the surrounding Salzkammergut.

    1. I hope they like it the next time you show it to them. I plan to have a Mozart focus on my next Salzburg post. We didn’t make it to Mondsee and I really wanted to visit. It looks beautiful. Next time…

  8. I have never heard of that Dwarf Gnome Garden. Looks like there are tons of good photo ops in there. I look forward to returning to Salzburg someday, and we’ll probably end up doing a DIY Sound of Music Tour, too.

  9. Hi Mary,
    You did the right thing going DYI! I did the Sound of Music bus tour when I was in Salzburg 12 years ago. It was the most touristy thing I have ever done. My friends and I were fans of the movie but the other people on the bus with us were die-hard fans to the point of lunacy. We found the sing-along in the bus a bit cheesy (the die-hards were singing their heart and lungs out like crazy). But it was kind of fun. It’s great that you made the most out of your short time in Salzburg. You seemed to have covered a lot. My little siblings are such troopers – smiling and enjoying away despite the rainy weather. I really enjoyed Salzburg and would love to go back there myself.

    1. I have heard the tour can be fun, over the top and enjoyable depending on your tour guide. Maybe we’ll try it the next time we go back to Salzburg. We did cover a lot and we got lucky many things were near each other. The kids love the movie and anywhere with a park so that’s not going to stop them. :)

  10. You know, I did that tour also and it was a lot of fun, kinda kitchy but really fun…it helps to love the moving – Now everyone Do Re Meeee Fah So Laaaa Tiiiii :)

  11. It’s not easy to read this without breaking into song. I found the movie a bit corny, but it was such a ‘feel good’ thing, it was hard not to see it over and over. Plus, I love Julie Andrews.
    Thanks for taking us on this tour. I know I’d like it, it sounds like it could really bring out the kid in any adult. The hills are alive….
    BTW, I read somewhere that a new TV movie will air in December on NBC.

  12. Oooh I would love to do that tour. The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies, I think I have seen it about twenty times now. I also love the song Edelweiss, so beautiful. haha and I always get the song “climb every mountain” in my head while hiking :) Again great photos.

    1. Thanks Freya! I’m glad to hear you’re a fan too! if only we had hills to climb in the Alps, it would have been perfect. Now I’ll be thinking of that song when we go hiking :)

  13. I love the whimsical look on your son’s face posing on the statue with his sister.
    Our kids must have watched this movie at least twenty times. I don’t think this
    tour will every run out of customers. I went there when I was about Twenty but
    didn’t do the tour, but I remember looking down on the square.

    1. I love that it’s such a great family movie and you can keep watching it repeatedly. It’s also such a feel good movie. No, those tours won’t be going anywhere. Who knows..we may do the bus tour when we go back.

  14. I loved this post! I have been to Salzburg – MANY years ago – but didn’t go on the Sound of Music tour. I so love the movie, and would love to go!

    Great to have you at “Oh, the PLACES I’ve been!”.

    – The Tablescaper

  15. Oh I love the Sound of Music movie, its my all time favorite. To actually tour the city and see where it was filmed would be incredible – the tour sounds ideal {on the bus} but like you we probably would like to tour with our family.
    How gorgeous does the St. Peter’s Cemetery look, so good to hear they are keeping to in such good conditions.
    Shame about someone hurting themselves in the Pavilion, it would be so nice to sit in there and remember the scene from the movie. The town looks like something out of a magazine, what part of the tour did your kids enjoy the most?

    1. It was an amazing feeling to see these familiar places in real life. My kids love Mirabell Gardens the most. There was so much for them to do there and they really enjoyed the gnome park. Thanks Lisa!

  16. Isn’t Salzburg wonderful? Looks like you were all having a great time. We didn’t do the Sound of Music tour either, but I think your self-guided tour was the best way to do it. I’ve also had that singing in the Alps fantasy — I suppose most anyone who loves the movie has.

    1. Salzburg surprised us and in a very good way. We’ll need to come back when the sun is shining. I can’t carry a tune but it sure would be fun to twirl around in the Alps. Here’s hoping we make those fantasies come true sooner rather than later, Cathy.

  17. We are also not the tour bus tour types. . .and Joel would have thrown himself in front of the bus had he been required to sing or listen to other tourists sing as part of the trip. You provided a fabulous tour on this armchair trip I just took with you!

  18. We did all these same things with our kids a few years ago – so fun, they loved it! We watched the movie at least twice before we wnet and again many times after we came back!

  19. eileen at FamiliesGo!

    salzburg is a really nice and fun city no matter how you see it. I’ll keep this post in mind for when we get back there next.

  20. I’ve never seen the Sound of Music, but I’d love to take the tour. Seems like it would be a good way to get a crash course about what the movie is all about.

  21. I LOVE the sound of music. When I was there, I did the same as you. Visiting all the locations on my own. It’s weird to see how small everything is compared to its larger than life appearance (it seemed) in the movie!

  22. I went on the Sound of Music tour in 2004. The tour guide was from Boston and had a thick Boston accent which was hilarious. He was funny and made the tour fun! They played Sound of Music songs and the whole bus sang and laughed, he gave LOTS of cool info about the movie and about the Austrians. At the end of the tour, they gave everyone a packet of Edelweiss seeds to plant! Definitely recommend the tour!

  23. <3 The Sound of Music is my fave movie in the whole, entire world! When I was in Austria I went to visit a few of the sights, but have yet to take this tour, I really NEED to!

  24. Thanks so much for this post! It popped up on my google when I was planning our own DIY tour and it was brilliant, we followed your lead with a couple places thrown in and loved every minute! We even got to go in the gazebo because there was a wedding coming later and the musicians were tuning up. Also got stopped by police when looking at the front of the house building, but claimed English tourist ignorance and they showed us the way back to the legal roads. Great fun had by all, thanks so much!!

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