We'll be on an Avalon Danube river cruise in early June and one of the offered excursions is from Linz to Salzburg, kind of billed as a Sound of Music excursion. I don't care about seeing sights associated with the movie but would love to experience Alpine scenery, which I never have. It's an all-day excursion, so my question is whether anyone has taken it and whether it's worth it for a non-Sound of Music lover and someone who doesn't want to be taken to places to buy souvenirs. I understand Salzburg is beautiful but would like opinions independent of the cruise folks as to whether it's worth an entire day to to this trip. Thanks for any feedback.

We took the Linz to Salzburg tour when on our cruise and we loved it. Our tour included much more than just Sound of Music and the scenery is gorgeous. There were not many people on our cruise who did not go to Salzburg.

We went to Salzburg whilw touring on our own. It was wonderful. I too would happily skip any notice of SOM, but it is ubiquitus. I would not miss Salzburg unless you plan to go back very soon for an extended stay

Thanks, Cali and Aristotle. Cali, were you on an Avalon cruise? What else did the tour include? Any details you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

RuthMC, no we were not on an Avalon Cruise. We were on Uniworld. The drive from Linz to Salzburg was beautiful and when we got to Salzburg we were given the choice of several different tours. My sister-in-law and I took one that took us to several different areas and ended up in the Old Town Area. We had some time after the tour to shop and have lunch and enjoyed it very much. I will try to find the brochure we got from Uniworld so I can tell you the actual places we visited. My DH and BIL elected to take a private tour of "Eagle's Nest" and were given good information by the guide on how to get there and what to do when they got there and also directions to get back to Linz and the ship if they missed the bus returning to the ship. They go back just in time to go back on the bus. Hopefully, I can find the brochure as I cannot remember the names of the Palace, churches, cemetery and other places we visited. We were very glad we went to Salzburg.

Thanks again, Cali. Just knowing the drive from Linz to Salzburg is beautiful is very helpful. We will most likely do this tour, but can't sign up until we're actually on the ship.