Hello, my three cousins and I would like to go on one of a "Sound of Music" tour in Salzburg, October 2026. We are all 70 and are in pretty good shape. I know there are many tours, could someone please recommend their favorite tour? Thank you! Tracy

My son and I did this one about 8 years ago. It’s a cycling tour, but the pace is very relaxed and we didn’t find it to be particularly strenuous at all.

I am sorry not to be helpful but a Sound of Music tour sounds like great fun.

I don't have specific Salzburg recommendations, but rather point you to Viator. You can find local tour guides for almost anywhere, and see ratings and reviews from other travelers.

The SoM sights within the city itself are relatively compact, so you might want to look for a general city walking tour, not one limited to just SoM. There are some SoM sights outside the city proper such as Schloss Heilbrunn. You can visit there yourself, and on a nice day it's a pleasant location with the whimsical water gardens/fountains. Other scenes such as lakes, mountains, etc are scattered here and there in the region around Salzburg.

Bob's Special Tours. We used them for a half day tour of Sound of Music sights in Salzburg and Mondsee. Our guide/driver was knowledgeable; and we liked that the group size was small.

I’ve done the Panorama tour in 1970, 1987, and 2011. Enjoyable.

Since many of the scenes are in the old town where buses no longer can go, I recommend walking to see some of the places. Re-watch the movie before you go

I've done two SOM tours and they were both great fun. I'm sorry not to remember the names of the companies, but I second the recommendation to watch the movie before you go.

In case this is of interest, we stayed at the Leopoldskron hotel, which is where the lake scenes were filmed. You can't get on the property if you're not a guest, but you will see it from across the lake on the tour. The breakfast buffet is in the ballroom which inspired the ballroom scene in the movie. As a lifelong SOM fan, being by that lake was a dream.

One more thing, I don't want to give the impression that the hotel is where they filmed the indoor scenes from the movie. The indoor scenes were sets in California. But you'll recognize the magnificent outdoor scenes around Salzburg. The ballroom (now breakfast room) in the hotel does look like the one in the movie. You might get the urge to waltz. 😀

We, too have stayed at Schloss Leopoldskron. I am a huge SOM fan and have visited every Austrian filming location except for the meadow (at the beginning), as it's privately owned.

I took this tour as well and agree with everything fourfortravel wrote. I did research all the local sites in Salzburg's pedestrian area and went to see them on my own.

This SOM tour also gives you a small discount if you have the Rick Steve’s’ guidebook where he recommends them. At least they used to when I took it years ago!

There is actually a book written by Maria von Trapp telling the real story behind The Sound of Music - not the filming, but the real-life story of how she met and married the Captain, and their subsequent story where they migrated to the United States and had more children. Unfortunately her husband died early of cancer after they had migrated, but it's a fascinating story. Of course it diverts from the film, the film is fantasy at many points, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy the film for what it is, a really good story well-told, with memorable filming locations.

Lavandula