I've loved 'The Sound of Music' all my life and have always wanted to go to Salzburg. <BR>Does anyone here have any advice? How long to stay, interesting things to see, interesting places nearby?<BR>Has it changed so much since the movie was filmed in the 60's that I won't recognize it?<BR>Thanks

The old part of Salzburg is lovely, especially when viewed from the Fortress Hohensalzburg. Be sure to visit Mirabell Gardens. This is where they filmed part of the scene where the children sing "Do Re Mi" in their new outfits that Maria has made for them. check out the Salzburg website for lots of useful information. http://www.salzburginfo.at/desk/frame_home_e.htm. I know there are also Sound of Music tours and those have gotten mixed reviews on this forum but if you really loved the movie then it might be something you shoud do.

I loved Salzburg. I was there in the summer of 1997 and it was gorgeous. The hills are definitely alive in that part of the country. There are fabulous "Sound of Music" tours that you can take. They'll bring you to all the sights from the movie, and they're usually very well done and affordable. The town itself if fabulous, quaint, and visually magnificent. The view from the castle is priceless. I would recommend spending two or three days there. It's not full of sights, and could get boring after that. By all means, GO!

You could easily spend three or four days in Salzburg. I believe that there is a book sold in Salzburg that tells all of the locations for the film. When you visit Mirabell Gardens, make sure that you see the dwarf garden.<BR><BR>You may be interested in a tour because some of the spots are difficult to find and some are several miles outside of Salzburg.<BR><BR>I do not recommend going to see the Sound of Music dinner/performance, unless of course you are interested in middle age women in dirndls and balding men in leather shorts singing "Do Re Mi" Sad to say, even in Austria they have hokey tourist traps.<BR><BR>Also, if you take a tour of Hitler's "Eagle's Nest" you can see some of the mountains that were used in the opening sequence.<BR><BR>Salzburg is also the birthplace of Mozart. You will definitely want to take some time and explore the Mozart Birthplace. While you are there, buy some Mozart Kuglen candy. It is specifically made in that area. Plus you will need time to just wander in and out of the many shops.

Regarding the movie vs reality, no, things that were there is still there, looks like in the movie, things that weren't there in the first place, but brought together by Hollywood is obviously no longer there.<BR><BR>Taking a Sound of Music tour is an efficient way to visit few sites outside the city center. It only takes half a day.

Let me try this one again; hope it does not show up twice. <BR>I think two or three days is sufficient to see Salzburg and its various sights and sites, including the fortress of Hohensalzburg, Schloss Hellbrunn, Mirabell Gardens, and various old town attractions like the Residenz, some of the churches, and edifices and artifacts associated with Mozart. Of course, how fast you move is a factor.<BR><BR>I hate to be a killjoy, but the Sound of Music Salzburg that you saw in the movie does not really exist, nor are most of the mansions and buildings in the movie accessible. Some of the buildings are private and all you can do is ride past them. The famed gazebo where Lisa and the neophyte Nazi had their tryst is sort of little, and I thought it less than romantic looking. It is stashed somewhere on the grounds of Schloss Hellbrunn where it is out of the way, and only visited by people on tours. The Austrians have no interest in it other than its role in extracting tourist dollars from Americans.<BR>The church where Maria and Captain von Trapp were married is in Mondsee. But the tour we were on stopped just long enough to give us a choice between lunch and a peek inside the church.<BR>The famed Festspielhaus, where the annual Salzburg music festival is held, and from which the von Trapp family escaped, is available on a separate tour operated by the Festsspielhaus itself; it is not on the bus tour I took. Neither is the inside of the convent where the von Trapps are said to have hidden while running from the Nazis before they escaped to a Switzerland whose borders had been conveniently moved over a 100 miles east. (If you go into the mountains westward from Salzburg, you are in Germany; Switzerland is a considerable jaunt due West.) <BR><BR>The tour I took, Gray Line, was in my opinion an egregious ripoff. It consisted of a running commercial about Mrs. Brown's strudel in Mondsee, which we did not have time to eat, a running beer commercial about some ratskeller in town, a stop for lord knows what reason in St. Gilgen. I have expounded on this theme before, so no need to repeat ithere. <BR><BR>The most interesting single thing I have done in Salzburg is to visit the Marionettentheater. It was a fun experience, and well worth the cost.<BR>Next, a tour of the Festspielhaus is worth it for a behind-the-scenes look at an empty opera house and at the amphitheater cut out of the rock.<BR>If you go there, and you have seen the movie, you will recognize it instantly.<BR><BR>Schloss Sch&ouml;nbrunn, the pleasure palace of the Prince Archbishp Markus Sittikus is interesting. The tour definitely gave me insights into the enormous power the Prince Archbishops had in those days. They were, afterall, head of church and state.<BR>The gardens at Hellbrunn feature the trick fountains that squirt people with water and elevate the bishops hat on a liquid plume. The mechanical engineering required to pull off the squirting is of interest to the mechanically minded, but not much fun to those who have no interest in being squirted. Old Markus is described as having had a great time drenching his pompous and/or elegantly clad guests. I guess it was his idea of fun, and perhaps it was his less than subtle way of letting folks know who was in charge around there. I doubt if many of the squirtees were in a position to retaliate!! <BR><BR>I also had fun just wandering the streets, when it isn't raining. Usually in the summer, students from the music school can be seen and heard playing on the streets. We chanced upon a trio featuring a kid on the accordian, one on a bass balalaika, and one on a mandolin. They were were running througn Rossini overtures like they were programmed into their genes.<BR><BR>That was my third visit to Salzburg, and I think now there are other things to see and do in Austria.

Maria:<BR>I was in Salzburg back in June. The best thing to do is just wander around the old section, go in the Churches (St. Peters may be the nicest Church I've ever seen) and see the Mirabell Gardens. I actually enjoyed the S-O-M Dinner Show, but I'm a big fan of the movie too. The Marionette Theatre is famous, but you must get a seat up close to see well, plus it is all in German. I don't recommend the Eagles Nest because there's not much to see there anymore, except the view, and it takes almost a full day. Hohensalzburg Castle is worthwhile just for the history and the view. If you have a car, a drive through the Salzkamergut? Lake region would be nice.