Salzburg & the Sound of Music Tour

Follow the story of the global movie classic on this Sound of Music tour of Salzburg and the surrounding countryside, as we explore the iconic locations and historical context of the film. Salzburg’s monuments and the Lake District’s stunning landscapes serve as the perfect backdrop while you enjoy expert commentary from a local historian, full of anecdotes about the 1965 film production and the actual von Trapp family singers who fled the Nazi Annexation of Austria to the United States. If you like, you will also be treated to the legendary soundtrack in your comfortable Mercedes van while your group sings your way through the glorious Lake District in between stops.

This tour takes you to the major sites where the global movie classic The Sound of Music was filmed while you enjoy expert commentary from a local historian, full of anecdotes about the 1965 production and the actual von Trapp family singers. The real family’s story is one of the authentically great refugee tales of the Second World War. It continued through their escape from Nazi Germany’s Annexation of Austria to the United States, where they toured across the country before settling in Vermont among mountains that reminded them of their former home in the Alpine Lake District, the very region that you encounter on this tour. If you like, you will also be treated to the legendary soundtrack in your comfortable Mercedes van while you sing your way through the glorious natural scenery in between stops.

In Salzburg, we visit the beautiful Baroque Mirabell Gardens, where the famous “Do-Re-Mi” sequence was partly filmed. We will also stop at the Residenzplatz Fountain, where Maria starts off on her adventure to become a governess to the seven von Trapp children. While we respect the giddy joy of following in the footsteps of this famous family film, your guides are also ready to fill you in on the inaccuracies and controversies of the production. They’ll also explain why Austrians themselves have often never seen a film that is perhaps only second to Mozart’s fame in putting Salzburg on the map to foreigners worldwide.

Depending on your group’s interest and age range, we can take in the history of Austria during both World Wars (not forgetting that Captain von Trapp was a decorated naval military officer in the first global war). We will consider how the global depression and the collapse of the Austrian empire partly led to fascism in Germany and Austria and the Anschluss (Austria’s annexation into Nazi Germany). In fact, the genius duo Rodgers and Hammerstein (American composer and lyricist-dramatist partners), who created The Sound of Music, crafted many other thought-provoking post-war Broadway musicals that delved into thorny issues of racism and sexism — including The King and I, South Pacific, and Oklahoma!

No Sound of Music tour would be complete without helping you discover more about the fabulous Austrian traditions of yodeling, folk dance, and marionette theater depicted so memorably in the movie. Highlights of our tour include a view of the elegant Leopoldskron Chateau, featured as the von Trapp family home and the famous gazebo of Leisl and Rolf’s dance (now moved to the grounds of Hellbrunn Palace), the Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria was a novice, the wedding church at Mondsee, and the wonderful Lake Wolfgang, which you’ll recognize from the aerial cinematography of the famous opening credits!