Tags
austria, backpacking, church, julie andrews, lakes, mountains, movies, palace, panorama, salzburg, sound of music, tour, travel
So after an amazing day visiting the Bavarian countryside Danyka and I were just as (if not more than) excited to head to Salzburg, Austria for the Sound of Music tour.
I couldn’t wait to twirl in fields, skip across the benches in a gazebo and ogle over the beautiful mansion the Von Trapp’s lived in. Something like this…
Well, let’s just say, I didn’t quite spend the day being Maria.Again, the fog seemed to have other plans in mind and as we should all know by now, things aren’t exactly as they appear in movies. However, it was quite a cool experience and I can imagine that when the weather is cooperating, the sites are pretty amazing!
We took an early train into Salzburg and I instantly loved the city. It was beautiful, elegant and clean (which is something you come to appreciate when you travel). After a nice breakfast we met our tour guide at the Mirabell Gardens to start our tour.
First you drive around and see the bridge the children sing and dance across, the fountain Maria passes on her way to the Von Trapp family house at the beginning and the cemetery that the family hides in to escape the Nazi’s. I will never not laugh looking at the second photo below…
Next you arrive at Leopoldskron Palace (AKA: the Von Trapp house). You can’t go into the house but the tour stops on the other side of the lake so you can admire it from afar. Well, you can if there’s no fog. We could barely see it. But I kindly borrowed a photo from the tour site of what we were supposed to see. You’re welcome.
Up next the guide takes you to Hellbrunn Palace, which is where the famous gazebo now resides. I honestly have never been so excited. I wanted to run around the benches inside just like Liesel and sing “16 going on 17”. I know, I’m really cool. Much to all your dismay (I’m sure) I wasn’t actually able to do so. Apparently years before someone tried doing the exact same thing and fell and broke her leg (amateur… just kidding… kind of…) so now the gazebo is locked. You can rent the key for a whooping 300 Euro, which is done for special occasions and proposals but sadly not for lowly tour groups. Sigh. This didn’t stop Danyka and I from skipping around the outside singing anyway (I know you’re probably upset that you missed that Snapchat, I’m sorry).
Moving on.
Next you’re supposed to stop at a point on the mountain where you can see Nonnberg Abbey. I’m sure you can guess already that the fog prevented us from doing that. So I’m not going to dwell. You cannot go inside the abbey as it is still an active convent today but can visit the gothic church after hours if you’d like.
Now it was time to get out of the city and see some of the amazing Austrian views from the movie. First you stop in the Salzburg lake district where some of the picnic scenes and opening shots are taken. It is honestly so beautiful. Even if you’re aren’t a fan of Sound of Music (I mustn’t believe this to even be possible but IF…) then it’s still an amazing site to see and I wouldn’t definitely recommend it.
Before heading back to Salzburg the tour takes you to the quaint town of Mondsee where the Wedding Chapel is found. This town is so cute, with colourful buildings, little shops and of course, the beautiful church. We ended up meeting up with another girl (and soul sister) from the tour, Eileen, and had some lunch before heading back to Salzburg.
When we got back we headed over to the Mirabell Gardens (because you don’t actually see them on the tour)… This was the horse fountain from the movie that the kids skip around while singing Doe Rae Me. So of course, we did just that… I think it’s safe to say that it was a highlight of our day!
That pretty much summed up our Sound of Music tour. As I said, the fog kind of ruined our experience there but I’m sure if you have nice weather that it would have been everything we had been hoping for and something you wouldn’t want to miss. And I assure you, you don’t want to miss visiting Salzburg. It is really a beautiful city.
With Love,
CW
With Love, CW 
Nice photos, it seems the Heidi cartoon place 🙂
Thanks! It was definitely a cool experience!
🙂
Ohh! I had never thought about doing a Sound of Music tour, but now it seems like such a great idea. Another destination to add to the bucket list. Thanks for sharing! 🙂 Best of luck to you, and happy travels!
I would highly suggest it! Watching the movie after was a lot of fun too! Thanks so much for the kind words! Good luck with your bucket list 🙂