The Sound of Music Tour: Chasing Do-Re-Mi Through the Salzburg Countryside

One of the main reasons we visited Salzburg was to join the famous Sound of Music Tour.

As big fans of the movie (my mom kept playing this movie when I was a child), we booked the Original Sound of Music Tour by Panorama Tours, which takes visitors to several filming locations around Salzburg and the nearby countryside.

The tour can also be purchased directly in Salzburg at the Panorama Tours bus terminal on Mirabellplatz, which also serves as the meeting point. As of 2026, it runs twice daily, at 9:15 am and 2:00 pm, for four hours, with tickets starting from around €70 per adult.

We chose the morning tour so that we would still have the afternoon free to explore Salzburg’s Old Town.

Another option for visitors is the Hop-On Hop-Off bus, which also stops at several Sound of Music filming locations around the city. However, we chose the Panorama tour because it also includes a visit to Mondsee, a charming town outside Salzburg where Maria and Captain von Trapp’s wedding scene was filmed. The Hop-On Hop-Off bus only covers locations within Salzburg itself.

A useful note if you’re traveling with a young child: infants under 4 aren’t given their own seat on the tour bus, so plan accordingly if you’re bringing a toddler like we did with Alyssa.

From our hotel, we took the trolleybus to the meeting point in front of Mirabell Garden, where the tour began.

Here are some of the places included in the tour:

Leopoldskron Palace

Leopoldskron Palace is a beautiful late Baroque palace located in the Leopoldskron-Moos district in southern Salzburg. The palace sits beside a picturesque lake called Leopoldskroner Weiher, surrounded by a peaceful park.

Today the palace hosts the Salzburg Global Seminar, and part of the property operates as a boutique hotel called Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron. Because of exactly this kind of Sound of Music tourism, the palace grounds are no longer open to casual visitors the way they may once have been — access these days is limited to hotel guests, and the tour bus stops for a view from across the lake rather than walking onto the property itself.

In the film, the palace served as the exterior setting for the von Trapp family home. Several outdoor scenes were filmed here, including the famous moment when Maria and the children fall out of the boat into the lake.

Interestingly, the interior scenes of the von Trapp house were not filmed here. Some exterior shots of the villa were filmed at Schloss Frohnburg, while interior scenes were filmed on studio sets inspired by rooms in Leopoldskron Palace.

Hellbrunn Palace and the Famous Gazebo

Another stop on the tour was Hellbrunn Palace, where visitors can see the famous Sound of Music gazebo. This is the gazebo where Liesl sings “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” with Rolf, and also where Captain von Trapp kisses Maria in the film.

During filming, the gazebo was originally placed at Leopoldskron Palace, but it was later moved to Hellbrunn Palace Gardens so that visitors could see it more easily without trespassing on the now-private grounds. When we visited in 2018, we were actually able to step inside for photos, twirling around like Liesl for a moment before the next tour group arrived. If you’re planning your own visit now, know that this has since changed: after a visitor was injured trying to recreate the dance-on-the-benches moment, the doors were locked for good, so these days it’s strictly a look-and-photograph-from-outside situation.

Hellbrunn itself is a beautiful palace complex with gardens, fountains, and parkland, but during our short stop we mainly focused on visiting the gazebo. If you have more time on a future visit, it’s worth noting that a dedicated Sound of Music museum was set to open at Hellbrunn in 2026, covering the real von Trapp family story alongside original film props, which could make a nice pairing with the gazebo stop.

Nonnberg Abbey

During the tour we also passed by Nonnberg Abbey, the convent where the real-life Maria von Trapp was a novice nun. In the film, the abbey appears in several scenes, including the moment when Maria leaves the convent to become the governess for the von Trapp children. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to stop for photos here, as the tour only drove past the abbey.

Salzburg Lake District

On the way to Mondsee, we passed through the Salzburg Lake District (Salzkammergut). Although this region wasn’t used as a filming location for The Sound of Music, it’s known for its stunning alpine lakes and beautiful countryside. Our tour guide kindly stopped the bus so we could get out for a quick photo stop and enjoy the breathtaking scenery.

Honestly, if your schedule allows for it, the Salzkammergut deserves more than a bus-window glimpse. It’s genuinely worth carving out a separate day trip from Salzburg, since the tour only shows you a sliver of it. A few places worth building a day around:

• Fuschl am See — the closest lake to Salzburg, about 30 minutes away by car or on bus 150. It’s small, calm, and good for an easy lakeside walk or a swim if you’re visiting in summer.
• St. Gilgen — sitting on Wolfgangsee, this is the town Mozart’s mother was born in, and it makes a nice stop for lunch with a lake view.
• St. Wolfgang and the Schafbergbahn — on the other side of Wolfgangsee, St. Wolfgang is home to Austria’s oldest cog railway, which climbs about 1,190 metres in roughly 35–40 minutes to the summit of the Schafberg. On a clear day you can see several lakes at once (Wolfgangsee, Mondsee, Fuschlsee, and more) along with views stretching toward the Dachstein and even Germany’s Lake Chiemsee. It isn’t cheap, and the steep terrain at the top means it’s not stroller or wheelchair friendly, but it’s a genuinely memorable way to see the region from above.
• Bad Ischl — worth a stop if you want architecture and imperial history rather than another lake, since it was the Habsburgs’ summer residence.

Bus 150 from Salzburg’s train station or Mirabellplatz strings most of these together, running past Fuschlsee and Wolfgangsee on its way to Bad Ischl, and it’s also the same route many people use to continue on toward Hallstatt. If we’d had one more free day in the region, this is exactly where we would have spent it.

Mondsee

Our final stop was the charming town of Mondsee, located in Upper Austria on the shores of Lake Mondsee.

Mondsee is home to Mondsee Abbey, whose church was used as the location for Maria and Captain von Trapp’s wedding scene in the movie. We went inside the church to take a look and then had about 45 minutes of free time to stroll around the town.

Mondsee is incredibly picturesque, especially with its colorful buildings and relaxed lakeside atmosphere. Before leaving, we managed to try a delicious apple strudel at a cute pink café in the town square.

Back to Mirabell Garden

The tour ended where it started, at Mirabell Garden. Since Sari hadn’t visited the garden the day before, we took the opportunity to walk around and take some photos.

Mirabell Garden is one of the most recognizable locations from The Sound of Music. It’s where Maria and the von Trapp children sing “Do-Re-Mi” while dancing through the gardens. If you visit, you’ll easily recognize the Pegasus fountain, the gnome garden, and the steps where the children perform their famous musical routine. Entry to the gardens is free, so it’s easy to return here on your own time even without the tour.

Tips for Taking the Sound of Music Tour

If you’re planning to visit these locations, here are a few helpful tips:

• Book the morning tour. This leaves the afternoon free to explore Salzburg’s Old Town.
• Sit on the right side of the bus. You’ll get better views of the countryside and lakes during the drive.
• Bring a camera. The scenery in the Salzburg Lake District is absolutely stunning.
• Watch the movie before visiting. It makes recognizing the filming locations much more fun.
• Manage expectations on the gazebo. You’ll get a great photo, but you won’t be able to step inside — the doors are locked for good reason these days.
• Traveling with a toddler? Remember infants under 4 don’t get their own seat on the bus, so factor that into your booking and your lap-holding stamina for four hours.

Final Thoughts

Even if you’re not a huge fan of The Sound of Music, the tour is still a wonderful way to see the beautiful countryside around Salzburg. From elegant palaces to charming lakeside villages, the scenery alone makes the experience worthwhile.

But for fans of the movie, walking through the same places where Maria and the von Trapp family once sang and danced makes the tour even more special.

It does leave me wondering, though, what happens to this tour once people like me are gone. The Sound of Music is an old movie now, and I suspect Sari and I are close to the last generation who grew up actually watching it, rather than just knowing it exists. I have no idea what the future holds for a tour built entirely around nostalgia for a film that fewer and fewer visitors will have actually seen.