Sixty years ago, a movie celebrating family, song, and triumph over evil swept into the collective American consciousness.
The Sound of Music told the (mostly) true story of the singing von Trapps and their escape from Nazi Austria. Decades later, it endures in countless theater, film, and amateur productions.
Personal Experience and Local Reactions
I saw the Broadway play with my parents and could already sing every song, but it was the movie that made Salzburg, where the family’s real-life romance and drama played out, a star in my young eyes. Ironically, most Austrians know little or nothing about the von Trapps or the movie.
That may change this year as Salzburg goes all out celebrating the film’s 60th anniversary.
Special events include performances by the Salzburg Marionette Theater (where Maria and the children yodeled “The Lonely Goatherd”), a free walking tour on The Sound of Music Trail in Werfen where the picnic scene was filmed against the backdrop of the Austrian Alps, and private tours with Maria’s granddaughter Elisabeth von Trapp.
Exploring Filming Sites in Salzburg
Salzburg has multiple filming sites you can easily see on your own, especially if you stay in the city center as I did.
It’s just a short walk through the trees in back of the Sheraton Grand Salzburg to elegant Mirabell Gardens, a Baroque profusion of sculptures, flowers, and fountains where the children learned “Do Re Mi.” You’ll come first to the famous steps of the song’s finale.
Pause for a photo op (you won’t be alone), then continue on to find the Pegasus Fountain, gnome garden, and hedge tunnel, all seen in the song.
Locate more sites by crossing the Salzach River to the Altstadt, Salzburg’s UNESCO World Heritage historic center, via the Art Nouveau Mozart Footbridge, seen during “My Favorite Things.”
Meandering along the cobbled streets and ancient squares of the Altstadt, we retraced some of Julie Andrews’ footsteps as she left Nonnberg Abbey to meet Baron von Trapp for the first time.
Best Places to Stay in Salzburg
Like her, we took a route past Salzburg Cathedral, Residenzplatz, and Residenz Fountain, whose marble horses she splashed along the way. We also peered into St. Peter’s Cemetery & Catacombs, recognized from the movie as the place the family briefly hid while escaping.
No filming was permitted in the real cemetery, however, so it was recreated in California in that Hollywood magic way.
The 17th-century Felsenreitsschule, a former riding school now home to the Salzburg Festival, is where the family performed “So Long, Farewell” before cleverly slipping away.
The Baron also sang the emotional “Edelweiss,” which I learned to my dismay years ago is not really an Austrian anthem, so locals playing the audience had to be taught the words to sing along.
Tours and Additional Sites
To explore beyond the city center and learn behind-the-scenes fun facts, book a guided tour.
I’m no fan of bus tours, but Panorama’s Sound of Music tour is a treat, in part because the soundtrack periodically plays on the bus so I could relearn the words I forgot and sing along. (Visit Panorama Tours).
Stops include Schloss Leopoldskron, the lakeside palace turned upscale hotel, portrayed as the back of the von Trapp villa where the boating “mishap” occurred much to the Baron’s dismay.
To go inside the palace, you have to book a stay (on the list for my next visit), but you can admire its opulent Venetian Salon in the movie, meticulously replicated as the von Trapp ballroom.
The gazebo where Liesl and Rolf sang “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” is now on the grounds of Helbrunn Palace. Maybe you’ll be lucky as I was to hear a theatrically inclined visitor burst into the teens’ song to great applause.
Helbrunn Palace is known for its trick fountains, which have been delighting visitors for 400 years, including the film’s young actors. Stunning Basilica St. Michael in Mondsee is where the movie Maria and Georg were married just before fleeing the country.
The real couple married at Nonnberg Abbey 11 years before they escaped—not by climbing mountains but by train. Good thing, because if they had crossed the mountains as the movie depicts, they would have walked straight into Germany!
The Original Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg
Beyond The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is hardly the only reason to visit Salzburg, one of Austria’s most beautiful cities. It’s rich in centuries of history, culture, and music, and in fabulous gardens to wander and ancient streets to stroll.
Mozart was born in the house at No. 9 Getreidegasse, now one of Austria’s most visited museums. Later, the family moved to No. 8 Makartplatz, where you can see the composer’s pianoforte among other things.
Culinary Delights and Historical Dining
Salzburg is also a city for food lovers, but note: Do not order your schnitzel with noodles, never mind Oscar Hammerstein’s lyrics. “Schnitzel with noodles is not a thing,” one Austrian friend says.
The appropriate side? Potatoes. But to be fair, noodle rhymes nicely with strudel, which definitely is an Austrian thing to be indulged in at every opportunity; what calories?
Salzburg has restaurants galore, but one is worth booking not just for its food but also for its remarkable history and Old-World ambiance.
Entering St. Peter Stiftskulinarium in the Altstadt is like stepping into an evocative stage set of centuries past, not surprising given that it has been serving guests since 803, Charlemagne and Mozart among them.
If you’re a Sound of Music lover, 2025 is a special year to visit Salzburg. But on any day in any year, travelers will find much in the city to love.
Log onto Salzburg.info/en for event and tour info, plus an app and annotated maps to download for self-guided exploration.
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Author Bio: Colorado-based Christine Loomis is a freelance writer/editor who covers general travel, family travel, culture and lifestyle, restaurants and hotels and meetings and conventions. She never checks bags and has written 17 children’s book to indulge her love of rhyming.
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