Ever since I was a little girl watching Julie Andrews twirl and sing atop the hills in The Sound of Music, I have wanted to travel to Austria. It’s for this reason that we first started looking at Salzburg as a city we couldn’t miss on our recent trip through Germany and Austria. We didn’t have a lot of time, but we did carve out one night between travelling from Munich to Vienna to stop in Salzburg and explore the city. Since Salzburg was the home of many of the filming locations for The Sound of Music, there are multiple companies in the city that offer Sound of Music-themed bike tours. I know… sounds like the best thing ever right?! Of course we booked one! What better way to see the city of Salzburg that through the eyes of Fräulein Maria?!

Here’s how we spent a quick one-night stopover in Salzburg, Austria:

Exploring Salzburg

We arrived in Salzburg mid-morning, dropped our things at our hotel (which we’d conveniently booked in the centre of Salzburg) and went out to explore. Salzburg is a stunningly beautiful city famously known for being the birthplace of Mozart. The old city centre is comprised of winding narrow streets lined with high-end shops and delicious-looking restaurants. It all feels very timeless, classy and elegant. I fell in love immediately.

We were gifted with a gorgeous afternoon in Salzburg, so we found a wonderful covered patio on a little street where we sipped crisp Riesling and I devoured white asparagus with hollandaise to my hearts content. After that, we continued to wander, stopping here and there to look in shops and eat ice-cream. We had booked a Sound of Music-themed bike tour with Fräulein Maria’s Bicycle Tour that started in the late afternoon. We were hoping that the tour would offer the opportunity to cover more ground in the city, allowing us to see more during our brief visit, and it definitely exceeded our expectations!

Our Sound of Music Bike Tour

I can hardly find the words to describe how much fun our experience with Fräulein Maria’s Bicycle Tour was! We met our group, hopped aboard our bikes, and enjoyed a three-hour ride through Salzburg with a guide who was not only enthusiastic about the film, but also about Salzburg itself. There were moments when we stopped in front of landmarks to sing songs from the movie, much to Scott’s intense embarrassment. Our guide also had a speaker that he’d put in our bicycle baskets so as we cycled down the streets we could all listen to the soundtrack as we peddled along! There was one moment, when we were cycling down the tree-lined dirt lane where in the movie, the Von Trapp children are climbing in their play clothes, where myself and an Australian gentleman were belting out to the song as we went along. As I sang out loud without a care in the world and took in the scenery all around me with the sun shining, I thought how life couldn’t get much better than it was in that moment. The experience was everything I’d dreamed it would be.

Throughout the tour, we visited major landmarks in the city and filming locations from the movie, such as the Mirabell Gardens, famous as the setting for Do-Re-Mi musical number in the film, and Schloss Leopoldskron, which acted as Captain Von Trapp’s beautiful home on the lake.

Despite what you might think, this tour experience is for everyone. Sure some folks might feel slightly embarrassed at times, but it truly is an entertaining way to see the city, and a dream come true for any Sound of Music fan!

Goodnight, Salzburg

After our tour, at the recommendation of our guide, we headed outside of the core of the city for drinks and dinner at a Austrian brew pub called Die Weisse. We sat out in their beer garden and enjoyed beers and schnitzel and sausages… oh my! It was delicious. We walked home well past our bedtime and said goodnight to a city that hosted us for less than a day, but left such a dreamy impression that we might just need to go back someday!

happy travelling! xo