Trip Plan
The film opens over the lakes of the Salzkammergut, marries Maria and the Captain in Mondsee, and sings Do-Re-Mi on a meadow near Werfen. That is two directions from Salzburg, so this route is two days: the first three stops east through the lake district, the last two south in Werfen.
For the lakes, a car is easiest. Drive the country roads to St. Wolfgang first and come back by Mondsee. Without one, bus 150 from Mirabellplatz or the station goes to St. Gilgen, and bus 140 goes to Mondsee. Werfen is forty minutes by train, and it only earns the day if you go into the ice caves.
Ordered route
The sequence and every stop note are preserved exactly as authored. Hover a stop to see it on the map; click a marker for the details.
The aerial shots at the start of the film fly over this lake and St. Gilgen. The bus tours stop at the lay-by before St. Gilgen where you first see the water; on your own, keep going to St. Wolfgang.
The last scene the crew filmed with the children on location was on this rack railway in St. Wolfgang. It is also one of my favourite things to do in the lake district, for the view from the top.
The wedding church, and the first scene the crew shot when they arrived in 1964. Mondsee is not my favourite place in the Salzkammergut, but the square by the church and the lakefront earn the stop.
The Do-Re-Mi picnic meadow, on a 1.4 kilometre trail that Werfen opened in 2015 for the film's 50th anniversary, starting at the tourist office. It is a marketing gag, and I would only come for it together with the ice caves.
The real reason to come to Werfen, and nothing to do with the film. Plan the day around the ice caves and walk the meadow trail before or after.
Editorial connections
The two palaces that play the von Trapp house, the gazebo from Sixteen Going on Seventeen, and the mountain behind the opening scene, all south of the old town. Bus 25 connects the four. A bike is more fun, and the first three are part of my daily walk.
The Sound of Music bus tours skip the old town because it is pedestrian-only, so this is the half of the film they miss. Fifteen stops from the Do-Re-Mi steps to the gate of Nonnberg Abbey, in the order I walk them. Two to four hours, depending on how many scenes you re-enact.
