We caught up with our very own personal travel manager, Kylie Gretener, who is one travel advisor that knows Austria and The Sound of Music very well.
Kylie’s first international adventure was as a Rotary Exchange Student at 16 years old, when she lived in Austria for a year, a huge step into the world for a young country town girl from Queensland, Australia! This opened her eyes and heart to the world, and there was no going back from there.
Kylie has lived in Salzburg and has also worked as a tour guide for The Sound of Music. To say she is a Sound fan is an understatement, and we are here for it.
I met an exchange student from South Africa in high school and thought it was the most amazing idea to be able to live in another country, so I applied through Rotary and was accepted after many rounds of interviews. They decided on Austria for me – my family and I had to look it up in an atlas, as we had never travelled and didn’t know too much about the world!
Pretty major culture shock, everything was so different. The language (I had learned German in school, but due to the Austrian dialect, I didn’t understand anything), the food (which I loved), all the history, culture, and traditions, and of course the beautiful scenery with the snow-capped mountains.
So much is the same! While there is definitely more variety in international food choices, there are still a lot of Austrian dishes that are exactly the same, served with the same side salad and dressing as 35 years ago. The landscape doesn’t change much and is still just as beautiful. I find there are so many traditions passed through generations as well, from making elderflower cordial or picking wild mushrooms, to celebrating traditions such as the Maypole Festival or carnival parades.
If we can take them to spin around on the mountain where the opening scene was filmed, but that is a farmer’s private property in Bavaria, and they took Julie up on an ox cart on the day of filming, so the farmer doesn’t want hundreds of thousands of fans trampling his grass 60 years later. I also get asked a lot if I have met any of the actors or real Von Trapps, which I have!
The best part of the tour for me is the stories people share about what the movie means to them. For 60 years, this movie has been creating memories with families and friends, giving people strength in difficult times, and joy in times of celebration. I absolutely underestimated the impact it has had on so many people’s lives and now understand much more why it’s a bucket list tour and the number one thing to do in Salzburg.
My personal favourite part of the tour is when we head out of the city into the Salzburg Lakes District to visit the village where the church used for the wedding scene is located. The scenery is breathtaking, and timed with the music from the movie, it’s very impressive. I love to see people’s “wow” faces as we come around the corner to a particular lookout where we stop for photos. It’s also fun to see their excitement when they spot the “16 going on 17” gazebo.
I honestly have no idea. I remember watching it a lot as a kid, as it was one of the only VHS tapes in our collection. I have always loved musical theatre and musical movies, but my emotional attachment developed more after my exchange year, as I loved watching it to see Salzburg and Austria.
I was lucky enough to pick up Nicholas Hammond (who played Friedrich) from the airport in Munich and bring him back to Salzburg when he came to do some promotional filming for the 60th anniversary. He lives in Australia and has done so for around 40 years, still appearing on stage and screen. He was very generous with his stories about filming in Salzburg and how it impacted their lives after the movie was released.
He still receives a lot of fan mail with stories about what the movie means to people. My biggest takeaway from our chat was how special the relationships were that developed during and after filming, they are still one big family.
There are many fabulous restaurants, but my biggest tip is to make reservations as most of them are small.
A great way to discover more things to do in the city is to get the Salzburg Card, a great value tourist card valid for 24 or 48 hours. It gives you entry to most attractions and includes public transport. One of the best inclusions is the cable car to the top of the Untersberg, a mountain almost 2,000 metres high, right at the edge of the city, and you have views forever from up there!
Other highlights include the Mozart museums (he was born in Salzburg in 1756), the Old Town – UNESCO heritage listed since 1997 for being so well preserved. A visit to the Fortress of Salzburg is a must, it’s the largest fully intact fortress in Central Europe and offers panoramic views over the city. You can also tour the Salt Mines to see how the ‘white gold’ was, and still is, mined, and experience what it’s like to be a salt miner going deep into the mountains. In summer, you can enjoy fabulous days by the nearby lakes. Red Bull Hangar-7 is another must-see, housing many of their planes, helicopters and Formula 1 cars used in sports and stunts. The list goes on and on…
There are several events happening throughout the year. The Sound of Music musical will return to the State Theatre later this year. In October, there will be a charity gala at the Schloss Leopoldskron Hotel (used for the backyard and lake scenes in the movie), and a small exhibition of memorabilia will be on display there as well. The actors who played the children are also expected to visit later in the year, although details are still being finalised. In 2026, a Sound of Music museum will open at Hellbrunn Palace. It may have taken 60 years, but they’ve clearly realised this movie will continue drawing visitors to the city for many years to come.
If you are a fan of The Sound of Music and have this on your bucket list, we are here to help you tick it off. Take a look at our exclusive Salzburg offers and get in touch with your personal travel manager to find out more.
TravelManagers respects and honours the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands where we work and gather, and those we visit.
