Lonely Goatherd Bike Tour: Cycle Salzburg's Surroundings with the Sound of Music
Description
This Salzburg Bike Tour is the perfect complement to our walking tours. While we explore the historic Old Town of Salzburg on the walking tours, the bike tour takes us into the nature around Salzburg. However, the bike tour not only shows you the surroundings of Salzburg, but also takes us to some of the most iconic filming locations of the Sound of Music and tells the story of the filming of the Sound of Music movie, but also the true story of the Trapp family in Salzburg. We ride along the oldest stately avenue in Central Europe and find several castles that in history were used by archbishops and nobility, before they served as filming locations for the movie. Our meeting point for the Lonely Goatherd Bike Tour of Salzburg is located just outside the old town of Salzburg. Therefore, it only takes 2 minutes by bike to transit from the city to the beautiful countryside that surrounds Salzburg.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The Frohnburg is one of the castles that line the path to Hellbrunn Palace along the "Hellbrunner Allee," the Prince-Archbishop's Alley. The Frohnburg was the castle used for the facade of the house in the film Sound of Music. Nowadays it belongs to the University of Music of Salzburg which is why you can often hear classical music coming from inside.
Hellbrunn palace is the highlight of the surroundings of Salzburg. Hellbrunn is most well known for the trick fountains, but Hellbrunn is also a stop on any Sound of Music tour because of the gazebo from the sixteen-seventeen song from the movie. When we arrive at Hellbrunn after 5 kilometers of cycling, we take a short break to see the park, the palace from the outside, and the pavilion, and to have something to drink or eat if desired.
Leopoldskron, a castle from the first half of the 18th century, and the Leopoldskroner Weiher, an artificial lake created for the castle, were also used in The Sound of Music. Leopoldskron Castle was used as the back of the house where Maria and the children hung from the trees and where they capsized with the boat. The castle is now owned by the American foundation "Salzburg Global Seminar". The park is accessible only to guests of the Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron. So we can't visit the park directly, but while cycling around the pond we get a great view from the other side.
Nonnberg Abbey is not only the oldest monastery for women in the world but was also the abbey from the Sound of Music. The Abbey is close to the meeting point for the Salzburg Bike Tour. Therefore, we will ascend to the abbey before we finish the tour. Nonnberg Abbey is slightly elevated which provides another fantastic view of the surroundings in the south of Salzburg and of the alps in the distance. We can't enter the Abbey but we can enter the church and the cemetery which will give you an idea of what the convent is about.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Childrens bikes are available
Reviews(15)
Our tour with Johannes was a 10/10!!! He was very funny, engaging, knowledgeable and really brought the beautiful city of Salzburg to life!!! HIGHLY recommend this tour :).
This was a huge tick off my bucket list and something I’ve wanted to do since I first visited Salzburg as a poor student 44 years ago ! We opted for the bicycle tour as something a bit idiosyncratic and it lived up to all expectations. We bicycled through the most gorgeous countryside around Salzburg and visited many of the films iconic locations all the while to the accompaniment of the soundtrack with the added fun of group sing a longs ! I know it sounds corny but it was fabulous! Our tour guide Roberta was a complete gem and we enjoyed so many of her stories behind the scenes of SOM and Austria in general Has to be one of my fav days !
Dear Jennifer, we are very happy and honored that a Sound of Music tour in Salzburg was on your bucket list, that you chose our company and that the tour with Roberta met your high expectations. The countryside around Salzburg is indeed gorgeous, and it's great to hear that you enjoyed cycling it with Roberta. Thank you so much for taking the time to write reviews. We appreciate it and hope you enjoyed the rest of your time in Salzburg and Austria and hope to see you again next time. All the best, Gerhard
Brendan was our guide and he was simply delightful. We had so much fun visiting the Sound of a music sites via bike. The other patrons became friends and it was an amazing tour
This was my favourite tour of Salzburg. So lovely to be out on a bike on a beautiful day. You get to stop at the sound of music sites. Highly recommend
We were not sure about getting a Sound of Music tour since others were booked up. We lucked into talking with Gary, the bartender at our youth hostel, who told about this tour company and that he was leading a bike tour the next day! We were traveling with our two sons, ages 12 and 9. Gary made it super entertaining for the entire group of adults and the boys, including a quick jump into the canal for a cool swim. He was knowledgeable and shared pictures and great stories. The ride was the perfect length of around 2 hours. Also got some wonderful pictures. Thanks Gary!!
Dear Julie, thank you so much for taking our Sound of Music bike tour with Gary and for your review. We are very happy to hear that your family enjoyed Gary's tour and his stories and pictures and the jump into Almkanal. We hope you also enjoyed the rest of your time in Salzburg and hope to see you again next time. All the best, Gerhard
Brendan made this trip really fun! We had a nice ride to all of the highlighted locations from the movie, and even a few bonus stops. He gave some great behind-the-scenes information about the movie during the tour as well. You can tell he really appreciates not only the Sound of Music, but the overall culture of Salzburg.
Dear Tammy, thank you so much for taking the bike tour with Brendan and for this review. We are very happy to know you had fun on the trip and enjoyed riding to all the Sound of Music filming locations and that Brendan's appreciation for the Sound of Music and for Salzburg shines through. We hope you also enjoyed the rest of your time in Salzburg and hope to see you again next time. All the best, Gerhard
The tour Guide I think his name was Gary or maybe it was Tim, was really enjoyable, had a nice conversation about wildlife really knowledgable guy about hippos funnily enough which are my favourite animal, any ways back to the point i would highly recommend this tour just to get out and see the place, the guide made it excellent touring
Dear Clark, we are very happy that you enjoyed the tour with Tim (aka Gary) and your conversation about hippos. haha. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review! This is very helpful and we really appreciate it. We hope to see you again in Salzburg next time. All the best, Gerhard
Gary from Cork was our guide and he was very helpful and reassuring as I was a little nervous cycling as I hadn't done it in quite a while. He has a huge knowledge on not only The Sound of Music but also the Von Trapp family and he was able to give the answers to whatever questions were thrown at him. It was a fabulous cycle and I was so pleased that I decided to do this...one if the highlights of my holiday in Austria
It is wonderful to hear that you enjoyed the bike tour with Gary and that it was one of your highlights in Austria. It will be my pleasure to pass on your praise to Gary. Thank you very much for taking the tour, for taking the time to write this review, and for your kind words. We appreciate it and hope to welcome you back to Salzburg next time! All the best, Gerhard
The tour guide was very informative and engaged throughout the entire tour. The scenery we biked through was absolutely beautiful and I learned a lot! I would totally recommend this experience to anyone!
The meeting spot was a little outside the town and the guide was unsure where the WC was, and that is probably a necessary thing to know. We did find one before we departed but had to find one nearby on our own. There was only one stop i didn't need to see and that was the pink flamingo colony. Other than that tour was great and guide very nice and shared great insights into the movie
