The hills are alive at Salzburg

Iconic classic musical The Sound of Music turned 60 last year. But even during non-landmark anniversaries and all-year-round, the hills are alive in Salzburg, Austria, where the musical movie’s grit still endures and continues to grow in popularity among new generations of fans from all over the world.

The Sound of Music Tour has been a staple in Salzburg, just like the Big Bus Tours of London, Madrid and other European cities. The bus tour is every The Sound of Music fan and non-fan’s gateway to the key locations where the 1965 movie was shot, including behind-the-scenes locations relevant to the film, such as the hotels where lead stars Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer stayed while filming.

Among the tour’s highlights are St. Michael's Church, located in the scenic town of Mondsee, where Maria and Captain Von Trapp married. The way to the church passes through the Alps’ lush rolling mountains and picturesque clear waters.

Among the must-dos for hardcore fans are renting bikes and riding as a family in costumes while touring the city center just like the Von Trapp kids as they sang “Do-Re-Mi.” Couples, meanwhile, love recreating Charmian Carr and Daniel Truhitte’s “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” song and dance number at the very gazebo where their characters Liesl and Rolf first kissed.

Those who have more time can do a steep walk to Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria was a novice before she became governess of the Von Trapp family. The abbey is the start of historic Reiszug, the world's oldest continuously operating funicular and probably the world’s oldest existing railway built in 1495.