Organized Tours

The best organized tours are offered by Salzburg Panorama Tours, Mirabellplatz (tel. 0662/8832110; www.panoramatours.at), which is the Gray Line company for Salzburg.

The original "Sound of Music Tour" combines the Salzburg city tour with an excursion to the lake district and other places where the 1965 film with Julie Andrews was shot. The English-speaking guide shows you not only the highlights from the film, but also historical and architectural landmarks in Salzburg and parts of the Salzkammergut countryside. The 4 1/2-hour tour departs daily at 9:30am and 2pm and costs 37€ ($59).

You must take your passport along for any of the three trips into Bavaria in Germany. One of these -- the "Eagle's Nest Tour" -- takes visitors to Berchtesgaden and on to Obersalzburg, where Hitler and his inner circle had a vacation retreat. The 4 1/2-hour tour departs daily at 9am from May 15 to October 31 and costs 50€ ($80).

"The City & Country Highlights" tour takes in historic castles and the surrounding Land Salzburg landscape. This 5-hour tour departs daily at 1pm and costs 50€ ($80). Coffee and pastry at the Castle Fuschl are an added treat.

You can book these tours at the bus terminal at Mirabellplatz/St. Andrä Kirche (tel. 0662/874029). Tour prices are the same for all ages.