We splurged for great seats for an opera this summer. We, of course, would like to see as much of the Palais Garnier as we can. I tried to find what time we could enter and didn't see anything. Can anyone advise? Thank you!
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4103 posts
Info on Garnier here: https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/visits/visit-and-explore/guided-tours
The site says guided tours are offered (sometimes) at a higher cost than the general admission to walk-around.
Info on Opera Bastille, the larger and much less scenic big brother: https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/visits/opera-bastille
Touring backstage, with its intricate machinery including up to five full moving stages, may be more interesting than the performances (according to artistic nay-sayers.) I saw important contrasts.
Posted by
Middletown, RI
1342 posts
What a great idea. If you are also going to the Musée d'Orsay, they have a beautiful cutaway model of the Palais Garnier. It really shows a lot of how it was built and how it is used.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
6044 posts
Their FAQs recommend you arrive 45 minutes early so I would suspect that you could arrive an hour before the start:
https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/useful-information/frequently-asked-questions#77
Posted by
Paris
7398 posts
The doors open roughly 45 minutes before the show, in my experience.
It leaves plenty of time to tour the common areas, and during intermission you are free to tour the various seating areas (minus the boxes).
Posted by
Reston VA
379 posts
An opera in the Garnier seems like a wonderful idea! A bit over a year ago, we saw a performance in Barcelona at the Palau de la Música Catalana and it was incredible. However, we also did a TOUR when there were far fewer people.
We did not see a show at Garnier, but did do a self-guided tour (using the RS book), and it was really nice to wander the various spaces with limited other folks around. There were folks touring just like us, but definitely a small fraction of how many would be milling around prior to or after a performance there. I'd strongly recommend the tour - earlier in the day of possible.
Likewise, the large model in the d'Orsay is worth seeking out at the museum. We visited d'Orsay prior to the Garnier, and it was still something I spent a bit of time looking at on our d'Orsay visit without realizing how well it would serve as a reference when visiting the Opera. Very neat.