To visit the Opéra Garnier (Palais Garnier), you must book online: no visit tickets are sold on site, and the self-guided visit costs €15 for an adult from France or the European Economic Area (EEA) and €25 for other visitors. The theater built by Charles Garnier, in the heart of Paris’s 9th arrondissement, is still a working opera house: rehearsals often close the auditorium to visitors, without notice.
The Palais Garnier is a few minutes’ walk from the department stores on boulevard Haussmann and from rue de la Paix. To plan the rest of your stay, see our guide to visiting Paris.
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Opéra Garnier: key facts
- Hours: visit open on 16 October 2026 from 10 am to 5 pm; last access one hour before the building closes; hours for the day and forecast crowd levels are shown in the booking module — checked on 16 October 2026 on operadeparis.fr
- Standard price: €25 (adult from outside France and the EEA); €15 (adult from France or the EEA, with ID); free up to and including age 12
- Booking: compulsory online, sales open for the next 30 days; entry possible up to 30 minutes after the booked time; tickets are neither refunded nor exchanged
- Closures: the auditorium is often closed for rehearsals, unpredictably; no ticket guarantees access to it
- Duration: 1 h 30 for the self-guided visit (duration given by the Opéra)
- Prices recorded on 16 October 2026 and subject to change: check before you go.
Opéra Garnier tickets: official vs resellers
The Opéra national de Paris sells visit tickets on operadeparis.fr and “through agencies under contract”. No visit tickets are sold on site: without a reservation, you will not be able to get in. The self-guided visit ticket includes the temporary exhibition, if there is one.
| Option | Official price | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Self-guided visit – adult from outside France and the EEA | €25 | 1 h 30 |
| Self-guided visit – adult from France and the EEA | €15 | 1 h 30 |
| Self-guided visit – ages 13–25, outside France and the EEA / France and the EEA | €20 / €10 | 1 h 30 |
| Self-guided visit – child up to and including age 12 | Free | 1 h 30 |
| Guided tour (themed) | €35 full price; €25 adult from France/EEA; €28 or €18 reduced rates | — |
| Flash guided tour | €25 or €15 | 45 min |
| After-hours guided tour | €42 or €32 | — |
| Immersive experience (headset, ages 10 and up) | €12, on site only | — |
The difference between €15 and €25 depends on your nationality or residence, not your age: an adult from France pays €15 on showing ID. Official free entry: children up to age 12, people with disabilities and one companion, jobseekers and recipients of minimum social benefits in France, students of architecture, of the École du Louvre or of applied arts, among others. Free tickets booked online are collected at the ticket office at the time of the visit. U.S. and U.K. visitors pay the €25 adult rate, since the U.K. is not in the EEA.
If you buy from a reseller, check that it is an agency under contract and compare with the official price for the day: a “skip-the-line” ticket makes no sense here, since everyone enters with a reserved time slot.
Opening hours and closing days
The Opéra does not publish an annual calendar of visit closures: it shows the hours for the day (10 am–5 pm on 16 October 2026) and, in the booking module, the “Full” or “Closed” dates for the next 30 days. Last access is one hour before the building closes.
The official rule to know: “Rehearsals cause frequent and unpredictable closures of the auditorium. No ticket guarantees access to it.” The grand staircase, the grand foyer, the antechamber, the rotundas and the library-museum can be visited whenever the building is open; it is the Italian-style auditorium, with its ceiling painted by Chagall, that you may miss. If seeing the auditorium is your priority, the only guarantee is to attend a performance.
Full closures of the visit are shown in the booking calendar (“Closed” notices): check it before you block out your day, especially on matinee performance days or when there is a special event.
Best time to visit
The visit is entirely indoors, so the weather matters little. The real criteria are the time slot and the crowds. The Opéra shows a “forecast crowd level” for each time slot in its booking module, with no published figures: look at it when you book. Morning, at opening, is often quieter than mid-afternoon, but above all choose a day when the calendar shows no restrictions.
To photograph the lit façade from avenue de l’Opéra, come after sunset. Times calculated for the 15th of each month:
| Month | Sunset (15th) | Average max temp, Paris | Rainy days |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17:21 | 7.6 °C (46 °F) | 9.9 |
| February | 18:10 | 8.8 °C (48 °F) | 9.1 |
| March | 18:55 | 12.8 °C (55 °F) | 9.5 |
| April | 20:42 | 16.6 °C (62 °F) | 8.6 |
| May | 21:25 | 20.2 °C (68 °F) | 9.2 |
| June | 21:55 | 23.4 °C (74 °F) | 8.3 |
| July | 21:49 | 25.7 °C (78 °F) | 7.4 |
| August | 21:06 | 25.6 °C (78 °F) | 8.1 |
| September | 20:04 | 21.5 °C (71 °F) | 7.5 |
| October | 19:01 | 16.5 °C (62 °F) | 9.5 |
| November | 17:10 | 11.1 °C (52 °F) | 10.4 |
| December | 16:54 | 8.0 °C (46 °F) | 11.4 |
Suggested route (1 h 30)
- The grand vestibule, with the statues of Rameau, Lully, Gluck and Handel.
- The marble grand staircase, the most photographed spot.
- The auditorium (if it is open): a horseshoe shape in the French style, designed for seeing and being seen.
- The antechamber, with its vault covered in gold-ground mosaics, then the grand foyer and its ceiling painted by Paul Baudry.
- The glacier rotunda and the subscribers’ rotunda.
- The Opéra library-museum (BnF) and the temporary exhibition, included in the ticket.
Before you come, you can download the visit leaflet and a game trail for children from the website. At the moment, a model of the building made for the Palais Garnier’s 150th anniversary is displayed along the route.
Getting there
- Visit entrance: corner of rue Scribe and rue Auber, 75009 Paris.
- Metro: Opéra (lines 3, 7 and 8), Chaussée d’Antin–La Fayette (lines 7 and 9).
- RER: Auber (RER A).
- Bus: 20, 21, 27, 29, 32, 45, 52, 66, 68, 95 and Noctilien N15, N16.
- Parking: Q-Park Édouard-VII (16 rue Bruno-Coquatrix) and Q-Park Meyerbeer (4 rue de la Chaussée-d’Antin).
Source: “Plan your visit” section of operadeparis.fr — checked on 16 October 2026 on operadeparis.fr. The Louvre is about 1.2 km (0.7 mi) away as the crow flies, roughly a 20-minute walk (Destination de Voyage calculation: distance × 1.3 at 4.5 km/h, i.e. 2.8 mph).
Accessibility and prohibited items
According to the Opéra, the visit is accessible to visitors with visual impairments, reduced mobility and wheelchair users: a lift for people with reduced mobility leads to the visit areas. The library-museum’s temporary exhibitions and the shop are not accessible to people with reduced mobility. Information and bookings: +33 1 40 01 18 50 (Monday to Friday, 10 am–1 pm and 2 pm–5 pm).
Under France’s Vigipirate security plan, suitcases and travel bags are not accepted, and the cloakrooms are not open during visiting hours. Plan to use a left-luggage service elsewhere if you arrive with a suitcase.
Common mistakes (official rules)
- Turning up without a reservation: no visit tickets are sold on site.
- Arriving more than 30 minutes after your slot: entry is no longer guaranteed, and the ticket is neither refunded nor exchanged.
- Choosing the €15 rate without ID: the France/EEA rate requires proof of nationality or residence.
- Counting on the auditorium: it may be closed for rehearsal, with no refund.
- Arriving with a suitcase: refused, and no cloakroom during the visit.
- Booking too late in high season: sales open 30 days ahead and some slots show “Full”.
What to see nearby
When you leave, the Louvre is about twenty minutes’ walk along avenue de l’Opéra, and the Musée d’Orsay is on the other side of the Seine. For another outing, see our page on the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Eiffel Tower or all our ideas for visiting Paris.
History and architecture of the Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier takes its name from the architect Charles Garnier, winner of the competition held under Napoleon III as part of Haussmann’s transformation of Paris. Interrupted by the war of 1870, work resumed under the Third Republic and the building was inaugurated on January 5, 1875; the Paris Opera celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2025. Known as the “Paris Opera” until the Opéra Bastille opened in 1989, it has been a listed historic monument since 1923.
During the self-guided visit, a few decorative features are worth looking up for:
- the grand vestibule, with the statues of Rameau, Lully, Gluck and Handel;
- the antechamber, whose vault is covered in gold-ground mosaics;
- the grand foyer, with a ceiling painted by Paul Baudry (1828–1886) on themes from the history of music;
- the glacier rotunda, with a ceiling painted by Clairin (1843–1919).
Frequently asked questions
How much does a visit to the Opéra Garnier cost?
The self-guided visit costs €15 for an adult from France or the European Economic Area and €25 for an adult from another country; free up to age 12 (prices recorded on 16 October 2026 on operadeparis.fr).
Can you buy a ticket on site at the Opéra Garnier?
No. Online booking is compulsory and no visit tickets are sold on site.
Can you see the auditorium during the visit?
Not always: according to the Opéra, rehearsals cause frequent and unpredictable closures of the auditorium, and no ticket guarantees access to it.
How long does the Opéra Garnier visit take?
1 h 30 for the self-guided visit, 45 minutes for the Flash guided tour.
Is the Opéra Garnier wheelchair accessible?
Yes, a lift for people with reduced mobility leads to the visit areas; the library-museum’s temporary exhibitions and the shop are not accessible.
Who built the Opéra Garnier?
The architect Charles Garnier, winner of a competition launched under Napoleon III. The building was inaugurated on January 5, 1875.
Our sources
- Opéra national de Paris (operadeparis.fr): “Visit the Palais Garnier” page (hours for the day, 2026 prices, booking, plan your visit, preparing your arrival, accessibility), consulted on 16 October 2026
- Météo-France: 1991–2020 normals, Paris-Montsouris, taken from our Paris page
- Calculations: NOAA solar algorithm (Europe/Paris time zone, 2027); straight-line distances between Wikidata coordinates
- Wikipedia (“Opéra Garnier” article): dates of construction, inauguration and listing, consulted on 16 October 2026
- Our methodology
Updated November 2026. Prices and hours may change: check the official website before you go.