Palais Garnier

Tour Route and Duration

The tour starts at Place de l'Opéra and covers 18 stops inside Palais Garnier, from floor 0 to floor 3, in about an hour…

Opening Hours and Closures

Palais Garnier is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry at 4 p.m. Plan on about two hours for your visit, photo s…

Tickets: How to Buy and Save

There are two ways to get tickets: online or on site.

Cloakroom and Bag Rules

Palais Garnier does have a cloakroom, but it's a free service reserved for audience members during performances, so you…

Free Restroom Locations

Free public restrooms can be hard to find in Europe, so it pays to know where you can find one. Luckily, Palais Garnier…

Four Things to Know Before You Start

Here are four tips to keep in mind as you follow the tour.

Getting to Place de l'Opéra

The easiest way to reach Palais Garnier from elsewhere in Paris is by metro. Take Line 3, 7 or 8 to Opéra station, then…

The Assassination Attempt Behind Palais Garnier

Palais Garnier, built in 1875, is a storied national opera house. But France already had a national opera house before i…

Baron Haussmann's Plan and Palais Garnier

Five years before the attempt on Napoleon III's life, Paris was already in the middle of a sweeping redevelopment progra…

A Stalled Build and the Fire at Salle Le Peletier

Palais Garnier's first stone was laid in 1861, and the building was completed 15 years later, in 1875. That was a long t…

Napoleon III Style: Not Baroque, Rococo or Neoclassical

The architect of Palais Garnier was Charles Garnier, a 35-year-old unknown at the time, and the building is still called…

Brush Up on The Phantom of the Opera

Palais Garnier is famous as the setting of the novel The Phantom of the Opera. The story began as a book, but many peopl…

Palais Garnier's Other Name

The Paris National Opera currently performs in two houses: Palais Garnier and Opéra Bastille. Garnier came first, and Ba…

Where to Eat and Drink Near the Opera

Here are a few restaurants and cafés worth visiting before or after Palais Garnier.

Shopping Near the Opera

The Opéra district, home to Palais Garnier, is famous for its shopping. Here are a few places worth knowing.

The Façade from Place de l'Opéra

Place de l'Opéra is the first stop on this tour. Start by taking in the façade straight ahead, which combines Neoclassic…

The Rotunda of the Season-Ticket Holders

A rotunda is an architectural term for a hall or building beneath a round roof, from the Latin rotundus, meaning "round.…

The Pythia Statue and Apollo's Traces

The statue in front of you is Pythia by the Swiss sculptor Marcello. "Marcello" was actually a pseudonym: at a time when…

The World's Most Spectacular Staircase

Before you stands what is often called the most spectacular staircase in the world: the Grand Staircase of the Opéra Gar…

Box 5 and the Phantom of the Opera

Now that you've reached Box 5, feel free to sit on the red chair in front of it while you listen. If your legs are tired…

Berlioz's Bust and the Symphonie Fantastique

The busts around the theater portray French artists who were active from the 17th century to the end of the 19th. This o…

A Horseshoe Theater in Red and Gold

This is the largest theater of the 19th century, holding more than 2,000 people. Boxes ring the stage in a horseshoe sha…

Chagall's Ceiling: The Dream Bouquet

People say some visitors come to the Opéra Garnier just for this one work: Marc Chagall's ceiling painting, The Dream Bo…

The Rotonde du Glacier

This is the "Rotonde du Glacier." A rotunda is a hall or building beneath a round roof, and in the past visitors came he…

The Salle du Soleil and the Salamander

The Salle du Soleil, or Sun Room, was decorated by Auguste Rubé and Philippe Chaperon, the decorators who made the theat…

The Avant-Foyer and the Lovers of Myth

From this terrace you can look down on the Grand Staircase, making it a lovely photo spot. When you're done, turn around…

The Grand Foyer and Garnier's Bust

"Grand" simply means "big," so the Grand Foyer is, literally, the "big foyer." It served both as a place for audience me…

The View of Avenue de l'Opéra from the Loggia

Remember the "loggia" I mentioned at the start of the tour, when we looked at the front facade from Place de l'Opéra? Th…

The Salle de la Lune: When the Sun and Moon Swapped Places

The ceiling of the Salle de la Lune, or Moon Room, shows a round silver moon, and in the center are an owl and a bat, cr…

The Permanent Collection Gallery and Lenepveu's Ceiling Sketch

The Permanent Collection Gallery displays a range of works connected to the Opéra Garnier and is divided into three area…

The Library-Museum

The Library-Museum holds models of productions along with research materials on opera and music. It was originally meant…

The Hidden "Foyer de la Danse" Behind the Orchestra Seats

Open the door in front of the orchestra seats and you'll find a hidden space. We can't go in ourselves, but here's what…

The Blueprints and the Underground Cistern

This is the last stop on the tour. Standing in front of the blueprints, let me share one more hidden place in the Opéra…