The grand staircase, the foyer, the Chagall ceiling. Here is how to get in, and when the auditorium is shut.
The short version
- Book a timed self-guided ticket at operadeparis.fr: €15 if you live in France or the EEA, €25 if you don’t, €10 or €20 for ages 13 to 25, free at 12 and under. Nothing is sold at the door.
- Open to visitors 10:00 to 17:00, 18:00 in summer, last admission an hour before. The booking calendar marks the closed days, which are the days with a daytime performance plus the odd special event.
- The auditorium is the one room you can’t count on. Rehearsals close it often and without notice, and no ticket guarantees you’ll see it or the Chagall ceiling.
- Go in through the box office at the corner of rue Scribe and rue Auber, behind the statue of Charles Garnier. Metro Opéra on lines 3, 7 and 8, or RER A to Auber.
- Allow 75 to 90 minutes. Suitcases and travel bags are turned away, and there is no cloakroom during visiting hours.
- A performance ticket is the other way in: seats start at €10 and the best run up to €225 depending on the show, and you get the auditorium with the lights on and the orchestra playing.
Getting in
Everything is online, up to 30 days ahead, and the ticket is tied to a date and a time slot. Arrive within 30 minutes of it. No refunds or exchanges, so check the calendar before you book, and bring ID for the €15 rate: an EEA passport or a long-term residence card.
- Self-guided. €15 or €25 by residence, €10 or €20 at 13 to 25, free at 12 and under. Audio guide on a tablet, €8, ten languages.
- Guided tour, 90 minutes. €25 if you live in the EEA, €35 if not; €18 or €28 at 13 to 25 and over 65; free at 4 and under. A 45-minute flash tour is €15 or €25.
- After hours. A guided tour once the day visitors have gone, €32 or €42.
Or see it with a driver: our private Paris tour by car is four hours from your hotel, past the Opéra, Place Vendôme, the Madeleine and the Louvre, with a monument drop-off on request once you have booked the visit.
The visit
Charles Garnier’s opera house opened in 1875. Start in the grand vestibule under the statues of the composers, then climb the grand staircase, the marble double flight built so the audience could watch itself arrive. The grand foyer runs the width of the building above the front loggia, painted end to end.
The auditorium is the room you came for and the one most often shut. Rehearsals close it with no warning; when it is open you look in at the red and gold tiers and the ceiling Marc Chagall painted in 1964.
The ticket covers the temporary shows: Décorer le costume until February 28, 2027, and The Ring Revolutions, on Wagner, from October 27, 2026 to February 20, 2027. The exhibitions are not reachable by wheelchair; the main route is.
A visit is daytime and self-paced. A performance is the building doing its job: the auditorium open for certain, an orchestra in the pit. If the stage doesn’t matter to you, the visit is cheaper and shorter.
When to go
Check the booking calendar first. A day with a daytime performance is a closed day for visitors, and the calendar is the only place the closed dates are listed. Summer hours run to 18:00.
The first slot at 10:00 is the quietest. The audio guide desk runs 10:00 to 15:30, until 16:30 in August, so pick the tablet up on the way in if you want it.
For a performance, the box office at the rue Scribe corner is open Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 18:30 and one hour before curtain. €10 tickets in the sixth category, with no view of the stage but every view of the room, go on sale the day of the show. Curtain is at the time printed, and latecomers wait for the interval.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy a visit ticket at the door?
No. Self-guided tickets are sold online only, up to 30 days ahead, tied to a time slot. The ticket office at the rue Scribe corner hands out the free tickets you reserved online and sells performance tickets; it does not sell visit tickets.
Will I see the auditorium?
Maybe. Rehearsals close it often and without notice, and the opera says plainly that no ticket guarantees access. There is no rule for guessing. The staircase and the foyer are the sure things; the auditorium is the bonus.
Is the Palais Garnier free?
For children 12 and under, for disabled visitors with a companion, for job seekers in France, and for a few professional categories. Everyone else pays €15 in the EEA and €25 outside it; a performance ticket starts at €10 in the no-view seats.
Visit or performance?
The visit is 75 to 90 minutes, daytime, €15 to €25, with the auditorium not promised. The performance is an evening, €10 for a no-view seat up to €225 for the best, and the auditorium is the point. For a first trip with one slot free, take the visit and buy a €10 seat for another night if the program suits.
Is there a tour that includes the Palais Garnier?
Our half-day Paris walking tour can be routed through the Opera district, Place Vendôme and the Right Bank shopping streets, about three hours with a private guide, start times from 9:00 to 18:00. Book a self-guided slot for the end of the walk and your guide will leave you at the entrance.
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Half a day on foot with a private guide, routed around what you want to see.
Louvre, Montmartre and Notre Dame in eight hours with a private driver-guide.
