Palais Garnier: Visiting the Paris Opera, Hours and Tickets

Updated on October 7, 2026

The Palais Garnier can only be visited with an online booking: €15 (France and EEA) or €25 (outside the EEA), with no tickets sold on site. The Palais Garnier is a perfect testament to the place art holds in Parisian society. Long known simply as the Paris Opera, this architectural masterpiece is part of the wave of grand building projects the capital saw under Baron Haussmann during the reign of Napoleon III. Famous for its majestic marble staircase linking the building's various spaces, the Opera boasts an auditorium lined with equally majestic boxes and balconies. Even if you don't want to visit the interior, it's still an excellent starting point for exploring the surrounding neighborhood. The Palais Garnier sits right between Place Vendôme, the Galeries Lafayette, and the Église de la Madeleine. So you can enjoy the splendor of this imposing architectural jewel while snapping photos and admiring the other nearby monuments from a distance.

Highlights

The Grand Foyer

The Grand Foyer was designed as a meeting place for the audience between acts. Impressive in both scale and detail, it showcases the excellence of French craftsmanship. Take the time to admire the abundance of chandeliers, paintings, sculptures, and gilding.

The Grand Staircase

You won't be able to miss this staircase: it's the junction point between the auditorium's various sections.

The Auditorium

With its balconies and boxes, the auditorium is the centerpiece of the Palais Garnier. The great domed ceiling replaced the old vault above the subscribers' rotunda. Adorned by the greatest artists of its time, the Opera Garnier chose to crown itself with an 8-ton chandelier as its jewel, cementing its elegance before the 1,900 people it can seat.

Practical info

Tips

Book your ticket online: nothing is sold on site, and the ticket lets you in up to 30 minutes after your chosen time. Rehearsals cause frequent, unpredictable closures of the auditorium, and no ticket guarantees access to it. Suitcases and travel bags are not allowed. Visitors aged 13 to 25 pay €10 (France and EEA) or €20 (outside the EEA); children under 12 enter free. Continue your walk at the Galeries Lafayette or the Palais-Royal. Along the grands boulevards, the Église de la Madeleine is about a ten-minute walk away.

How to get there

The easiest way to get there is by metro: Opéra station (lines 8, 7, 3). You can also get there by bus (lines 20, 21, 22, 27, 29, 42, 52, 53, 66, 68, 81, 95) or by RER (line A, Auber station).