Opera Garnier Tour with Expert Guides in Paris
Discover Europe's largest opera house on an informative 90-minute tour of the Opera Garnier. Knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides from the Opera de Paris will uncover the secrets of this Baroque masterpiece, located in the heart of Paris.
Highlights:
Uncover an architectural masterpiece in the heart of Paris
Get a 90-minute guided tour of the public areas of Opera Garnier
Set eyes on the writhing snakes of the bronze Pythonisse sculpture
Climb up the double stairway of the Grand Escalier
Marvel at the splendid paintings and sculptures
Availability:
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Opera Garnier Tour with Expert Guides in Paris
Live guide: English
Duration: 1.5 hours
Starts at meeting point (More details, Show on map)
from US$ 18.00
(per person) Check availability »
Inaugurated in 1875 and named after its exciting young architect, Charles Garnier, it is the largest opera house in Europe. Once you have met your guide at the museum entrance, you will be taken to the “Rotonde des Abonnes” (Members’ Rotunda), once used as the formal welcome area for opera guests. Garnier’s unique signature will be pointed out among the magnificent arabesques, before you move on to explore the building's galaxy of riches.
You will set eyes on the writhing snakes of the bronze “Pythonisse” sculpture, before climbing the double stairway of the “Grand Escalier” (Main Staircase). Imagine the swish of crinolines as you admire the breathtaking décor and stroll through vast foyers, filled with sparkling mosaics, colorful marble columns and gold-leaf flourishes. Everywhere you look will be a feast for the eyes.
Throughout the tour, expert and enthusiastic guides from the Opera de Paris point out the splendid paintings and sculptures that help to make the Opera Garnier one of the most rewarding museums in Paris, as well as one of its most impressive working theaters.
What's Included:
• English-speaking, guided tour of the Opera Garnier's public areas (including the Rotunda, Grand Escalier, Grand Foyer, Auditorium and lounges)
• Entry ticket
Good to Know:
• As a working theater, access to the Auditorium is sometimes unavailable due to technical or artistic reasons. Access cannot be guaranteed, but if unavailable a ticket for an unguided tour will be offered by the Opera Garnier as compensation. This is valid for 1-year.
• The tour is not available to children below 5 years of age.
• For artistic or technical reasons, the tour itinerary can be modified on the day of the tour itself, if so instructed by the Opera Garnier, without this giving rise to a refund.
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“Excellent”
Reviewed by Stela from Klosterneuburg, Austria on March 20th, 2013 Everything went very well. The only thing was that we had to look for the entrance. It was very poorly described.
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“Was very very good. I would have liked to have been able to go backstage.”
Reviewed by Gabriele from Leverkusen, Germany on January 8th, 2013 Hello, it was very, very good. Informative, and she did a good job answering questions. 30 years ago I had also visited the opera, and we had gotten to go backstage. Where the dancers warm up, the musicians practice and so on.
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“Tour guide fantastic.”
Reviewed by Stephen on December 31st, 2012 Tour was informative and guide answered every question. Kept tour interesting.
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“very good”
Reviewed by SUSANA from SWINDON, United Kingdom on December 29th, 2012 good guide tour and guide
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“Opera Tour - highlight of our Paris trip”
Reviewed by Kevin from Montrose, United Kingdom on December 19th, 2012 My wife and I took the guided tour of the Garnier Opera House on Sunday 16th December. What an amazing building! I had heard a few friends comment that the outside of the Opera House is stunning but the facade is nothing compared to the inside of this buiding. I was more like visiting a a royal palace than a theatre. Our guide was very good although his English could have been better as he misheard a number of questions from the group. The only other negative was the fact that our group was 30 strong and the tour would have been better with a smaller group. However, as there were at least 8 groups touring that morning you have to strike a balance. The magnificence of the architecture and decoration, the grandeour of the aditorium and the interesting history of the building and the Phantom story made this a truly memorable tour. At the end of our three day stay my wife said it was the highlight of the weekend: for a weekend in Paris I think that says it all.
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“Beautiful location but average tour.”
Reviewed by a GetYourGuide Customer from Redwood City, United States on December 2nd, 2012 We booked the Opera Garnier tour in Paris. Our guide was 20 minutes late and then eventually we found out that he never showed up. A guide that worked in the Opera house ended up giving us the tour. He was sweet but his English wasn't great and he focused more on the details of the art than giving us an overview of the opera house. The other group who's guide did show up did seem to have a good time but I felt that this tour was disorganized and way too long. I wouldn't go again.
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“Marvelous guide, marvelous tour, perfect!”
Reviewed by Elizabeth from Paris, France on November 12th, 2012 Our guide, Karen, was Ist Class, tremendous knowledge with lighthearted side stories thrown in. Filming in the building limited access to some venues for some groups, thankfully not for ours. Excellent guide!
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“excellemt guide and a tour not to be missed”
Reviewed by James from Lisburn, United Kingdom on November 2nd, 2012 We really enjoyed the tour, including our teenage daughter. The guide couldn\'t have been more friendly and informed, he was a perfect host. Being free to wonder at will was an unexpected but added bonus. Not to be missed , in fact I may repeat the tour.
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“Very interesting”
Reviewed by a GetYourGuide Customer from Forst, Germany on November 1st, 2012 Very interesting tour, good historical background, the laymen opened up the unique history and art of this opera house, this tour is an experience and recommended!
Organisational plus point: you could stay in the opera house as long as you want after the tour and see/photo everything again. That way you get to check out the stage, which wasn't possible during the tour itself.
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“Well organised and informative!”
Reviewed by Andrea from München, Germany on November 1st, 2012 Interesting guide.
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“La Maison du fantome -Opera Garnier”
Reviewed by Susan from Toronto, Canada on October 31st, 2012 As my husband is an opera singer, visiting Opera Garnier was a must. After researching several tours. I decided on Get You Guide.com to book the tour. Upon arrival we were excited about the tour (especially as The Phantom of the Opera" was based here). The opera house is beautiful and it was such an interesting and informative tour. We even got to see the Phantom's" box(although not allowed to enter it). Our guide had such a sense of humour and was so expressive he made every bit of information so interesting. This was certainly one of the best tours we've had thanks to a beautiful location and an excellent guide.
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“Well organized and informative”
Reviewed by Marlene from Toronto, Canada on October 26th, 2012 Worth to visit the Opera, still debating if not more then visiting Versailles
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“A phenomenal building and brilliant experience”
Reviewed by Julian from Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom on October 24th, 2012 The Opera Garnier is a fabulous building, the level of detail and decoration is incredible. A guided tour is necessary to enable you to fully appreciate just how great are Garnier's achivements. This is an excellent tour.
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“Great tour- wonderful guide- entire staff ruthlessly efficient! Thank”
Reviewed by Christine from Port Jefferson station, United States on October 12th, 2012 14th trip tp Paris- always wanted to go to the Opera- glad I went
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“we had a great tour guide who made it so interesting and entertaining.”
Reviewed by Lesley from Pinegowrie, South Africa on October 10th, 2012 We had a great tour guide who made the tour so interesting and entertaining. The Opera House is well worth a visit, and the tour is not overfilled with forgettable facts. I just wish we had been able to watch a ballet rehearsal as you do at the London Royal Ballet tour!
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“The tour was very interesting and our guide was excelent”
Reviewed by Giora from Rishon Lezion, Israel on October 5th, 2012 Our guide was very knowledgable about the opera building history. We liked her sense of humor and the way she guided our tour in the opera.
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“worthwhile, entertaining”
Reviewed by Mary from Boston, France on October 2nd, 2012 Our guide shared many stories about the Garnier Opera House from literature of the 1870's and the sponsorship of the dancers by local successful men but nothing about the architect or the building's structure until asked. Still, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
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“Outstanding guide. Humorous and informative.”
Reviewed by James from Mansfield, United States on September 25th, 2012 Outstanding guide. Humorous and informative.
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“Bucket list item and not disappointed!”
Reviewed by Robyn from O'Connor, Australia on September 22nd, 2012 I was absolutely obsessed with the Phantom of the Opera when I was a kid (both the book and the musical) - so when I came to Paris, how could I not go on a tour of the Paris Opera House? I wasn't sure if anything could live up to such expectations and was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a highlight of my trip. Such a beautiful building! Our guide, Clementine, was very knowledgeable and full of interesting historical anecdotes. A few of these were of particular interest in helping to separate fact from fiction about the Phantom, but most were of more general interest, about how Louis Napoleon came to commission the building and the innovations and liberties that Charles Garnier took in building it. I'd recommend it to anybody with the same reason for visiting as me, but also reassure their friends/family/spouses that it's a very interesting tour even if you have no interest in the ghost whatsoever!
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“Excellent guide who really knew his stuff.”
Reviewed by Roy from Sydney, Australia on September 14th, 2012 The guide managed extremely well to put the building into its historical context. I learned a lot not just about the building but about the history of Paris. Would definitely recommend the tour to other visitors.
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“A must do!”
Reviewed by John from Newport, United Kingdom on August 28th, 2012 The tour starts at 2:00 clock prompt, you will not be left hanging around wondering what to do. The tour guide is very engaging and knowledgeable and not a recorder on legs. She obviously enjoys her job.
Pay attention, because there will be questions. First rate. HIGHLY recommended
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“Interesting insight into the opera social scene in the 19th century.”
Reviewed by Karen from Winnetka, United States on August 18th, 2012 Caroline did a very nice job of not only showing us the beautiful opera house but also helping us to appreciate the social aspect of going to the opera. My only critique is that the tour ran about 15 minutes long (ended at 1:15).
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“An experience to remember forever.”
Reviewed by a GetYourGuide Customer from URMSTON, United Kingdom on August 14th, 2012 One of the best things about our trip to Paris! Our guide, Clementine, was very knowledgable, interesting and friendly. I cannot recommend the tour enough! The architecture was astounding, moving and amazing and you are free to wander around after the tour to drink it all in!
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“An excellent tour with a very well informed, knowledgable guide.”
Reviewed by Duncan from Willetton, Australia on July 24th, 2012 My wife and I were thrilled with the guided tour and would recommend it to anyone wishing to see this fabulous, incredibly beautiful building. Our guide made sure that we gained an appreciation for the history behind the building, a history of the period in which it was built and an appreciation for the ideas and people behind the design. The opera house is an incredibly magnificent, awe inspiring building. Many thanks to our wonderful guide for providing us with such an enjoyable experience.
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“A really intersting tour”
Reviewed by Judith from Clos d'Albecq, Castel, United Kingdom on July 22nd, 2012 This was a good tour. It was well organised with groups subdivided so that although there were a lot of people going around on tours at the same time, we could easily hear what the guide was saying. The guide was knowledgeable and included a good combination of architecture and social history.
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“Great Tour! Very informative and engaging.”
Reviewed by Margaret from Pacifica, United States on July 13th, 2012 We enjoyed the tour of the opera house. It was well organized and informative.
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“absolutely worth seeing”
Reviewed by anja from höhenkirchen, Germany on July 3rd, 2012 the group was too big but otherwise a good option
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“A very enjoyable and informative tour, highly recommended.”
Reviewed by Paul from Ipswich, United Kingdom on June 26th, 2012 Our guide was knowledgeable, animated, enthusiastic and delightful. We had an extremely interesting tour, packed with information in good English. Excellent value.
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“wonderfully beautiful”
Reviewed by laura from einburgh, United Kingdom on June 26th, 2012 A Glorious building with a fantastic history excellently described by the tour guide. I enjoyed every minute. The building is Majestic.
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“An interesting, entertaining tour of the Opera Garnier in Paris”
Reviewed by Olaf Uwe from Wien, Austria on June 11th, 2012 We really enjoyed the guided tour of the Opera Garnier in Paris. The guide made the history, the building and the background of its construction really interesting for all the visitors in his group.
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