Palais Garnier Self-Guided Tour: the Paris Opera House Ticket
The Opera's own admission, booked for a dated time slot, with nobody setting the pace. You go in at the corner of Rue Scribe and Rue Auber, work through eight named rooms in the order the building puts them in, and leave when you have had enough. Ninety minutes is what most people take.
Your ninety minutes, at your own pace
Eight named rooms, one ticket
The rotunda, the staircase, both foyers, the Sun and Moon salons, the Rotonde du Glacier and the Library-Museum.
Under-13s go in free
No charge at all for children under thirteen, and a reduced rate from thirteen to twenty-five.
No fixed pace
Nobody is waiting for you at the top of the staircase, which is the room most visitors want longest in.
The tablet is the commentary
The Opera rents a multimedia handset that layers rooms you cannot enter over the ones you can.
Current exhibitions included
Whatever is showing in the public rooms comes with the admission rather than as a second ticket.
What the ticket opens
This is the Opéra national de Paris's own visit ticket, sold as a dated slot. It admits you to the public areas: the Rotonde des Abonnés and the Pythia basin at the bottom, the Grand Staircase, the avant-foyer and the Grand Foyer, the Sun and Moon salons, the Rotonde du Glacier and its tapestries, and the Library-Museum in the Emperor's pavilion.
What it does not buy is a guide, and it does not buy a promise about the auditorium. Both are worth knowing before you decide this is the version you want. The rooms page takes each space in turn.
The multimedia tablet, and whether to take it
The Opera rents an augmented-reality handset at €8 on the day, €7 if you book it ahead, with a children's route at €6.50. It runs an overlay of spaces closed to visitors — the Foyer de la Danse among them — over the room you are standing in.
It is not in this fare and it is the single most common thing travellers recommend after taking this ticket. Four separate reviews raise it unprompted, and one describes the visit without it as looking at gold and guessing.
The rooms, in the order you meet them
- Enter at the corner of Rue Scribe and Rue Auber
- La Rotonde des Abonnés and the Pythia basin
- The Grand Staircase
- The avant-foyer and the Grand Foyer
- The Moon and Sun salons
- La Rotonde du Glacier and its tapestries
- The Library-Museum of the Opera
Who this suits, and who should book a guide instead
This one is for you if: Anyone happy to read a room without being talked through it, anyone bringing children under thirteen who go in free, and anyone whose Paris afternoon has ninety minutes in it rather than a fixed slot with a stranger. It is also the version to take if you hold an EEA address, because the Opera's own adult rate then drops from €25 to €15.
Book something else if: Anyone who wants the building explained rather than presented. There is no commentary here beyond the paid handset, and the reviewers who found the visit thin are all people who expected one. If that is you, the Mysteries private tour covers the same rooms in the same ninety minutes with an official guide and the entrance already handled.
What the fare covers
In the fare
- Admission to the public areas of the Opéra Garnier
- The Library-Museum of the Opera
- La Rotonde des Abonnés and the Pythia basin
- The Grand Staircase
- Le Grand Foyer and l'avant-foyer
- The Moon and Sun salons
- La Rotonde du Glacier and its tapestries
Not in the fare
- A guide
- The multimedia tablet — €8 on site for the adult route, €6.50 for the children's route
Finding the door on Rue Scribe
Corner of Rue Scribe and Rue Auber. The entrance is at the corner of Scribe and Auber streets. Paris Opera House guided tours each name their own corner, and the map page puts all of them on the ground with the métro exit for each.
Know before you go
- Book online before you go. The box office sells no visit tickets, at the desks or from the machines. Online is the only way in and the slot is dated.
- The door is on the corner. Rue Scribe meets Rue Auber on the west side. The grand steps in the photographs are the performance entrance and are shut.
- Carry proof of address. The lower adult rate is for residents of the European Economic Area and proof is asked for at the door.
- Cloakrooms are closed. Travel light. Scooters are not allowed in at all.
- Go at ten. Travellers who describe the rooms as uncomfortable are describing them after mid-morning. The first hour is the quiet one.
- Nothing is refunded. This fare is non-refundable at any notice, so book the day you are sure of.
Photographs from inside
What travellers said about going in alone
The interior is extraordinary and the audio tour was worth the extra money. It is genuinely informative rather than decorative. I came out knowing a lot more than I went in with.
Zoe · August 2026
We came by metro and the door was easy enough to find. The opera house is an absolute highlight of Paris. Walking it with the audio guide is the way to do it.
Katrin · August 2026
A lovely visit, and you should take the tablet with the live guide on it. It gives you the whole history of the building as you walk. Without it you are looking at gold and guessing.
patricia · September 2026
We were let in without waiting at all. The whole thing was straightforward. It is a place you should see.
Beste · August 2026
Frequently asked questions
Is a guide included?
Will I get into the auditorium?
How long does it take?
Can I take children?
Is it worth paying extra for the tablet?
Can I buy this at the door?
The other ways in worth comparing
- Opera Garnier Mysteries Private Guided Tour with Entrance
- Private Opera Garnier Theater 2-Hour Tour in Paris
Paris Opera House Tours has all of them in one grid, with prices, group caps and refund windows.