Palais Garnier
#6of 9 places to visit in ParisParis, Île-de-France, France
Also known as Opéra Garnier · Paris Opera House
Quick answer
Opening hours: 10:00–16:00 and 10:00–16:30. Entry: €25. Allow 1.5 hrs. Best time: 10:00 opening.
Updated · Compiled by Traveliac, AI-assisted · 4 min read
- Opening hours
- 10:00–16:30
- 10:00-16:00 (building closes 17:00), extended to 10:00-16:30 in August
- Entry fee
- €25
- Ticket from
- Time needed
- 1.5 hrs
- Best time of day
- 10:00 opening
- Best months
- Apr – Jun, Sep – Oct
- Address
- Place de l'Opéra, 75009 Paris
About Palais Garnier
Palais Garnier opened in 1875 as the largest theatre in the world by floor area at the time, built by architect Charles Garnier in a lavish Beaux-Arts style that mixes marble, gilded bronze, and painted ceiling work across a footprint of nearly 11,000 square metres. Marc Chagall painted the current auditorium ceiling in 1964, a modern addition commissioned by culture minister André Malraux that sits above and independent of the original 1870s ceiling, which remains intact beneath it. The building's Grand Staircase, cut from multicoloured marble sourced from quarries across France, was designed explicitly as a stage for the audience itself to be seen ascending in evening dress. Beneath the building lies a genuine underground reservoir, built to stabilise the water table during construction and later reimagined by novelist Gaston Leroux as the lake setting for his 1910 novel "The Phantom of the Opera," the source of the building's enduring association with the story.
Best time of day: 10:00 opening. On a non-performance day gives the best chance of auditorium access; checking the online schedule before booking avoids a visit limited to the foyers alone.
Palais Garnier timings
- Opening hours
- 10:00–16:30
Mon–Sun 10:00–16:00 and 10:00–16:30 - 10:00-16:00 (building closes 17:00), extended to 10:00-16:30 in August
- Closed on
- Open every day
Good to know: Access can be restricted or the visit shortened on performance days; auditorium viewing is not guaranteed.
Opening hours compiled from operadeparis.fr and public records, last updated . They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides
Palais Garnier ticket price
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Standard ticket | €25 |
| Concession (student / senior) | €15 |
| Children | Free |
€25 full self-guided rate, €15 reduced (ages 13-25 or with proof of EEA residency at various tiers), free for children under 12, as of 2026. Online booking is mandatory - no on-site ticket sales. The auditorium is regularly closed to visitors due to rehearsals and performances; verify current access at the official site.
Prices compiled from operadeparis.fr and public records, last updated . They change without notice — confirm before you travel. How we write these guides
Best time to visit Palais Garnier
- Quiet
- Moderate
- Busy
10:00 - 11:30
Morning Opening
First self-guided visitors of the day; Grand Staircase relatively clear for photographs.
Moderate11:30 - 14:00
Midday Peak
Heaviest visitor numbers, concentrated in the Grand Foyer and staircase.
Busy14:00 - 16:00
Afternoon
Crowds ease toward the final booking window before the 16:00 last-entry cutoff.
Moderate16:00 - 17:00
ClosingBest time to go
Building closes to new visitors at 16:00 and clears fully by 17:00.
Quiet
History of Palais Garnier
Emperor Napoleon III commissioned a new opera house after an assassination attempt outside the previous venue on Rue Le Peletier in 1858, and held an open architectural competition in 1861 that a then-unknown 35-year-old architect, Charles Garnier, won against 170 other entries. Construction dragged through the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune of 1870-71, during which the unfinished building served briefly as a military supply depot, before finally opening in January 1875 under the Third Republic - by which point Napoleon III, who commissioned it, had been deposed and exiled.
The building served as the Paris Opera's primary home until 1989, when the new Opéra Bastille took over most opera performances, leaving Palais Garnier to focus primarily on ballet alongside a reduced opera programme. Marc Chagall's 1964 ceiling commission proved controversial at the time - critics objected to a modern painting inside a 19th-century monument - though it is now considered one of the building's signature features alongside Garnier's original architecture.
Rules & etiquette at Palais Garnier
Online booking is mandatory for self-guided visits, with no ticket sales at the door; the building's dual function as both a working theatre and a museum-style visit site means access to the auditorium is genuinely not guaranteed and depends on the rehearsal and performance schedule on a given day. Checking the visit calendar on the official site before booking avoids paying for a tour limited to the foyers and staircase alone.
Photography without flash is generally permitted in public areas, though restrictions apply when the auditorium is in active rehearsal use. Attending an actual ballet or opera performance requires separate, and considerably more expensive, tickets booked through the main Opéra national de Paris box office.
Tips for visiting Palais Garnier
- 1
The Grand Staircase and the Grand Foyer, modelled loosely on the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, deliver the visit's most photogenic spaces regardless of whether the auditorium is accessible that day - a useful fallback if timing doesn't align with an open auditorium. The library-museum on the first floor, included in the standard ticket, displays opera and ballet costumes, set models, and Garnier's original design drawings with far fewer visitors passing through than the staircase itself.
- 2
For visitors who want to see the auditorium and Chagall ceiling with certainty, attending an actual performance is the only guaranteed route - a self-guided day visit ticket does not reserve auditorium access.
How to reach Palais Garnier
Place de l'Opéra, 75009 ParisDirections in Google Maps
From Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
27 km · 45-60 min
€13.10
From Gare Saint-Lazare
1 km · 10-15 min
€2.15
From Gare du Nord
4 km · 20 min
€2.15
Nearest airport
From Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
27 km, approximately 45-60 minutes via RER B.
Nearest station
From Opéra (Métro Lines 3, 7, and 8), directly beneath the building's front square.
Palais Garnier FAQs
Can you always see the auditorium at Palais Garnier?
No. Because the building is a working theatre, the auditorium is regularly closed to visitors during rehearsals and performances, and access on a self-guided visit ticket is not guaranteed. Checking the official visit calendar before booking is recommended.
Is the Chagall ceiling the original Palais Garnier ceiling?
No. Marc Chagall painted the current auditorium ceiling in 1964, commissioned by culture minister André Malraux. It sits above and independent of the original 1870s ceiling, which remains intact beneath it.
Is the Phantom of the Opera lake real?
Yes, in a modified sense. An underground reservoir beneath the building was built to stabilise the water table during construction and inspired the lake setting in Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel, though it functions as engineering infrastructure rather than a navigable lake.
Can you buy Palais Garnier visit tickets at the door?
No. Online booking is mandatory for self-guided visits as of 2026, with no ticket sales available on site.
Compiled with AI assistance from official sources and public records, and published only after the checks in How we write these guides. Nobody from Traveliac has visited this place. Last updated . How we rank and check places
