The Opéra Royal at Versailles

Why it is on the list

Ange-Jacques Gabriel built the Opéra Royal for Louis XV, and it opened on 16 May 1770 with the wedding feast of the Dauphin and Marie-Antoinette; at the time no theatre in Europe was larger.¹ The hall is a truncated ellipse of open boxes under a colonnade, carved by Augustin Pajou and painted by Louis-Jacques Durameau, and the stage was given back its first plane in the work of 2007 to 2009.¹ Since 2009 it has run a season of more than a hundred performances, mostly Baroque: staged opera, opera in concert, recitals, theatre and ballet.² Staged productions use the house's own orchestra, choir and ballet.³

It is the wrong choice for seeing the palace rooms: for those, take the King's private apartments at Versailles. For a smaller court theatre, the Imperial Theatre at Fontainebleau.

How to get it

Seats are sold per performance on the Opéra Royal's site, by telephone on +33 1 30 83 78 89 (Monday to Friday, 11:00 to 18:00) or by writing to billetterie@chateauversailles-spectacles.fr; the ticket office is at 3 bis rue des Réservoirs in Versailles.⁴ Ask for the top category, which the house sells as the best seats in the hall, with the programme and a glass of champagne; for Don Giovanni in November 2026 it is €253 a seat, against €69 to €192 for the other categories.³ The seating plan is on each performance's booking page; tickets are neither exchanged nor refunded.⁵ Wheelchair places are booked by telephone only, and there are two, in the stalls; a lift serves the Balcon Royal on the second floor.⁵ Children under three are not admitted.⁵

Discretion

Guests enter through the palace's main gate, the Grille d'Honneur; a guest with a disability card can be driven into the Cour d'Honneur near entrance B.⁵ The Place d'Armes car park opposite the palace is free from 19:00.⁵ Doors open 45 minutes before the performance and close when it starts; a latecomer is seated at a suitable moment, with no guarantee of the seat on the ticket.⁶ Photographs, video and sound recording are not allowed except during the applause and bows, and period costume is refused at the door.⁶ Day clothes are fine unless the evening is billed as cocktail or gala.⁵