Budapest Opera House

Great Place, not just for Opera Lovers

The Budapest Opera House is a breathtaking venue considered to be one of the finest opera houses in Europe. It is located in central Pest, on Andrassy út, one of the main luxury shopping streets in the city and one of Budapest’s world heritage sites.

The facade of the building is adorned with statues of 16 of the world’s greatest composers including Mozart, Verdi and Beethoven.

At the main entrance of the building there are representations of the operatic muses together with statues of Franz Liszt, a prolific Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist and Ferenc Erkel, the composer of the Hungarian National anthem, as well as a pair of Egyptian Sphinx !

Inside, the Budapest Opera House is simply stunning, the whole atmosphere is amazing and the quality of the performances is excellent.

If you’ve never seen the inside of an old-fashioned opera house , the interior of the Budapest Opera might make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time.

It’s all purple velvet and ornate gold decorations, and the walls aren’t walls but row upon row of private boxes elegantly decorated with mirrors.

I would suggest that even if you are not an opera devotee, going to the opera in Budapest is a great experience that you shouldn’t miss while visiting this wonderful city.

Take advantage of the affordable prices of the performances, tickets costs ranging from 400 ft up to 16,900 ft (sometimes higher), depending on the production.

The main season of the Budapest Opera runs from September until the end of June and includes over 50 major ballet and opera productions, many of which are familiar to international opera and ballet lovers .

I recommend booking some weeks in advance, though cheaper seats are often available at the last minute.

Tickets

Before buying your tickets, consider the following:

  • If you are buying gallery seats, choose your tickets for the middle of the gallery, try to avoid getting seats on the sides, as these seats have a limited view and you won’t be able to see much of the stage.
  • For private box tickets, choose your seats on the front row, as the second and third rows of seats in the boxes are not elevated, so the view is not the best, unless you stand up.
  • Cheaper tickets have usually a restricted view and you enter the building through a side entrance, so you don’t get to see the wonderful interior until you are up the stairs.

You can buy tickets to Budapest Operas from the theatre’s ticket office or online from the authorized ticket website:
www.jegymester.hu (version in English available)

Ticket office Opening Hours

Monday to Saturday: from 11 am to 5 pm or at the beginning of the performance.

Sundays and Holidays: From 4 pm until the beginning of the performance.

Guided Tours

If you cannot get tickets for a performance and still want to visit the Opera House, you might want to take a guided tour and learn about this architectural masterpiece .

Guided tours in English, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian and Italian are held at 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm every day.The tour costs 2,800 ft for adults and 1,400 ft for students. Entrance is free for children under 6 years old.

Dress Code

Hungarians are opera lovers since it is part of their cultural heritage. And when it is about going to the opera or to the theatre they know what to wear, so they dress up.

It is not compulsory to wear an evening dress or suit and tie but if you don’t want to stick out, wear at least a smart casual outfit.

No one will say anything if you are wearing jeans but you yourself will feel out of place.

How to get there

You can reach the Opera House easily using the yellow metro, Line 1. There is a station right across the Opera house , as you come up the station the opera House is just in front of you on Andrassy út 22.

A little bit of History……

The Budapest Opera House is a neo-Renaissance building with Baroque elements designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure of 19th century Hungarian architecture. The construction lasted from 1875 to 1884 and it opened to the public on September 27, 1884.

The rich ornamentation includes paintings and sculptures by leading figures of Hungarian art of the time including Bertalan Székely, Mór Than and Károly Lotz.

Although in size and capacity it does not rank among the greatest, in beauty and the quality of its acoustics the Budapest Opera House is considered to be amongst the most impressive opera houses in the world after La Scala in Milan and the Paris Opera House.

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