Andrássy út · Budapest
Miklós Ybl's neo-Renaissance masterpiece of 1884, with a short live concert to close the guided hour.
Likely to sell out, so settle your date before you fly.
The house in four numbers
A walk through the plan
What the building holds, in the order most visitors meet it. The guided hour names the staircase, the frescoed auditorium and the closing concert.
The tour meets at Andrássy út 22. Look up before you go in: the decoration of the façade follows a musical theme, with Erkel and Liszt standing in the niches beside the main entrance.
A wide stone staircase under wrought-iron lamps, built when a night at the opera was a social occasion and the stairs were where new gowns were shown off. The foyer beside it has marble columns and a vaulted ceiling painted with the nine Muses.
The royal box sits at the centre of the three-storey circle, decorated with sculptures that stand for the four operatic voices: soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
A horseshoe of boxes and balconies seating 1,261, under Károly Lotz's fresco of the Greek gods on Olympus and a bronze chandelier that weighs 3,050 kg.
The proscenium arch was fitted with a revolving stage and hydraulic machinery, the most modern technology of its day. Gustav Mahler directed the house from 1888 to 1891.
The hour ends with live music. One guest describes a mini opera concert in the big auditorium that left the group smiling, and the other tour names soloists of the Hungarian State Opera as the singers.
Your guide leads the route on the day. Rehearsals can close the auditorium to visitors, and the tour then continues through other parts of the house.
The building and its builders
Work began in 1875, paid for by the city of Budapest and by Emperor Franz Joseph I, and the house opened to the public on 27 September 1884. It was first known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House.
Ybl, one of the leading Hungarian architects of the 19th century, designed it in neo-Renaissance style with Baroque elements. It stands on Andrássy út, begun in 1872 and inaugurated in 1876, a boulevard of neo-Renaissance mansions recognised as a World Heritage Site in 2002.
Measurements made in the 1970s by a group of international engineers put the horseshoe-shaped auditorium third in Europe for acoustics, behind La Scala in Milan and the Palais Garnier in Paris.
A major renovation ran from 1980 to 1984, and the house reopened on 27 September 1984, exactly a hundred years after its first night. The tour description adds that the house was fully restored in 2022.
A closer look
A few of the rooms and details the guided hour moves through.
Who made it
A building this ornate was made by a crowd of artists and musicians. These are the names the house itself is built around.
Born in Székesfehérvár in 1814 and trained in Vienna, Munich and Italy, Ybl turned to neo-Renaissance design after a second study tour of Italy in 1860. The Opera House, built between 1875 and 1884, is his best-known building.
Bertalan Székely and Mór Than painted the foyer ceiling with the nine Muses, and Károly Lotz painted the auditorium fresco of the gods on Olympus.
Stróbl carved the figures of Ferenc Erkel and Franz Liszt that stand in niches on either side of the main entrance.
Erkel wrote the music of Hungary's national anthem, adopted in 1844, and led the company from the opening night. The first night's programme included an act of his Bánk bán, an important patriotic Hungarian opera.
Only 28 when he took charge in 1888, Mahler is credited with giving the company its first period of acknowledged artistic excellence.
The conductor Otto Klemperer was the house's music director for three years, from 1947 to 1950.
Choosing a tour
| Tour | What is on it | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Guided tour with a brief concert · 1 hour | A live guide in English, German, Italian, Spanish or French through the interior of the house, ending with a brief concert. Food and drinks are not included, and the tour is not suitable for wheelchair users. From US$36. | First-time visitors who want the staircase, the frescoed auditorium and some live music in a single hour. |
| Guided tour with opera soloists · 1 hour | Admission and a guided visit in the language you pick when booking (English, Spanish, Italian, French, German or Hungarian), in groups of up to 20, then a short concert by soloists of the Hungarian State Opera. From US$63. | Visitors who want a capped group size and a named company for the music. |
Groups of up to 20 and a concert by Hungarian State Opera soloists: see the other tour ↗
Two ways into the house
The one-hour guided tour with a brief concert, and the tour with a concert by Hungarian State Opera soloists, each opening its own GetYourGuide page.
A live guide in English, German, Italian, Spanish or French through the interior of the house, ending with a brief concert. Food and drinks are not included, and the tour is not suitable for wheelchair users. From US$36.
See dates for this tour ↗Admission and a guided visit in the language you pick when booking (English, Spanish, Italian, French, German or Hungarian), in groups of up to 20, then a short concert by soloists of the Hungarian State Opera. From US$63.
See dates for this tour ↗More things to do in Budapest on GetYourGuide
On the day
Meet at the Opera House itself, Andrássy út 22, 1061 Budapest. Start times show when you check availability, and your ticket arrives on your phone straight after booking, with nothing to print.
The one-hour guided tour runs in English, German, Italian, Spanish and French. The soloists tour adds Hungarian, and if your chosen language is not running at your time, that tour places you on an English visit.
The house can cancel tours during rehearsals and then offers another date. On some days the light in the auditorium is reduced, and guided visits do not run during performances.
On the soloists tour, any change of time or language is sent by message, so give a phone number that can receive texts when you book.
Food and drinks are not part of the one-hour tour, and it is listed as not suitable for wheelchair users.
Guest reviews of the one-hour tour mention busy rooms, with several groups close together on crowded days. The soloists tour caps each group at 20.
Read before your visit
What the one-hour visit covers and how it usually ends.
Read the note → the architectThe architect, his training and the building that became his best-known work.
Read the note → the roomThe numbers and the details of the room where the hour reaches its high point.
Read the note → the songWhat the two tours promise about the music, and what guests say about it.
Read the note → know before you goThe few things that can change on the day, and how each tour handles them.
Read the note → choosing a tourHow the one-hour guided tour and the soloists tour differ, and what to do for a party.
Read the note →FAQ
The guided visit lasts 60 minutes. It covers the interior of the house with a live guide and ends with a brief concert. Food and drinks are not included.
Yes. Both tours include a concert: a brief one on the one-hour guided tour, and a short concert by soloists of the Hungarian State Opera on the other. Guests regularly single it out in their reviews.
The Opera House can cancel tours during rehearsals, and you are then offered another date. On the soloists tour, a rehearsal can close the auditorium, and the visit continues through other parts of the house.
The one-hour guided tour has live guides in English, German, Italian, Spanish and French. The soloists tour offers English, Spanish, Italian, French, German and Hungarian, picked when you book.
The one-hour guided tour is listed as not suitable for wheelchair users. Check the other tour's page on GetYourGuide for its access notes before booking.
Some guests describe busy rooms and several groups at once, which can make the guide harder to hear. The soloists tour limits groups to 20 people.
At the Opera House, Andrássy út 22, 1061 Budapest. Your start time appears when you check availability, and the ticket sits on your phone as soon as you book.
Guided visits are not available during shows. Pick any open date on the booking page and GetYourGuide shows the starting times on offer.
Starting price per person. The exact total for your party appears on GetYourGuide, in your own currency, before you confirm.