- Opened on 25 May with Mozart's Don Giovanni
- 1869
- Standing places, sold only on the day of the performance
- 435
- Standard guided tour of the house
- About 40 min
What it is and why it is worth your time
The Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) is a working opera house on Opernring, part of the Ringstrasse, the boulevard that circles the old town. It opened on 25 May 1869 with Mozart’s Don Giovanni, to designs by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. Bombing set it alight on 12 March 1945. It reopened on 5 November 1955 with Beethoven’s Fidelio.
It is a good evening out if you like opera, and the building is worth seeing even if you do not. The programme changes almost nightly. In the week we checked, it ran from Bizet’s Carmen to Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia on consecutive nights.
What to see and how long to allow
You have four ways in:
- A performance with a seat. The house has 1,700 seats, and each has a screen with subtitles in up to eight languages. English, German and the original language are always included.
- Standing room. There are 435 standing places, sold only on the day of the performance. They are the cheapest way to see a full opera.
- A guided tour. The standard tour covers the house in about 40 minutes. It is the simplest way to see the interior without a ticket for a show.
- A backstage tour. About 90 minutes, only on select Sundays, English and German, booked online. At our check it was €48.
The company produces 50 to 60 operas a year in repertory, plus ten ballet productions, in more than 350 performances, according to Wikipedia. There is also a children’s tour for ages 6 to 10, which is in German and lasts about 90 minutes.
Outside a performance or tour, only the box office and the opera café are open to the public. Plan an evening for a show, or under an hour for a tour.
Tickets and opening hours
The opera’s ticket info, guided tours and opening hours pages are the reference, checked October 2026.
- Seats: tickets for the current month and the next two months are always on sale. The opera allocates tickets about three months before the performance month, and you can pre-order up to a month before sales begin.
- Standing room: sold only on the day, from 10am. The opera lists them from €4 and ties that price to its BT-Card concession, so check what you will pay. The standing-room box office opens 80 minutes before curtain up, with its own entrance on Operngasse under the arcades.
- Standard tour: adults (27 and over) paid €18 at our check, with lower prices for under-27s, seniors and children. Dates are published monthly, and tickets are not refundable.
- Day box office: in the foyer, Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, and weekends and holidays 10am to 1pm. The evening box office opens one hour before curtain up.
Tour tickets are sold online or from 30 minutes before the tour, subject to availability. The tour is not suitable for people with limited mobility.
Guide or no guide
The house tour is itself the guided option, and it is the right one if you cannot get to a performance. A third-party guide or a “Vienna opera” concert sold elsewhere is a different thing from a State Opera performance, so check which venue and company are named before you pay.
Getting there from the Hofburg
Trams 1, 2, D and 71 serve both Burgring beside the Hofburg and the Oper stop at the opera house. Tram 62 was not running as far as the Opera at our check because of a route closure. The U-Bahn (Vienna’s underground) station is Karlsplatz, on the U1, U2 and U4, and bus 59A also stops at Oper. The Albertina says it lies between the State Opera and the Hofburg, so the two sights are neighbours. See the Wiener Linien planner for live times and our getting there guide.
One practical tip
For standing room, buy online at 10am on the day if you can, or queue at the standing-room box office. For a tour, check the monthly dates before you plan your day.
How it fits with a Hofburg visit
Treat the Opera as the evening end of a Hofburg day. Use the main Hofburg guide for the daytime, then add the Albertina, which sits between the Opera and the Hofburg. Evening concerts are also sold at the Hofburg itself, and our tickets and tours guide covers what is on offer. The Naschmarkt begins at Karlsplatz, which makes a handy pre-show meal.
