Classical music and opera, halls you enter with a ticket or a tour.

Halls you visit and performances you buy

A city of music is experienced in two ways, and almost every hall on this map allows both: sitting down to a concert or an opera, or going in on a guided tour of a building that is full at night. Here they are grouped by city, with what each official website publishes about tickets, cheap seats, dress and tours. Where the website does not give a detail, we say so: that is better than a price from two seasons ago. The main season runs from September to June; summer opens other circuits, such as the Salzburg festival or the London Proms.

If you are looking for film rather than music, Film locations and the classic film locations bring together the shoots; Amadeus and The Sound of Music touch both pages.

Vienna and Salzburg: the Musikverein, the Opera and the festival

Vienna has two houses to stay in. The Musikverein is the home of the Philharmonic: you buy online, by phone or at the box office, which is open from September to June Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 19:00 and on Saturdays from 9:00 to 13:00 (in July and August, only on weekday mornings). It asks for "festive attire" and discourages sportswear, and does not allow coats or rucksacks into the hall, not even in the standing area. Guided tours, in English and German, cost from €6 and do not run on Sundays or public holidays.

The State Opera sells 435 standing places on the day of the performance, from 10:00, with a subtitle screen at each spot. It is the cheapest way to see opera in Vienna, and it pays to log on at the exact time.

In Salzburg, the Festival fills the city with opera, Philharmonic concerts and Jedermann in Cathedral Square: in 2027, from 16 July to 29 August, with a Whitsun edition from 14 to 17 May. You go in with a ticket bought on the festival's website, which publishes the programme each winter, or by phone (+43 662 8045 500). To go without the festival, Mozart's birthplace follows the thread.

Prague: a symphony hall and a theatre where Mozart premiered

Prague combines two very different references. The Rudolfinum has been the home of the Czech Philharmonic since 1946, with the Dvořák Hall as the main stage. There is a 75-minute public tour in Czech and tours in English, German, French and Italian for groups of four or more, from 300 CZK per person; there are no tours from 1 July to 16 August.

The Estates Theatre is where Don Giovanni premiered in 1787, and the National Theatre still programmes it: it is sung in Italian, with Czech and English surtitles, and lasts about 2 h 50 min. Tickets go on sale up to six months ahead, on the 1st of each month at 9:00, and the box office is at Železná 24.

Prague also has church concerts, which are one-hour tourist offerings. At St Nicholas church in Old Town Square, for example, a ticket-selling agency (Prague Ticket Office) advertises programmes of about 60 minutes from €20 to €24. It is a real concert with a programme and a date, although it is organised by a company and not the church: compare the repertoire and the performer before paying. Do not confuse it with St Nicholas in Malá Strana, which is another church.

Budapest and Dresden: the opera from the inside

In Budapest, the State Opera has its own tour service, OperaTour: 60 minutes in English at 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30, for 12,000 HUF per person, with a short concert by soloists at the end. In Spanish, Italian, German or French it runs only on request. You buy up to a week ahead.

In Dresden, the Semperoper offers "Highlight" tours in German and English almost daily and a short tour of about 30 minutes before some performances. Its website does not publish times or prices for the tours; the booking phone number is +49 351 4911 705.

Barcelona and Madrid: two theatres, two ways to spend the night

In Barcelona, the Palau de la Música Catalana is the building to visit: 50 minutes every day, from 9:00 to 15:30, €24 for the guided tour. The Liceu is the opera house: surtitles in Catalan, Spanish and English, no dress code, a box office on La Rambla and the LiceUnder35 youth rate for ages 18 to 35. Its official website says there are currently no guided tours. Once the performance has begun you are not admitted until the first interval.

In Madrid, the Teatro Real can be seen from the inside on the technical backstage tour: 1 hour, every day at 10:00, from age 10, €23. With the Teatro Real, palace and cocido plan the route is completed in a day.

London: the Proms and Covent Garden

London has two options that are booked in different ways. The Proms are the summer season at the Royal Albert Hall, from July to September: according to information published in 2024, about 1,000 standing tickets every day for £8, in the Arena and the Gallery. Confirm the system before you travel.

The Royal Opera House, in Covent Garden, advertises on its website (now rbo.org.uk) a backstage tour from 14 November 2026 to 31 January 2027, an architecture tour from 20 November to 27 January and 30-minute walks through the exhibitions. The page gives no prices or times, so check there.