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- The Shells (exterior and Forecourt): The sail-like roofs are the reason the building is on every postcard, and up close you see they are covered in more than a million glossy and matte tiles in white and cream, laid in a chevron pattern. Walk the Forecourt steps and the wide granite stairs to see how the tiles change in the light. Walking around the site is free.
- Opera House Tour: The standard guided tour takes you inside the foyers and into one or more of the theaters, and runs about an hour. It is the cheapest way to see the interiors if you do not have a ticket for a show. The tour costs roughly A$45 to 50, and English tours run through the day.
- Concert Hall: The largest venue holds about 2,600 people and houses the Grand Organ, with more than 10,000 pipes, one of the largest mechanical-action
- The Shells (exterior and Forecourt): The sail-like roofs are the reason the building is on every postcard, and up close you see they are covered in more than a million glossy and matte tiles in white and cream, laid in a chevron pattern. Walk the Forecourt steps and the wide granite stairs to see how the tiles change in the light. Walking around the site is free.
- Opera House Tour: The standard guided tour takes you inside the foyers and into one or more of the theaters, and runs about an hour. It is the cheapest way to see the interiors if you do not have a ticket for a show. The tour costs roughly A$45 to 50, and English tours run through the day.
- Concert Hall: The largest venue holds about 2,600 people and houses the Grand Organ, with more than 10,000 pipes, one of the largest mechanical-action organs in the world. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra plays here, and a seat in the cheaper tiers still gets you the room’s plywood and brush box interior.
- Joan Sutherland Theatre: This is the home of Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet when they perform in Sydney. A night here gets you the full pit-and-curtain experience, and the tapestry of the stage curtains is by John Coburn, whose designs hang inside this building.
- Bennelong Restaurant and Opera Bar: Opera Bar sits on the water’s edge at the lower concourse and is the easiest place to take in the shells with a drink in your hand, with the Harbour Bridge across the water. Bennelong, inside one of the smaller shells, is the pricey, splurge option for a pre-show dinner.
- Royal Botanic Garden walk to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair: The path from the Opera House along the harbor edge leads to the sandstone bench carved for the governor’s wife in the 1810s. From the point you get the classic frame of the shells and the Harbour Bridge together. It is free and takes about 20 minutes each way.
- Vivid Sydney light projections: During the annual winter festival, the sails become a canvas for huge animated projections after dark. It draws big crowds, so arrive early to claim a spot on the Circular Quay side or the Botanic Garden shore.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.