Royal Opera House
Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD
Royal Opera House Tickets
Ballet to Broadway: Wheeldon Works
Royal Opera House
Tickets from £26.00Experience the breathtaking choreographic style of Christopher Wheeldon in Ballet to Broadway: Wheeldon Works at the Royal Opera House. Four distinctive ballets from Fool's Paradise, The Two of Us, Us and An American in Paris will make this an awe-inspiring production to watch.
- Opens: Friday, 9 May 2025
Booking until: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
- Playing at: Royal Opera House
- Booking until: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Faust
Royal Opera House
Tickets from £48.00One of the most popular operas from the 1860s to World War II, Faust will be presented by David McVicar in spectacular style. Described as "seductive as it is damning", it plays for a limited season in the grandeur surroundings of the Royal Opera House.
- Opens: Friday, 23 May 2025
Booking until: Tuesday, 10 June 2025 - Running time: 3hr 25min. Incl. 1 interval.
- Playing at: Royal Opera House
- Booking until: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Onegin
Royal Opera House
5 1 review 5 1 review Tickets from £41.00John Cranko's lavish ballet adaptation of Alexander Pushkin's verse novel Eugene Onegin is set to Tchaikovsky's soaring music. Explore unrequited love, rash decisions, and bitter regrets at the Royal Opera House for a limited time.
- Opens: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Booking until: Thursday, 12 June 2025 - Running time: 2hr 30min. Incl. 2 Intervals.
- Playing at: Royal Opera House
- Booking until: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Royal Opera House
Tickets from £64.00Christopher Wheeldon's unique theatrical interpretations of Lewis Carroll's beloved story heads to the Royal Opera House for the first time since 2011. Supported by ballet scores of the 19th century, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland features an explosion of colour, stage magic and captivating choreography. A perfect dose of entertainment for the whole family awaits you!
- Opens: Friday, 13 June 2025
Booking until: Saturday, 28 June 2025 - Running time: 2hr 50min. Incl. 2 intervals.
- Playing at: Royal Opera House
- Booking until: Saturday, 28 June 2025
Carmen
Royal Opera House
3.3 3 reviews 3.3 3 reviews Tickets from £98.00French composer Georges Bizet's beloved opera Carmen is set to play at the Royal Opera House. With its fascinating blend of passion, sensuality and violence - this is a great production for devoted opera fanatics and people who want to be introduced to a timeless piece.
- Booking until: Thursday, 3 July 2025
- Running time: 3hr. Incl. 1 interval.
- Playing at: Royal Opera House
- Booking until: Thursday, 3 July 2025
Semele
Royal Opera House
Tickets from £48.00In a new production which hasn't been seen for over 280 years, Semele is an opera which tackles the themes of power and privilege. Directed by Oliver Mears, follow how Semele's love for Jupiter introduces her to luxury and leads to total destruction. It heads for a limited run at the Royal Opera House from June 2025.
- Opens: Monday, 30 June 2025
Booking until: Friday, 18 July 2025 - Running time: 3hrs. Incl. 1 interval.
- Playing at: Royal Opera House
- Booking until: Friday, 18 July 2025
Il Trovatore
Royal Opera House
Tickets from £53.00Adele Thomas will direct this co-production with Opernhaus Zurich to capture the thrilling story of love, revenge, and fate at the iconic Royal Opera House. Hailed by the Opera Gazet as "one of the most fascinating works of Italian Gothic romanticism, Il Trovatore will run for a limited season from February 2025.
- Booking until: Saturday, 19 July 2025
- Running time: 2hr 55min. Incl. 1 Interval.
- Playing at: Royal Opera House
- Booking until: Saturday, 19 July 2025
Royal Opera House Facilities
- Air conditioned
- Bar
- Disabled toilets
- Infrared hearing loop
- Member of Q-Park scheme
- Restaurant
- Toilets
- Wheelchair/scooter access
Royal Opera House Location
Travel Information
Nearest Tube station
- Covent Garden
- Leicester Square
Nearest Rail Station
- Charing Cross
Tube lines
- Piccadilly
- Northern
Day buses
- (Aldwych) RV1, 6, 11, 13, 23, 59, 68, 87, 171, 172, 188, X68
Night buses
- (Aldwych) 6, 23, 188, N11, N13, N26, N47, N68, N87, N89, N155, N171, N551
Royal Opera House history
From the outside
The Royal Opera House is the impressive official home of the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet and features a striking pillared façade. Inside it is equally magnificent with its unusually deep stage, huge orchestra pit, horseshoe shaped seating and beautiful pale blue and gold ceiling dome.
Royal Opera House architecture and history
The Royal Opera House was built back in 1732, first named the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. Winning a coveted theatrical patent from the King, it was allowed to perform dramas, the only theatre at the time to do so apart from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
It was built using the enormous profits from a particularly successful and popular production of The Beggar’s Opera. The composer Handel debuted many of his new musical compositions there during the 1700s and loved the venue so much he left his organ to the venue in his Will. Sadly, it was destroyed by a fire in 1808. And the piano forte, a revolutionary instrument of the times, was first heard at the Royal Opera House building in 1767.
Another fire caused considerable damage in 1857, after which the venue raised the costs of tickets to pay for restoration. This caused the famous Old Price Riots, which eventually led to entrance fees being put back down to reasonable levels!
In 1843, when the practice of restricting drama performances was finally lifted, it was renamed the Royal Italian Opera, translating many non-Italian operas into Italian. In the late 1890s it was finally renamed The Royal Opera House, adding operas from France and Germany to their repertoire.
During World War One the Royal Opera House was used as a furniture store. In the Second World War it played its part by hosting dances, as a public dance hall. After the Second World War the famous Sadler’s Wells Ballet company took over, in hand with the new Covent Garden Opera Company.
Restored beautifully at huge cost during the 1990s, today the Royal Opera House is one of the most popular performance spaces in London. It also houses a fascinating collection of operatic costumes and other collections, in an ambitious project to catalogue every single performance there since its opening in 1732.
Past shows at the Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House has staged every imaginable opera, from obscure oddities to household name operas like Carmen and La Boheme. It has also hosted stellar performances by The Mariinsky Opera, The Mariinsky Ballet, The Kirov Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, La Scala Ballet Company and any more.
Royal Opera House access
There are as many as 19 wheelchair spaces in the main auditorium, in the stalls circle, grand tier, balcony and upper amphitheatre. Plus at least one wheelchair space and companion seat for sale from 10am on the day of the performance.
Royal Opera House tickets
We’re a great destination for a wide variety of seat types and prices, with excellent availability on the full range of Royal Opera House tickets.