I would like to attend an opera in Europe.<BR>Where is the best (most beautiful) opera house?

I haven't been to all of them (but those I've been to were all impressive), but I have to think that the Vienna opera house is the most impressive (I say this as someone who does not particularly like Vienna, so give it extra points).

The opera house in Budapest is said to rival the one in Vienna. We did not see a performance, but we did take a tour and it is incredible.<BR><BR>OTOH, if you are the Habsburgs and you rule the Austro Hungarian empire and your Imperial city is Vienna, well you just might make it the best!<BR><BR>US

How do the opera houses in Vienna and Budapest compare to the Opera Garnier in Paris?

Haven't seen them all, but I'd have to think that the SemperOper in Dresden is right up there at the top.

Of course, I've not seem them all either but my favorite is the Prague State Opera House in the Czech Republic.<BR><BR>It doesn't have balconies, it has four stacked up tiers of boxes all the way around. It has a red velvet interior with crystal chandeliers. <BR><BR>It was the kind of opera house I remember from movies I would see as a kid.

Good luck getting tickets! We tried for months prior to our trip and couldn't, but did get ballet tickets in Paris. I think the old Paris opera house ((Garnier) is gorgeous, as is the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona. You can try getting tickets on the Internet for Paris at opera-de-paris.com. Sometimes you can get tickets the day of the performance if you go early. Good luck,<BR>Paula

Hint re: opera tickets: have your hotel concierge obtain them for you. We tried to get tickets to the SemperOper in Dresden and the KomischerOper in Berlin with no luck. Our hotel concierge was easily able to obtain tickets for us, front and center, at the stated price printed on the ticket. Well worth their tips!

The Garnier is the nicest I've been to. Verona is about to start their opera season. The shows are put on in their Roman ampitheater, which looks like an excellent venue.

I liked Budapest and Prague a lot.I saw the inside of La Scala in Milan but could not get a ticket for an opera there.<BR>Not the most beautiful but very interesting is the opera festival in the small Irish town of Wexford.They revive old operas there in September and the whole town is involved-you can attend operatic scenes and music outside of opera time.See www.wexfordopera.com