4 of us will be in Paris in mid October this year. I'm wondering if we need to book tickets for a concert at Notre Dame ahead of time. And should we book the Opera Garnier tour put on by the opera house ahead of time?
Thanks!

I only took that tour once (of the Opera), and I didn't book in advance, but it was in French and they have a lot more of those, so I'm not really sure. My gut feeling is that I don't think that's necessary, you can get one on-site easily enough without booking in advance. Right now, for example, they have at least 50 tickets available for tomorrow and about 70 for Sunday.

I don't know what concert at Notre Dame you are talking about, they have some that are not cheap, and you probably can buy walkup tickets as it is huge anyway, and they aren't likely going to be sold out, I doubt I have to some in other churches (like the one on Isle St Louis). Their organ recitals are free, of course.

The only concerts I see scheduled there are on Oct 2nd and Oct 9th, there aren't any in mid-October. those cost 29-44 euro, depending on category. Those are around 8 pm, I think. The first one has a program I personally would not be interested in (something by Kodaly and two works by their own choir organist), but you might, and the second doesn't even have a program announced yet, but it's soloists, not instrumental, apparently. I'm not sure why you want to hear a concert in ND in particular, as you can find many all over Paris during Fall season, and often cheaper than that. For example, they have concerts at St Merry church all year that are free, and are quite good. For example, here is one in mid-OCtober, I find that program much more interesting, but if you want organ recitals, you can hear those free at ND.

DIMANCHE 21 OCTOBRE 2018 ? Tristan LEGRIS, piano et Marie ROQUETA, flûte ? Accueil Musical

Have you been to a concert at St. Chapelle? If not, that’s the one I’d go to. Maybe easier to get into in October but still I’d book ahead. Fantastic surroundings. Close to NDame.

Also we enjoyed a Vivaldi concert at La Madeleine near the Opera house. Excellent but we still like St. Chapelle better.

We booked an English tour of Opera Garnier ahead of time. English tours fill up fast but again, you might have better luck walking in during October. We are usually there in Sept. The opera house is something not to be missed IMO.

You can book an English-speaking tour of Opera Garnier on Viator — tickets are $18.04 each. Don't know how that compares with walk-up prices.

https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/visits/visit-and-explore

The Opera Garnier is open for individual visits most days. A multi-media (so they say) recorded guide can be rented. Backstage is off limits but some facilities such as the library can be visited. The Garnier is now the home of ballet.


Opera Bastille, main facility for operas, is sometimes open for guided tours in French. The main auditorium, like the exterior facade, is rather brutally modern. The backstage, a major part of the tour, is a marvel of engineering, with five rolling stages to speed up scene changes.

The link above includes ticket information.

I would book ahead for the English tour of the opera house - highly recommended . We had to hand over passports as a security - handed back at end of tour .

Thanks for the good information. We’ve been to Paris many times but are bringing friends who’ve never been. We’ve been to Vivaldi concert at St. Chapelle, which was wonderful, and to an opera performance at Bastille. No ballet at Garner we’re interested in during our dates, plus I think we’d see more of the building and learn more history by doing a tour instead of a performance - and much less money! I don’t want to plan too much and hesitate to get tickets in advance as we like to be flexible.
There’s a concert at ND oct. 16&17, Paris Chamber orchestra. Still thinking about it.
We’ve done Viator in Rome and both tours were great, so will consider that and those done by Opera Garner itself.