Is the Sydney Opera House Tour Worth It? A Complete Review Of This Iconic Building

Planning A Visit To The Sydney Opera House

When it comes to landmarks that define a city (or even a country), few stand out more than the iconic Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.  This incredible structure sits on Bennelong Point on the southern edge of Sydney Harbour and rises out of the pier like shell-shaped giant sails.  

In this blog, we are going to explore this landmark in detail and help you answer the question: is the Sydney Opera House tour worth it? Due to the innovative interiors, the fascinating facts that you learn about the design and construction and the impressive halls that you visit, we certainly think it is!

What To Expect On A Tour Of The Opera House

Before taking a tour of the inside, it’s a good idea to have a look around the Opera House property and imagine why this location is so important. 

What Is The History Of The Sydney Opera House Location?

Long before the Sydney Opera House was ever conceived, the Aboriginal land it sits upon was the home of Woollarawarre Bennelong.  Bennelong was one of the first aboriginal interpreters for the British and a contemporary of Governor Arthur Phillip, King George’s representative in Australia.  

Bennelong lived in a brick hut built for him by Phillip in 1790 which was later replaced by Fort McQuarrie.  The fort was constructed beginning in 1817 and later demolished in 1901 to make way for a tram depot.  The tram depot lasted until 1958 when it was finally pulled down to accommodate the newly conceived Sydney Opera House.

What You Can Expect During The Tour

While you can purchase tickets for a tour of the Opera House at the ticket office, similar to other Opera Houses, like the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, we recommend purchasing your tickets ahead of time, especially in the high season to avoid the long queues.  

✅ This is a direct link to the tour that we purchased.

Be sure to arrive at least 15 minutes early because the walk from the entrance of the Opera House plaza to the ticket office is deceivingly long.  

When you arrive at the plaza, you will see signs directing you towards the entrance.  As you walk towards the Opera House, you will descend a flight of stairs and walk under the plaza towards the entrance.

Once you arrive at the entrance you will see the welcome centre kiosk where you can check in.  You will also be required to check in any bags as they are not allowed inside the venues.  

It is here where you will meet your tour guide and be provided with an audio receiver and headset that you will use throughout the tour to hear the guide.  Most groups range up to around 25 people.  

Once the group is ready to go you will be directed to an area to see a short film on the highlights of the facility.

From this point you will be guided through the various venues of this amazing complex. You may not be able to see all of the venues because some may be in use for setups, rehearsals and performances, but you will definitely be able to access a few.

You will also be instructed as to whether or not you can take photos depending on what is happening inside the venue. But whatever parts you see will be amazing.

Throughout the interior part of the tour, your guide will describe the key features and points of interest of the building and events including its history and popular performances.

Once you have had a chance to see the various venues, you will be taken to the end of the buildings to look out onto the harbour through the impressive glass wall that extends around the entire back.  

This gigantic slanting curved glass wall is built to look like the bridge of a ship in keeping with the structure’s maritime theme.  The wall is constructed from 2000 panes of glass that were imported from France.

After the interior part of the tour is done, you will head outside to view some of the special construction elements of the Opera House.  It is here that you will get an understanding and appreciation for the techniques and materials used to construct the facility.

We were quite amazed to find out that the Opera House is actually three separate buildings that are positioned in such a way as to give the whole structure a single, homogeneous appearance.  When standing between the two main buildings you can certainly understand why this area is fondly known by staff as “the cleavage”.

Since our tour included a meal and drink at the Opera Bar, we finished our tour by heading back up to the plaza and checking in to get a table.  While there is limited seating inside, there is plenty of seating outside on the plaza with stunning views of the harbour bridge and circular quay.  We found this to be a perfect ending for our Sydney Opera House guided tour.

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Why Was The Sydney Opera House Built?

During the 1950s, the New South Wales government decided that Australia needed a world-class cultural venue that would bring recognition to the country.  After deciding on the site of the new venue in 1956, an international contest was initiated to find the perfect design to house two venues: one for concerts and large music productions and the other for dramatic performances.

The design competition for the Opera House generated 223 entrants from 28 countries around the world.  A 28-page rule book was created to guide the designers, along with black and white pictures of Bennelong Point.  The winning design was submitted by 38-year-old Jørn Utzon, a little-known architect from Denmark.

What Is So Special About The Sydney Opera House?

Design

The Sydney Opera House is more than a venue for concerts and performing arts – it is a living sculpture that merges modern & ancient styles.  Not only is it a marvel to admire from an architectural and artistic perspective, but it is a bustling venue that operates at or near capacity for 363 days a year.

The design was quite controversial when it was first built since it represented an expressionist and sculptural approach to architecture rather than the rectangular modern architecture that was popular at the time.

Materials

The concrete roofs are covered in over 1,000,000 white clay tiles (120 square millimetres per tile),  These Swedish tiles are secured to over 4000 chevron-shaped panels to give the roofs their wind-filled shape.  

This intricate design was done to contrast the colours of the sky above and the sea below and to reflect the natural surroundings from the changing light throughout the day.

Construction

When construction first began in 1959, the cost of the project was estimated to be seven million Australian dollars with a completion date of January 1963.  The project wasn’t completed until 1973 at a cost of one hundred and two million Australian dollars.  It took more than 10,000 workers to complete the project and they didn’t use any safety harnesses!

Experience

The theatre acoustics are world class and are optimized for the various types of concerts and performances that the venue is home to.

Here are some other interesting facts about the design and construction:

• There are 17 different shapes of the glistening triple-glazed Swedish tiles that were used on the outside of the roofs
• 2000 panes of glass were used to create the large glass wall at the back of the Opera House
• The lobby is made from concrete with “ribs” to shore up the roof
• The remaining materials are native to Australia including all of the granite that was used
• The interior is reinforced using tons of steel cable

What Were The Challenges In Building The Opera House?

Part of the reason that the project took so long and cost so much was that the structure was designed from the outside in.  There were three main stages to the project -the foundation, the roofs and the interior. 

The foundation was constructed before the final design for the roofs was completed and it was not known what the total weight of the finished roofs would be.  This caused re-engineering issues later on in the project.

Additionally, Jørn Utzon ended up resigning from the project before the second stage (the roofs) of the Opera House were complete due to cost overruns and disagreements with the government on what to include in the design.

Unfortunately, Utzon decided to leave Australia when he resigned from the project and never returned to see the completed Opera House which he had put so much of his energy into designing and constructing.

The work was completed by a young Australian Architect, Peter Hall, who had to redesign the third and final stage (the interior) of the Opera House because Utzon had left no detailed diagrams and documentation for the interior.  In fact, the restaurant is the only place that was actually planned for in the design.

What was so impressive about the design of the Opera House were the incredibly challenging engineering feats that were required to build it, especially the roofs which alone took six years. 

It took sixteen attempts for Utzon to find a technique to build the curved roofs. He finally conceived of a sphere-like structure that was cut into the required shapes to form the curved panels. This was the first time that technique had ever been used.

What Are The Main Venues of the Sydney Opera House?

There are five main venues in the Sydney Opera House, though you probably won’t see all of them during the guided tour as some of them may be in use.  

The two main theatres are the Concert Hall which has a seating capacity of 2700 with rear seating (2100 without rear seating) and the Joan Sutherland Theatre which has a capacity of 1500.  

The other theatres include the Drama Theatre (550 seats), the Playhouse (400 seats) and the Studio Theatre (360 seats). 

FAQs

How Long Does It Take To Visit The Sydney Opera House?

The basic tour is one hour long. There is also a backstage tour that runs early in the morning for approximately two and a half hours.

In combination with the standard tour, you can book a ticket that includes a meal and a drink at either the Opera Bar or House Canteen.  We chose a meal at the Opera Bar and it was delicious. It was a nice treat to enjoy our lunch there after the tour.

Wondering About The Best Way To See Sydney Opera House?

The absolute best way to see the Opera House is to take the tour. It was extremely informative and really gave some interesting insights about this amazing building. We loved our time exploring the inside.

Go to a performance. There are many types of performances throughout the year. Once we had done the tour we knew we needed to hear the acoustics so we went to see Sunset Boulevard with Sarah Brightman as the lead. The play was fantastic and it was very special to see a performance in the Joan Sutherland theatre.

As mentioned there are several dining venues available onsite so you can enjoy a meal there.

At a minimum, you can walk around the outside of the building. You can get close to see the architecture by going to the entrance doors and you can enter the lobby without a ticket. Also, be sure to see the building lit up at night. It is stunning!

Sydney Opera House Tours

We enjoyed the standard tour. You can check out this link to purchase the same tour we did.

The Final Word – Is The Sydney Opera House Tour Worth It?

The Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s most recognizable iconic structures and Sydney’s premier performance venue.  We truly feel the tour of the Opera House is one of the must things to do in Sydney.  Not only will you get a chance to see the inside of the building, but you will learn what makes this living sculpture such a special place.

We highly recommend a tour of the Sydney Opera House on your visit to Sydney, Australia.  It is definitely worth it!