Review by Ben Berg

This past weekend, I went on a tour of the Sydney Opera House with my friends. It was an hour long guided experience, exploring many rooms, and discussing architecture and important history, with an exclusive screening prepared for the tour.

At the beginning of the tour, you’re given a pair of headphones so you can follow along with everything the tour guide is saying, not missing anything, even in the crowded or busy areas with lots of noise! The tour is not a ton of walking, though there are some stairs – but you’re welcome to take the elevator if you need to.

Our tour guide informed us of the rich history behind the design and building of the opera house, including the surprisingly interesting story of creators of the space (which I’m not going to spoil!), and its intended function as a much-needed place to connect and experience the arts.

Throughout the tour, there’s emphasis placed, also, on the structure of the Opera House, including its brutalist architecture, the large organ which took many years to build and tune, and the special design choices that enable the best views and acoustics, as well as choices that help the dancers to perform their best (like the specially designed floors on the stages), and even more. There’s so many tiny details and so much thought that went into the design of the Sydney Opera House to make it perfect, so it’s wonderful to get to be guided through everything you’d likely miss on your own. The building truly is beautiful inside and out, and I learned a ton in the time I was there.

The views from the inside are stunning, thanks to the tilted glass panes, which were designed with functionality in mind — the tilt allows us to see the harbor outside. During the tour, we stopped in multiple performance spaces, where we unfortunately were not allowed to take pictures in order to protect the privacy of the people who were rehearsing for their future events (it was very cool to witness, though! chances are, if you go on the tour, you might get to see some famous people practicing, too, like I did!).

After the tour was over, we stopped by the gift shop, where I picked up a postcard. Additionally, we were given the opportunity to talk to the folks at the box office to purchase tickets to upcoming performances. Then, we exited through the main entrance, close by many restaurants to eat lunch, as well as the perfect place to take pictures.

Overall, the tour was great, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the Sydney Opera House, or anyone who just wants to take pictures and make some good memories!

Date of the event: 22 June, 2025

What: Guided tour of the Sydney Opera House

More information: click here to find out more about booking your own guided tour!