If Vienna, Austria, is in your travel bucket list, you are going to stumble across the Vienna State Opera sooner or later in your planning. I am a native Viennese and while my world does not revolve around arias and opera premieres, I have been to the Vienna opera house a couple of times.
While most of my non-Austrian friends don't rank the opera top on their things to do list in Vienna, I usually give them five reasons they should spend a night there :
1. The Vienna State Opera is great for opera amateurs. Our opera house director loves traditional settings and operas with catchy tunes, from Strauss and Mozart operas to works from Rossini and Verdi. It is likely that one of the 'easy' operas is on during your stay. If you have kids, introduce them to the world of opera while in Vienna.
2. The state opera is equally popular with locals and travelers, and a firm part of Vienna culture. Visiting the opera means you get under the skin of Vienna and join local life, much more so than joining an Austrian dinner show for tourists, for example.
3. The Vienna State Opera is a good opportunity to go elegant. While you don't need black tie and a formal evening dress to attend a performance, dress up smartly and celebrate the evening.
4. Opera tickets in Vienna are cheaper than you may think. You can get in for a couple of Euros for stance tickets. There is equally no need to go for the most expensive tickets to secure a great evening. Most of the times, middle-of-the-road seats (balcony) will do excellently. Booking Vienna opera tickets is not easy, as opera performances sell out 98% on average, but can be done without going on the official waiting list (it's easy to fall off, I can tell you.) Screen a few serious ticket service providers. While they sell tickets with a mark up, they can help you save money by advising on cheaper available seats, and they deliver bookings on the spot.
5. During the early summer you can go really easy if you want to: Between April and June, you can watch live open air opera performances on a large screen just outside the Vienna State Opera. For free. Make sure you arrive there early with a picnic blanket - you will sit on asphalt.
If there is no opera performance during your stay, try Vienna's three other opera houses, such as the more modern Theater an der Wien, the very popular and family friendly Vienna Volksoper (great for operettas), and the Wiener Kammeroper (small and intimate).
