Oslo Opera House

The Oslo Opera House (Operahuset) is the home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and Norway's national opera house, standing in Bjørvika at the head of the Oslofjord. Its design by the Norwegian firm Snøhetta was chosen from 350 competition entries; construction ran from 2003 to 2007 and the gala opening took place on 12 April 2008. It is the largest cultural building constructed in Norway since Nidaros Cathedral was completed around 1300, and it won the culture award at the World Architecture Festival in 2008 and the 2009 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture.

The roof slopes down to ground level and forms a large plaza that pedestrians can walk up for panoramic views of Oslo. The lobby is surrounded by 15-metre-tall windows facing the water, and the interior surfaces are covered in oak in contrast to the white exterior. The horseshoe-shaped main auditorium seats 1,364 and is lit by an oval chandelier with 5,800 handmade crystals; two further stages seat 200 and 400. In the fjord beside the building lies the steel-and-glass sculpture She Lies. Guided tours cover the architecture, the art, stage technology, opera and ballet.

A guided tour of the Opera House lasts about 50 minutes, with a maximum of 25 people per group. Tours in English run on Saturdays and Sundays and start on the hour, so arrive ahead of time. A walk up the sloping roof plaza for the view adds time of your own, and attending a performance is a separate evening in itself. If you only want to see the foyer and the roof, a shorter stop fits easily into a day spent around Bjørvika, but the guided tour is the way to see the auditorium and the spaces behind the scenes.

The foyer is open Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 16:00 and on Sunday from 12:00 to 16:00, or until the end of the performance on performance days. The box office and shop keep the same daytime hours, staying open until the last intermission when there is a performance. The Brasserie Opera is open daily from 12:00 to 20:00 or until the performance starts. Guided tours in English run on Saturdays and Sundays, and their tickets go on sale every Tuesday in the same week as the tour.

A guided tour costs NOK 180 for adults and NOK 105 for children. On Saturdays when Opera for everyone: Saturday Song takes place, special guided tours for children are also offered. The Opera House no longer offers private group tours, and bringing your own translator on a tour is not permitted. Performance tickets can be printed or shown on a mobile phone; they can be exchanged up to the day before the performance, by phone or at the box office, and tickets for Sunday and Monday performances must be exchanged by the preceding Friday.

The Opera House is in Bjørvika next to Oslo Central Station. Many buses and trams stop in the area around Oslo Central Station, Tollboden and Bjørvika, as does the metro; Ruter's journey planner gives routes and stops. Bicycle parking is available along Operagaten and on the south side of the building. The closest car parks are at Sørenga, in Prinsens gate and at Oslo Central Station by the Airport Express Train terminal and taxi rank. Disabled parking spaces are in Operagaten north of the building, 150 metres from the marble bridge into the Opera House.

An entrance suitable for wheelchair users is by the main entrance, on the far left, and some wheelchair spaces in the auditoriums can be ordered through the box office. The cloakroom is unstaffed and items are left there at your own risk; lockable lockers take 10-krone coins or tokens from the ticket office. There is no space for suitcases, so use the baggage storage at Oslo Central Station for large items. Performances begin precisely and the doors are closed, so latecomers follow the performance on a monitor on the first balcony until they can be let in.