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Home/3. DESTINATIONS/3.1. MOSCOW/

Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow: tickets and guided tours

It is possible to visit Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater in two ways: either you buy tickets to attend a ballet or opera performance, or you take a guided tour in English.

I'm going to talk about ...

  • Introduction
  • 1. Bolshoi Theatre:  Historic Stage, New Stage and Beethoven Hall
  • 2. How to buy tickets for the Bolshoi theater in Moscow
  • 3. Guided tour of the Bolshoi Theatre
  • 4. Dress code when attending a performance
  • 5. Dine at the Bolshoi theater
  • 6. Alternatives to the Bolshoi theater

Introduction

If you are visiting Moscow, you are very likely to go to the famous Bolshoi theater. The visit can be done in two ways:

  • Buying tickets online in advance to attend an opera or ballet.
  • Take a guided tour in English to the historic building organized by the theater itself every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, or a private tour.

1. Bolshoi Theatre:  Historic Stage, New Stage and Beethoven Hall

To understand better the process of buying tickets online, you must bear in mind that in the Bolshoi theater performances take place in 3 different areas:

  • Historic stage. It is the main historic building dating from 1856, in which operas and ballets are performed.
Historic-Stage-of-State-Academical-Bolshoi-Theatre-1024x770
  • New stage. It is in a building near the historic area, but more modest and modern, and was originally built to house the performances when the main stage was being restored. In this stage, operas and ballets are performed in the same artistic quality. However, you will not have the opportunity to visit the historic building.
New-Stage-of-State-Academical-Bolshoi-Theatre-1024x766
  • Beethoven Hall. At the entrance of the historic building is the Beethoven hall, which is used for concert programs.
Beethoven-concert-hall-in-the-Bolshoi-Theater

During the online ticket purchase you will get the indication of which stage it is. The advantages of the new stage are cheaper tickets and greater availability as demand is lower.

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To visit both stages I recommend visiting the Google virtual tour of the Bolshoi Theatre.

2. How to buy tickets for the Bolshoi theater in Moscow

To purchase tickets the best thing you can do is go to the theater’s official website (English version available).

Tickets usually go on sale in about 2 or 3 months in advance (the website will inform the date that the tickets will go on sale online, you must pay attention).

The season usually ends at the end of July and starts again during the first weeks of September.

Prices can range from 300 rubles for the cheapest location, up to around 20,000 rubles. To purchase you have to follow these steps:

1. Register at the Bolshoi Theatre official website:

1 Bolshoi Theatre Moscow - Buy Online tickets

2. After completing the form you will receive an email with your username and password with which you can access your account: http://tickets.bolshoi.ru/en/orders/

2 Bolshoi Theatre Moscow - Buy Online tickets

3. Go to the address http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/timetable/ to see the performance programs: they are organized by date and the stage in which they will be performed (Historic Stage, New Stage or Beethoven Hall). It also indicates if there are electronic tickets (“Buy e-ticket” button), whether all the tickets have been already sold (“Sold out“) or whether they will go on sale (“Coming soon“).

3 Bolshoi Theatre Moscow - Buy Online tickets

4. Choose the performance and click “Buy e-ticket“. This will take you to a screen with the plane of the building and you can select your locations (the ones available will be displayed in green):

4 Bolshoi Theatre Moscow - Buy Online tickets

5. After selecting the tickets you just have to enter the name and pay by VISA or Mastercard. After it you can print the e-ticket:

5 Bolshoi Theatre Moscow - Buy Online tickets

If you were unable to get tickets on the theater’s official website, you can always try buying on other sites authorized by the theater, such as Parter, a great ticketing platform for all kinds of shows in Russia. The purchase process is done in Russian, but using the automatic translator is not difficult to do. Enter in the search box: Большой театр (Bolshoi Theater).

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Ticket-sale-Bolshoi-Platform-Parter-1024x546

3. Guided tour of the Bolshoi Theatre

Another way to visit the Bolshoi Theatre is a guided tour of the historic building. Thus, the theater itself organizes guided tours every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday visits. It costs 2,000 rubles and the visit lasts more than one hour.

Guided tours take place at 11:00 (Russian) and at 11:30 (in English). During the theater holiday period there are no guided tours.

Guided tours of the Bolshoi theater in Moscow

The tickets can’t be bought online. You must buy the ticket the same day of the visit at the sales desk of the historic theater building (at door 12). Since the tours are limited to 20 people per group, it is advisable to arrive early in the morning.

Excursions-Bolshoi-Theater-in-Moscow-1024x699

It is also possible to visit the Bolshoi through a 2-hour private guided tour, through the GetYourGuide platform. For a group of 6 the price is about 50 dollars per person.

Moscow 2–Hour Legendary Bolshoi Theatre Historical Tour - GetYourGuide

4. Dress code when attending a performance

There is no specific dress code to go to the ballet or opera. All you need to know is that you have to be well dressed, but there is no obligation to wear a suit and tie or a gown. You can go even well dressed in jeans. The only thing is not to go in shorts or T-shirts or in torn jeans. You can see more details in the website of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre (see screenshot below).

In winter, keep in mind that coats, jackets or bulky clothing must be left in the theater’s cloakroom.

Dress code-opera-ballet-Russia-Bolshoi

5. Dine at the Bolshoi theater

For dinner on the day of the opera you have two options:

  • Have a quick meal during the performance break in the opera cafeteria.
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Comida entre actos en Teatro Bolshoi de Moscu
Comida entre actos en Teatro Bolshoi de Moscu 2
  • After the opera or ballet, you can go to a nearby restaurant. A good option is to dine at the Bolshoi restaurant, with typical Russian food, where if you present the ticket of the day, they give you a 10% discount (you can make a reservation from their website). I also recommend afterwards to see the Red Square illuminated at night.
Bolshoi Novikov restaurant

6. Alternatives to the Bolshoi theater

The Bolshoi season begins throughout the month of September and ends in late July. Therefore, in August, when most people travel to Moscow, there are no representations. In these cases you have other alternatives:

  • Attend an opera at the Novaya Opera.
  • Attend a ballet at the Kremlin Palace.

Another good alternative (from June 15 to September 15) is to attend the Russian folk dance show of the Russian National Ballet “Kostroma” at the Folklore Theater (Olimpiyskiy prospect 14).

La imagen tiene un atributo ALT vacío; su nombre de archivo es Kostroma-Folclore-ruso-Moscu.jpg

In St. Petersburg you can also attend some opera performance in the famous Mariinsky or Mikhalovsky theaters.

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Written by:
Irena Domingo
Published on:
June 19, 2020
Thoughts:
6 Comments

Categories: 3.1. MOSCOW, 5. Entertainment and shows, STEP 6. Tickets to shows

About Irena Domingo

Hello, my name is Irena. I was born in Russia in 1974 during the Soviet era. I worked as a Russian teacher and as a translator and interpreter for the past 20 years. One of my main hobbies is traveling. I started this blog with one aim: to create the most comprehensive guide ever written for traveling to Russia and beyond.

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Comments

  1. Duc C Nguyen

    January 9, 2020 at 2:55 am

    Hi Irena,
    I really want to attend a Bolshoi ballet. Are there shows in June or July?

    Reply
    • Irena Domingo

      January 9, 2020 at 6:20 am

      Shows usually end in July

      Reply
  2. Ivan

    August 7, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    Hi Irena, love your blog, has convinced me to go to russia!!

    I have a question – do tickets to ballet shows get booked out quickly? I arrive in moscow from 13-16 Oct, when do you suggest I get tickets for a ballet? A week out? The day before?

    Thanks verry much

    Reply
    • Irena Domingo

      August 10, 2017 at 12:13 pm

      1-2 months in advance

      Reply
  3. Ken Richards

    April 29, 2017 at 1:53 am

    Hi Irena,
    This request is not related to the Bolshoi, but to the Nikulin Circus. I can book tickets through the ticketlan.ru website, even having successfully registered. Unfortunately, the credit card payment is continually rejected. Do you have any advice. We could of course wait until we arrive and book at the box office. Cheers, Ken

    Reply
    • Irena Domingo

      April 29, 2017 at 10:27 am

      I do not know, try another credit card

      Reply

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Hi, I’m Irena Domingo. I was born in Russia in 1974 during the Soviet era. I started this blog with one aim: to create the most comprehensive guide ever written for traveling to Russia and beyond.

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