Sightseeing in Australia: Sydney Opera House

The Opera House seen from Sydney Harbour Bridge

While visiting Sydney the one spot you'd definitely don't want to miss is the world famous Sydney Opera House. Of course you can see the magnificent building for free for instance by walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but the Opera House is definitely worth seeing from the inside as well. At the Opera House they have performances running every day throughout the year, as well as guided tours of the building. We decided to go for the last alternative.

First, some historical facts: The man behind the design was the Danish architect Jørn Utzon. The unprecedented design did not qualify for the final round at first, but thanks to one of the judges who arrived late and demanded to look through all the scrapped alternatives Utzon's design got another chance, and was eventually chosen. The building process did however take a lot longer than expected, and the opera house was finally opened in 1973 after 16 years of construction. 

The project had taken many years longer than expected and far exceeded the budget. As a result Utzon received a lot of complaints and eventually had to pull out of the project. He never returned to see his masterpiece finalized. 

There is however a happy ending to the story. The Sydney Opera House Trust later contacted Utzon and appointed him a design consultant for future works on the building. Further, the Opera House was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. The Australian opera house is the only building that has been recognized as a World Heritage Site while its architect still was alive. 

The city seen from the Opera House

After having seen the building up close from the outside we booked a guided tour of the Opera house which took us backstage and into the various rooms of the building. Here is what it looks like:

With the bride reflected in the glass window

Great view of the bridge

Another photo of the bridge reflected in the Opera House

The roof of the Opera House is covered with more than one million tiles

The Opera House originally had a $AUS 7 million budget, but the project ended up costing around $AUS 102 million. However, considering the the millions of visitors who come to Sydney to visit the Opera House every year there's no doubt that it turned out to be a great investment.. It sure was a fantastic experience to visit the Opera House!


For more information, check out:
The Sydney Opera House

All blog post from Australia

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.