guide to visiting teatro colón buenos aires
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Visiting Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

A guide to visiting Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires

Post updated March 2024

I’ve been to Buenos Aires a few times. No, no, it’s not enough. It’s a lovely city full of attractions for anyone. If you have been following my travels for a while you might have stumbled upon a few posts that I have already written about this city. I guess I still don’t have enough of taking virtual trips back to Buenos Aires even though it’s been a couple of months since my last trip.

Every time I was going to BA I was getting questions ” Have you been to Teatro Colón yet?” and orders “You must go!” or “how come you never went?!”. Although the last trip was short, an afternoon in the theater was a must this time. Plan your day with this little guide to visiting Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.

“Buenos Aires is a city that needs an exclamation point after its name. And maybe all caps. BUENOS AIRES! seems to capture the city’s exuberant, exhausting, and beautiful urban buzz.”- source

 


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  • Get Your Guide is my place to go for searching and booking tours and excursions, especially when I travel solo.
  • World Nomads travel insurance. I like them because they have quite extensive coverage of different activities.
  • Jack’s Flight Club is a service that can save you hundreds of dollars on flights, it works especially well in Europe.
  • Trivago where you can search and save on hotels.
  • Go City is a perfect site for booking bucket list experiences and attractions all in one to avoid paying for multiple tickets. Easy and saves money.
  • Trip Advisor amazing for good quality recommendations.
  • Skyscanner is a perfect website for searching flight routes and comparing prices.

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guide to Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, Argentina

A few tips for visiting Teatro Colón

There is a big discussion going on on the internet recently that if you visit all the typical touristic attractions you are just one of those annoying tourists that tick off the boxes and you are not interested in learning the real culture of a place. Well, I think that everyone has the right to travel the way they want and discover the places according to their interests. And guess what?! Teatro Colón is a must attraction of Buenos Aires and I regret that I hadn’t seen it earlier. It is a truly amazing place. Starting from its history, social gatherings of the elite of past Buenos Aires, the years of building it and a legend of a curse, there is so much about it to fascinate you. So I hope you’ll enjoy gathering your tips and use them when you visit Teatro Colon on your next visit to Buenos Aires.


See also: 

7 short excursions from Buenos Aires 

Top 10 traditional coffee shops in Buenos Aires according to the locals

9 reasons why you can’t avoid falling in love with Buenos Aires

A quick guide to Buenos Aires- Paris of South America


guide to visiting teatro colón buenos aires

A little bit of history

It took nearly 20 years to build the theater. The process was far from smooth and easy. It took three architects to create it, two of them died during the works, at the same age, which resulted in stories that the third architect hired had to be older than that to avoid the curse of dying architects. The theater was eventually inaugurated in 1908.

Teatro Colón is also an opera house, which got so famous by its incredible acoustic properties and it’s considered to be of the best five opera houses in the world.  The most respected opera singers performed there and every single one was amazed by the sound there. Well…almost everyone. Luciano Pavarotti criticized the house stating that it is not perfect…because it is too perfect and any false notes would be immediately heard by the audience.


Some practical stuff

Where: Cerrito 628, Buenos Aires

Cost: ARS 18000 (approx. $ 21). Please note that the price in pesos can drastically change. When I wrote this post a few years ago, the entry fee was 250.

Schedule: From 9am to 5pm. New guided tour is starting every 15 minutes. If there is an afternoon show in the opera, the last guided tour will start at 3pm.

Even though it might not seem like it, Teatro Colón is a quite popular attraction in Buenos Aires and what comes with that? Well…huge lines. The tour groups are small, so you might have to wait. I went there early, waited to get tickets with an entrance time and went for a little snack and coffee…because who likes wasting time waiting in a beautiful place when we can enjoy every bit of it?

It is worth taking a guided tour in Teatro Colon

Check the website for details here.


Where to stay: If you are looking for a place in Buenos Aires, go here for some good deals, this is where we usually book our accommodation and never were disappointed.

 

Mindful moment:

As you might already know, mindfulness can be practised anywhere, anytime. If anywhere, museums and theaters are also great places for a little exercise. Mindfulness is not usually associated with theaters or museums, but you can engage with the art and appreciate the beauty of this of the building on a deeper level using mindfulness.

First of all, begin the visit with an intention to be present. Put away your phone and limit the number of photos (although it might be hard as the place is breathtaking). Realize where you are, listen to the story the guide is telling you.

While often people close their eyes during mindfulness exercise, in the theater have them open. Become aware of the interior, the colours, the materials used to build and decorate it. Do not rush, let yourself soak the beauty and the history with all your senses.

Thank you for visiting. Tell me, when you travel what interests you most? Food? Culture? People? What do you think about mindful traveling? I would love to hear your stories.

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Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, Argentina


Please note that this post included affiliate links, when you decide to purchase anything through these links I get a small commission at NO extra cost to you, it helps me to keep running this blog! I only promote products and services I use or would use myself. All images are the property of Postcards from the World and cannot be used without permission.

  1. The beauty of the architecture and decoration of this opera house is definitely worth seeing! So interesting about the architects and the sound quality they were able to orchestrate.

  2. I loved how you described the city that it should be in all caps with an exclamation point at the end – it does seem that way! The theater looks majestic with all the nooks and crevices covering every inch of the walls and ceiling. They don’t make buildings like that anymore.

    Sarah
    http://www.hitcontinue.eu

  3. What you said about Buenos Aires seems to be so true with this post. Nice bit of architecture, lighting, and effects. I like the mindfulness approach, need to be true to the moment you are in.

  4. I wish I had made the effort to make it here when I was in BA. I love that at the end of the post you suggest how to be mindful when visiting the theatre. Living in the moment is something I really struggle with, but I agree with you that taking lots of photos definitely takes you out of the moment! I took this to the extreme when I was in Vietnam and consequently only have 20 photos for a 3 week trip…maybe excessive in the other direction?

  5. Sounds like a wonderful place to visit. I haven’t been to Buenos Aires yet, but it is a city that facinates me. I also support what you say about typical tourist attractions. They become tourist attraction for a good reason, that is they are worth visiting, so those that are proud of not doing it are really the ones missing out. Travel how you like and don’t judge other for their choices. Unless their choices involve cruelty to animals – then judge.

  6. This place definitely looks very beautiful… when I visit BA this is definitely a to do list 🙂

  7. ¡Buenísimo el artículo sobre el teatro Colón de Buenos Aires!
    Una maravilla.
    Gracias, Anna, por tus comentarios y tus consejos. Cuando vaya la próxima vez a Buenos Aires (porque ya he ido muchas) no dejaré de visitar el teatro Colón. Lo he visto por fuera, y asistiendo a alguna ópera, pero nunca hice la visita guiada.

  8. reem zeyad says:

    Hi Anna, I am one fan of your great travel blog, I really enjoy reading about Buenos Aires, YThanks for letting us discover the hidden beauty of world, I like the destination you selected simply because Its great to know that at Buenos Aires is one of best opera house in the world in addition to the touristic and cultural attractions. Also I enjoy your photos

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