Kungliga Operan, the Royal Opera House, is Sweden’s national stage for opera and ballet, founded by Gustav III in 1773. Visit Stockholm dates its role as the national venue to 18 January 1773. The house is at Gustav Adolfs torg in Stockholm. Visitors can attend a performance or take a guided tour. Tours go backstage, into the royal rooms and to a view down into the orchestra pit. They introduce the opera house’s history and offer a glimpse of backstage life today.

The venue is home to opera soloists, the Royal Opera Chorus and the Royal Ballet. The opera house describes the Royal Ballet as Sweden’s only classical ballet company and one of the world’s oldest. Its orchestra, the Royal Court Orchestra, was founded in 1526 and is among the world’s oldest, according to the opera house. The programme includes opera and ballet, and the venue says it welcomes both adults and children. A performance lets visitors experience the house as audience members; a tour instead focuses on its history and backstage spaces.