Glyndebourne

Glyndebourne is a manor house set in the Sussex countryside a few miles outside of Lewes whose owners a 100 years ago became obsessed with opera hosting performances for family and friends. Eventually these became so popular the house was not suitable so they built a world-class modern opera house on the site with seating for 300. Tickets for the summer season are extremely hard to come by (and quite expensive) though the whole experience is absolutely amazing with first class artists and orchestra. The beautiful grounds are well worth a look in as well with opera performances featuring a “long interval” of 2 hours when you can have a picnic in the gardens or dine in their wonderful restaurant (there is also a small, rather expensive, souvenir shop). This is truly a classy place in every sense of the word.

In 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic the grounds were opened up for visitors to simply picnic (for an entrance fee) or attend a music concert in the gardens. With this it is easy to practice social distancing yet take in the beauty of the site though, sadly, not the interior of the auditorium.

If you are visiting, you really need a car (there is a free car park) though bus shuttles from the Lewes train station are provided during performances.