Where shall I go?
First things first: Where do you want to go? Well, if opera's your goal, there are lots of options. The Opera-L City Files, created by members of the Opera-L mailing list, give histories and descriptions of the opera companies and facilities in a number of world cities (currently including London, Brussels, San Diego, and Dallas, among others). The file for each city also includes hotel and restaurant information and links to visitor's bureaus, bed and breakfast listings, etc.
When shall I go?
Next question: When's the best time to go where you're going? From the opera standpoint, the best way to decide is to look up the schedule for the local companies. First, check out Operabase's lists of opera houses and opera companies, complete with brief descriptions and, when available, links to the companies' web sites. There's a link to the Operabase list on the CORPUS Index page.
Once you've picked a company, you'll want to know what's playing, presumably. The aforementioned Operabase listings also include upcoming schedule information for many companies. If your destination is in the United States, you should also check the OPERA America Schedule Database. For British or Italian companies (and occasionally others), you can read reviews and news from The Times of London and Corriere della Sera on Operabase. (For example, if you were planning on attending the Royal Opera in London in 1999, don't; the entire season has been cancelled.)
Finally, when all your opera plans have been made, pop on over to Preview Travel to make all your plane reservations right online. Bon voyage!
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