Most people believe that opera is one of those bad, expensive, grown-up habits. And there is no doubt that, if you have cash to splash, you can of course spend a great deal of money going to the opera.

However, if you don’t, it doesn’t mean you can’t come!

There is some opera which is free to everybody if you live in the UK. And there are basically four ways of going to the opera on the cheap:

• Be young – there are many schemes aimed specifically at those Under 30 or Under 35
• Be adventurous – the world of fringe opera is vibrant, exciting and extremely affordable; the touring opera companies often offer much better value than their stay-at-home counterparts
• Be quick – if you book early, i.e. within minutes of booking opening, you can pick up cheap tickets
• Be prepared to stand – standing tickets at the Royal Opera House tend to be £8-£12. A lot cheaper than £250 for a Stalls seat

The Royal Opera House offers an online guide to getting cheap tickets to their performances, which includes their excellent Friday Rush scheme (49 tickets released each Friday for the coming week).