How do you get cheap Broadway tickets?

Go on the day to the ticket booth under the red steps at the north end of Times Square, which sells unsold seats for that day's performances at a discount. The choice is whatever is left. For a particular show on a particular night, book ahead.

How many Broadway theatres are there?

Forty-one. A Broadway theatre is a professional house of five hundred seats or more in the Theater District or at Lincoln Center. Most stand within a few blocks of Times Square.

Is Times Square worth visiting?

For ten minutes after dark, yes: nothing else looks like it. It is not a place to eat or to linger. The reason to be in the district is the theatre.

How much time do you need for Times Square?

Allow 2.5 to 3.5 hours. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.

Number 9 of 20 in New York

Times Square and Broadway: the lights, then the show

Times Square is where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue at 42nd Street, and it is less a square than a canyon of electric signs. The reason to come is all round it: the theatres.

What it is: Show
Time to allow: 2.5 to 3.5 hours
Cost: Square free, ticket for a show
Best time: After dark, before an evening curtain

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Why Times Square is worth it

Until 1904 this was Longacre Square, a district of stables and carriage makers. That year The New York Times moved into a new tower at its southern end and the city renamed it. On 31 December 1907 a lit ball was lowered down the tower's flagpole at midnight, and it has been done every New Year's Eve since.

The theatres had begun to arrive by then, and they never left. Broadway today means forty-one professional theatres of five hundred seats or more, almost all in the streets either side of the square. Some of the musicals in them have been running for twenty years and more.

About fifty million people a year pass through. Since 2009 the roadway of Broadway itself has been closed to cars here and given over to tables, chairs and a flight of red steps where you can sit and watch the signs.

What to see

The red steps
A glowing red staircase at the north end of the square, on top of the booth that sells same-day theatre tickets. Climb it for the view down the whole length of the signs.
One Times Square
The narrow tower at the south end, wrapped in screens, from which the ball drops on New Year's Eve. It is the building The New York Times built in 1904.
A Broadway musical
The long-running shows are the easiest first choice: The Lion King, Wicked, Hamilton. Curtain is usually at seven or eight in the evening, with matinées on Wednesdays and at the weekend.
The old theatres
Walk along West 44th and 45th Streets, where the playhouses stand side by side with their signs lit. Many were built before 1930 and have kept their gilded interiors.

How to do it well

Book the show you most want in advance. For anything else, the booth under the red steps sells tickets for the same day at a discount.
The people in costume who pose for photographs in the square expect to be paid. Agree the amount first, or walk on.
Eat before you reach the square, or west of Eighth Avenue on Ninth, where New Yorkers going to the theatre eat.
Theatres are cold in summer and seats in the upper balcony are steep. Bring a layer, and check the view from your seat before you buy.
Come after dark at least once. The signs are the sight, and by day they are only advertisements.

Where it is

Address

Broadway and Seventh Avenue, from West 42nd to West 47th Street

Nearest station

Times Square-42nd Street (1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, W, S)

Museums and sights nearby

Distances are in a straight line.

Tickets and tours: Times Square and Broadway

Times Square and Broadway: common questions

How do you get cheap Broadway tickets?: Go on the day to the ticket booth under the red steps at the north end of Times Square, which sells unsold seats for that day's performances at a discount. The choice is whatever is left. For a particular show on a particular night, book ahead.
How many Broadway theatres are there?: Forty-one. A Broadway theatre is a professional house of five hundred seats or more in the Theater District or at Lincoln Center. Most stand within a few blocks of Times Square.
Is Times Square worth visiting?: For ten minutes after dark, yes: nothing else looks like it. It is not a place to eat or to linger. The reason to be in the district is the theatre.
How much time do you need for Times Square?: Allow 2.5 to 3.5 hours. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.

What visitors say about Times Square

Rating from Google

4.7

248,802 ratings on Google

Google's figures as read on 7 October 2026.

Read every review on Google

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