When vacationing in New York, one of the things you must put on your “to-do” list is to take in a couple of broadway shows. Here you will get world class entertainment, but you need to be a bit savvy to be sure you catch the shows you really want.

With over 39 playhouses, there’s a lot of shows and some may be more to your liking than others. One thing you need to do is make sure there will be tickets available for the particular shows you want to see. Some very popular ones may be sold out in advance so you might want to get your tickets well ahead of time - even before you start on your vacation!

If you have children with you and you want to take them to a show, then you should make sure the theater as well as the particular show is child friendly. You can find this out by calling the theater or visiting their website. For children, a matinee show might be more appropriate and you can save some money as these tickets are usually a bit cheaper than evening shows.

Many deals for Broadway shows also offer a package deal of theater tickets along with a dinner package - this can be a great way to have a night out on the town.

One thing to think about when going to the theater is how you will dress. Evening shows tend to be more formal and you wouldn’t want to show up in jeans, so be sure you pick out something nice to attend the show with. The matinees are more casual, but you still want to dress nicely. Be forewarned that cameras and other recording devices are illegal to use in Broadway theaters and, of course, you will want to be sure to have your cell phone turned off during the performance.

Theater tickets can be quite expensive, but there are a few things you can do to help save some money. One of them is to got to a matinee instead of an evening show. Anther thing you can try is to get discounted tickets at the TKTS booth in Times Square where the tickets are half price. Of course, you will have to wait in line for quite some time here, but the savings might be worth it. Try checking out the website playbill.com where you can get a listing of when theaters are going to have discounted tickets.

Taking in a few Broadway shows while you are on vacation is a great way to get some culture into your life as well as see a famous play and experience the wonderful world of New York theater.