Best Things to Do When Visiting Times Square

Our list is long enough to fill your entire vacation at just Times Square. No matter how long you have, you can have some guaranteed vacational fun here.

Bryant Park: The locals call this 9.6-acre measuring public-park, the Town Square. Sitting pretty at 6^th and 5^th Avenue and 42nd and 40^th, St Thomas Dongan’s design foresight today provides for loads of free fun and activities. Precious garden and breathing space amid the iconic tall skyscrapers, clean restrooms, a skating rink, the merry-go-around, the lovely sitting and dining spaces with chairs and tables on the lawn, a reading-room filled with story-telling sessions and picture books is bound to provide a relaxing and memorable time to people from all aspect of life. The New York Public Library is situated right next-door too.

Imagine discovering sea lions, turtles, the huge 50 ft whale, inking squids or deep diving amid the coral and kelp reefs right at Times Square, New York. The 60k sq ft encounter will leave you gasping for breath in a simulated AVR under-water environment. That’s what you will discover using the National Geographic’s dedicated centre at the Times Square with extra-large screens, smart 8k animation-photographic effects, video mapping and interaction enabled latest technology. Take the dive and have a whale-of-a-time as you feel, see and hear what lies beneath the placid waters.

Feel like a giant at this interactive immersive 50k sq ft miniatures museum. Marvel at the efforts of the over 200 crafts persons who have put together a virtual, immersive and engaging experience using technology that is truly believable and feel-able. Be it the airports, naval lochs, cities or the 5 continents, all of them come alive at Times Square, New York like nowhere else!

Take those selfies with wax-versions of your favourite superstars, sports legends, musicians and leaders. The 85k space of the Madame Tussaud’s wax-museums opened here in 2000. The original London based 1884 works are now available at over 20 intercontinental locations and is spread over 5 floors with many interactive and latest hyper-real experiences like the Marvel Superhero 4D and Ghostbusters-Dimensions.

Remember those billboards and digital signboards at Times Square from the New-Year’s dropping the ball ceremony? This 363 ft 25-floor skyscraper was home to The New York Times between 1903-13 and was designed by CLW Eidlitz. It remains the focus of attention as the most unique, historic and expensive piece of real estate, though mostly unoccupied.

The ever-popular Ripley’s Believe-it-or-Not is an unbelievable and unusual museum of 2 floored, 20 theme-based galleries filled with 500 globally unique artifacts, jump-out-of-your-skin interactive exhibits and gory stuff like the Tibetan skulls. Try playing baseball or lose yourself in a black hole at the virtual-realistic themed exhibits of Ripley’s at Times Square, New York.

It’s for free and participating in the show’s filming has lines of people vying for tickets. The Daily Show is no longer hosted by Jon Stewart the comedian, but films everyday Mondays to Thursdays between 6 and 7:15 pm at the studio based out of Hell’s Kitchen on 733 11th Ave. Make your advanced reservations and collect your tickets at the location on the day of going live.

Participate for free in the CBS production of The Late Show, a popular talk-show with Stephen Colbert, taped Mondays to Fridays at the Ed Sullivan Theatre of NBC Studios. The tickets lines are unbelievable as the waitlists go long usually queuing up to 2-months in waiting participation.

The luxurious iconic 1906-Knickerbocker Hotel designed by John Jastor in Times Square has a re-imagined modern interior. A Beaux arts-themed façade and is replete with luxury linen, free Wi-Fi, modern furniture, designer toiletries, luxury bathrooms and well-stocked minibars. The elegant high ceilings, spacious rooms, a rooftop bar and cigar lounge, a sporty gym, in-room salon and beauty services, and exemplary room-services make a stay here well-worth remembering.

Download the Free Tours by Foot app and do a walking-tour of Times Square, New York with its instructions. You can use the hop-on-hop-offs and find the places you want to, on foot, spending as much time as you want to. The map on the app is real-time, printable, interactive and does not have audio instructions. The nice part is for you to decide what places, and in which order you wish to explore them, from the alphabetically labelled stops a to z.

Times Square, New York provides you a chance to witness some amazing performing arts theatre, opera, puppetry, circus, dance and more in a 1900 building, known as the Theatre Republic which was carefully rechristened and furbished in 1995.

The non-denominational church, bought in 1991 at Times Square is popular and located at what was the Mark Hellinger Theatre at 237 W 51st St. Every Friday has a service for the young between 12 and 29 led by pastors and elders. Every week they have daily services and Sundays has four at 10 am, 1 pm for the new in the faith and 3 pm teaching worship.

Everyone loves the 20-50 per cent lesser-priced tickets at the TKTS booth of Times Square, New York. Check their website for scheduled events and show your encouragement for the Theatre Development Fund. Expect the lines to be long since the tickets sell fast for daily events.

Food and a sports bar are the attractions at Dave and Buster’s chain of food outlets. Let your hair down and try the super cocktails, 20 beer taps or the premium bar while you watch HD TV with surround sound at the Times Square New York outlet. The Belgian waffle sliders, chicken crispies and smoked on apple-wood bacon are all-time favourites with the regulars to this pub. Spend some time bowling, playing billiards or electronic games like Fireteam, Raven and Halo.

Participate in the Jimmy Fallon’s talk show at Studio 6B, Rockefeller Center for free. The daily tapings of this 2014 re-live of the NBC’s iconic Tonight Show had Jimmy Carson as its host till 1972.

Admire the view from the 67^th, 70^th and 69^th floors of the Rockefeller Center. The first ocean-liner themed deck has the radiance wall and a gift shop while the second deck called the Breezeway is outdoors and overlooks the Times Square, New York. The topmost deck is free from glass enclosures and open-to-the-sky. All of NY’s landmark skyscrapers can be seen from up above!

This Times Square’s 16 roomed, 3 floored Escape-Room game, thrives in the ideal virtual environment to outwit the system in the biohazard laboratory, The Penitentiary, and the Time Travel Room X. Find the clues in 70m and escape safe from the rooms spread over 3200 sq ft at 325 West 38^th St and 2^nd.

Buy your highly discounted New York City Explorer Pass card and enjoy the day tours and sights of Times Square, New York cited below.

The outlets at Times Square of Woodbury Common Premium is a thrifty and highly discounted VIP shopping choice for labels like NIKE, Burberry, Prada, Coach, Lacoste and much more.

The 75m Stage Door Tour allows you to explore special theatre objects, a picture with the global star Rockette, areas with special effects, and more at Radio City.

MoMA is for the art-lovers with contemporary paintings, modern arts, sculptures and everything related to artists and their offerings in the current age.

This 75m interactive excursion led by professional comedians provides for some light moments as you explore Times Square, New York Public Library, Grand Central Terminal and the vast Central Park.

The 5^th and 6^th Avenue tour focuses on the 19 commercial buildings and the Rockefeller Center, its winter skating rink, Radio City Music Hall, Comcast building, Top-of-the-Rock building and more.

If you thought you could only vacation at Times Square during the day with sightseeing, you are wrong. The 24-hour open Times Square has much more to offer than any other destination especially during the night. You can take in an opera show, go bowling at Bowlmor, play billiards, have a drink in the Rooftop Lounge, or even shop in the all-night stores. Watch the billboards and people going by, take a walking-tour, and see the webcam footage of what is happening at Times Square for free. At Times Square, it is never too late to have some fun.

The comics fans at Times Square, New York will love superhero, the vintage and modern comic books, collectables and sci-fi memorabilia enchanting at the 200W 40^th and 7^th, 8^th Avenues store. They are open through week 8 am to midnight and on Sunday’s noon to 8 pm.

It’s fun and entertaining to be at any of the comedy clubs at Times Square late at night, enjoying the fun and sarcastic raunchy humour at Caroline's or the Broadway Comedy. Most shows last 90mins to 2 hours and are naughty fun in nature.

We have just seen the attractions of Times Square. It’s now time to shop, eat and discover the nightspots. You are spoilt for food options at Times Square New York. Here are some to try depending on your budget.

The City Kitchen is a food market at Times Square where you can get tacos, sushi, ramen noodles, burgers, desserts, doughnuts and other street food. Open from 6 mornings to 9 at night there is ample seating and the prices are moderate. Cheap ones are those charging 5-10 USD/person and include the Moaz Falafel and Grill, Shakeshack, Chipotle and Patzeria Pizza. For inexpensive dining starting from 10-20 USD/person try the outlets like Schnipper's, Piccolo Café, Ponsri Tai and the Times-Square Diner. Want to have a bash at 20-40 USD/person? Try Tolache, Virgil’s, Carmen’s and John’s Pizzeria for family dining with reservations.

You can also opt for expensive ones at like the Hunt and Fish Club, Aureole, Sushi-by-Bou or dining in the famous restaurants row on 46^th St and 9^th and 8^th Ave where over 20 established restaurants like Beccos, Le Rivage, Yelp or Hourglass Tavern offer a global variety of fine dining experiences including the prixe-fixe pre-theatre menus.

Most stores at Times Square are open till 10 pm with many until midnight. So, shop till you drop, and enjoy the time of your life at Times Square. Looking for clothes? Try H&M, Superdry, ASICS, Gap, American-Eagle Outfitters, Old Navy, Levi’s, Forever-21 Mega Store, and the NHL powered Reebok outlets. Don some makeup at MAC-Cosmetics, Sephora or Inglot. If your kids are around, take them to Disney Stores, M&M’s World, Disney Stores or the Midtown Comics.

Stay involved with the activities at nighttime by checking out the seasonal and special events at Times Square. Here are some activities at Times Square that are special to the nights.

The New-year Ball dropping is one special moment to welcome the New Year at Times Square New York. Between 11:57 to midnight, the SYNC-synchronization of the digital billboards happens for three very special minutes. Take a pic at the Times Square New York with the iconic ‘Naked Cowboy’ Robert John Burck who plays country music in an itsy-bitsy cover. Hug your favourite cartoons, superheroes or just watch the street performers till late at night.

Seen the Times Square, New York skyscrapers, billboards and crowd entertainers in the movies? Discover its many attractions yourself with a walking tour. Times Square is not your regular square. It is a neighborhood in Mid-Manhattan carved out of the 4 quarters stretching from Broadway to the 7-Avenue. North-South it stretches between the 52^nd and 40^th streets and east-west from 6^th and 8^th Avenues. Getting to Times Square from no matter where in New York or Manhattan itself is easy. All you need to decide is whether to use the buses or subways. So, here’s a list of both that can help you get there.

A/C/E to 42 Street Station, F/M/B/D to 47-50 STS – Rockefeller CTR Station, N/WR to 49 Street Station, 1 to 50 Street Station, C/E to 50 Street Station and 1/2/3/7/S to Times Square – 42 Street Station.

M7, M104, M20 uptown/downtown, M5 uptown, M42 crosstown both directions and M50 westbound.

Just buy yourself the right card for the Metro and get easy with subway navigation and public transportation in New York. Use the passes that offer tourist discounts and the hop-on-hop-off buses will help you travel around Times Square, New York so you can actually stop by whatever interests you most.

The Times Square New York, trip can be listed well but needs oodles of time to discover as pointed out in the listicle of attractions. Tourists should always follow certain basic rules like making skip-the-line reservations, using the services of guides and day-tours, buying the most-discounted travel passes, wearing sensible walking shoes and so on. Ideally, one can spend 2-3 days discovering Times Square New York or make a quickie day-tour to acquaint yourself with the destination and just have some fun when on a business trip. Times Square just has so much to offer, that perhaps you will end up spending your entire vacation here!