Going to see a famous London musical is an unforgettable experience and something you must definitely consider when planning a trip to London, so it´s definitely good to know how to get your hands on cheap theatre tickets in London.
Every night, thousands of people flock to London’s theatre district in the West End to be entertained by a London musical or performances from around the world, and it´s no surprise, as London hosts some of the best musicals in the world.
Where to buy cheap theatre tickets for London Musicals and Theatre
There are several ways to buy cheap theatre tickets for London Musicals and Theatre. However, if you have a specific performance that you want to see, it’s always best to book tickets in advance, especially if it’s one of the more famous musicals.
Shows like The Lion King and Les Miserables are so successful that they still sell out every night, despite having been running for many years. Therefore, it’s good to know in advance, the best way of getting London musical tickets, so you’re not left disappointed.
Online ticket agents
We would always advice that the best way to get cheap musical tickets in London is through buying online in advance. There are several reliable websites where you can buy cheap tickets to musicals and other theatre performances throughout the capital.
When you buy London theatre tickets online you can easily compare prices and availability for several shows on your chosen date, plus you can pick your seats and pay by card which also means you don’t have to worry about bringing extra currency to buy cheap theatre tickets during your stay.
Buy tickets for London Musicals and Theatre
At the theatre box office
Buying tickets at the host theatre’s box office is often the most expensive way of buying London theatre tickets. Many people think that buying directly would be the cheapest way as it cuts out the middle man, but the truth is if they don’t have any special offers on, the prices at the theatre are often higher than elsewhere. Also, if you only go to the box office a few days in advance, most of the famous London musicals will already be sold out. Realistically if you’re going to buy through the theatre box office, we recommend that you do so a good few months in advance.
Theatre ticket booths
In and around Leicester Square, there are several theatre ticket kiosks and booths. You can’t miss them as they have huge signs promoting discounts on London theatre tickets, and here you can simply compare prices and availability at each one before making a decision.
If you’re lucky you might get last minute tickets for something, although it’s unlikely that this will be for any of the most-famous London musicals. We’ve tried a few times to get same day tickets this way but have never been successful, or even for a couple of days in advance. We’ve also checked prices for top London musical tickets for months in advance but found them more expensive here than the ticket website that we normally use.
Whilst these ticket booths are good for getting last minute tickets for lesser known shows or seats with restricted views, personally we don’t recommend them as we have never been able to get cheap London musical tickets for the shows we wanted.
Our recommendation on how to get cheap musical tickets in London
One of the things we love most about living in London is that we can easily have a night out at the theatre. We have been lucky enough to be able to see The Lion King, Memphis, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Commitments, Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, The Woman in Black, Billy Elliot, Kinky Boots and War Horse, so if you have any questions do get in touch!
Even though we live here, we still always buy our London theatre tickets online and well in advance, as this really is the best way to get yourself cheap theatre tickets to a London musical. As already mentioned, we have tried the ticket booths in Leicester Square on a couple of occasions, but with little success.
We recommend the online ticket agent LTD as they are the largest distributor of theatre tickets in London and actually supply the tickets to the other online agents. We have always found them to have the best prices and the great thing about their website is that you can see which seats are available for the show and the time you requested and select the seats that you like the most at the time if booking, which to us, is really important.
A step-by-step guide to buying cheap theatre tickets for London Musicals and Theatre shows
Here is an easy step-by-step guide to buying cheap theatre tickets for London:
- Go to our theatre tickets website
- Once you have decided which London musical you would like to see, click on the ‘Book Tickets’ button on the right of the screen.
- Next it will give you a calendar where you can pick your chosen date to see the timings of the performances, as well as the lowest price tickets available for that day. Most London musicals have 2 performances per day, with an afternoon matinee at 2.30 pm and the evening show at 7.30 pm. (Show times and frequency vary depending on the show and theatre).
- You’ll be able to view the interactive seating plan below where you can see available seats which are colour-coded according to price.
- Choose your desired seats. Your selection will show on the right of the screen with the total cost of your tickets. If you are happy with them, click ‘add to basket’.
- The next step is to fill in some personal details including your name, address, email and phone number. If you are entering a telephone number from outside the UK, don’t forget to put your international dialling code.
- You will then need to select your ticket delivery method. You will be able to choose from one of the following options:
- Box office collection: When you select this option you just need to print your confirmation email and take it to the theatre to collect your tickets from the ‘pre-paid tickets’ window – at least 30 minutes before the performance starts. This is the easiest way to buy theatre tickets for musicals in London and this method is free.
- International delivery: If you have bought tickets for more than 10 days in advance, you can choose to have tickets sent to your home. There is a cost for this option.
- Print at home: This is a good option as then you don’t have to queue up to collect your tickets on the day. This option is also free.
- Next on the checkout process is ticket protection. This is an optional additional payment to insure your tickets in case you are unable to attend the show due to illness or an emergency. If you do not wish to pay extra for this, simply choose – no I do not wish to protect my tickets.
- Once you have completed all the sections and filled in all the personal details, you will see that the ‘Complete your purchase’ button will have turned red. You can then check out or if you wish to look at seats and tickets for other shows or change your dates, choose ‘continue booking’.
- The next stage is to complete your bank card details. Click ‘confirm booking’ to check out securely and you will then have paid for and confirmed your tickets. You can use banks from outside the UK – no problem!
So, as you can see, it’s really easy to buy cheap theatre tickets for London Musicals and theatre shows before you travel to London. Choose to collect your tickets at the theatre box office so you can just pick them up on the day, then sit back and enjoy the show!
Going to the theatre in London without buying tickets in advance
If you decide on the day that you would like to see a theatre show or experience a London musical but haven’t bought tickets in advance, the best thing to do is to head to the theatre ticket booths in Leicester Square where you can check ticket availability for that day.
Theatre performances in London usually have 2 shows per day with the afternoon matinee taking place at 2.30pm or 4pm, and an evening show at around 7.30pm. If you walk through Leicester Square a little before the shows are due to start, you might find these ticket booths offering some very last minute offers and sometimes it is possible to get really cheap tickets this way. Most of the theatres are all located in the same area, so you can easily get there in time for the show.
The only thing with this method of getting cheap London theatre tickets is that there’s no guarantee that they will have availability for the show you want to see, especially if it is one of the more popular London musicals like the Lion King or Phantom of the Opera, as these shows often sell out weeks in advance. However, if on impulse you decide that you fancy a seeing a show that day and don’t mind what it is, the ticket booths are worth a try. Just bear in mind that you might also end up with a ‘restricted view’ seat, so just make sure you check this at the time.