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MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

A Guided Tour of Carnegie Hall

An hour inside the city's most famous concert hall, from Stern Auditorium to the Rose Museum's artifacts.

Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall seen from the stage, a grand piano in front of the red seats and five gilded tiers rising to the oval ceiling
Photo: Jeff Goldberg / Esto, courtesy of Carnegie Hall

More photos

  • Carnegie Hall's brick and terracotta facade lit gold at dusk on the corner of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, flags over the entrance
    Photo: Jeff Goldberg / Esto, courtesy of Carnegie Hall
  • Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall seen from an upper tier, with its gilded balconies curving toward the stage
    Epicgenius · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

For more than 135 years Carnegie Hall has been the stage every musician wants to play, and its one-hour guided tour is the way inside without a concert ticket. Guides cover the hall's history and the secrets of its famous acoustics, walk you through sections of Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, show rare musical scores in the Composers Gallery and finish among the artifacts of the Rose Museum, with little-known stories of legendary performances along the way. Because the hall is busy with performances and rehearsals, tours don't go backstage or onstage.

Tours run Monday through Saturday through much of the concert season, and times for the following week are posted on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Tickets are $25 for adults and $23 for students as of October 2026, plus a $5 service charge online or by phone; the Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue sells walk-in tickets too. Tours leave from the Box Office lobby. There's no bag or coat check, and bulky backpacks and roller bags aren't allowed in the auditorium. Tickets are non-refundable, though the hall will try to exchange them.

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Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 19, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.