13 Essential Taylor Swift Eras Tour Concert Tips

Here are 13 Taylor Swift Eras tour concert tips (yes, 13 – see what I did there?) to help you have the most enjoyable Eras tour experience.

You’ve secured your tickets, found the perfect outfit, and memorized the setlist. What more do you need to do to make your Eras tour concert the best that can be?

I just got back from the Eras Tour Kansas City Night One and it was absolute BLAST. I will admit I wasn’t a Swiftie prior to the show (don’t come at me), but by the end of the concert, I was an emotional wreck (I can’t put into words how impressive Taylor was) and a fully converted Swiftie. But I do have to give props to my Swiftie-for-life friend who took me to the concert, as she did DEEP research prior to the concert to make sure we had the best time. And now, I’m going to pass along some of that wisdom to you.

13 Taylor Swift Eras tour concert tips to help you have the most enjoyable Eras tour experience

1. Get to your hotel as early as you can to secure your room

If you’re coming in from out of town, get to your hotel EARLY. You’ve probably seen the nightmares on TikTok of girls whose hotel rooms weren’t ready for them until after the concert so they’re left getting ready in a random hotel bathroom or lobby. That was not going to be us. Our hotel’s check-in time was 4:00, but we called, requested early check-in, and even took a room downgrade to get into a room that was available when we arrived at 11 AM, and it relieved so much stress. Especially if your city has multiple back-to-back shows, this is going to be even more important.

2. Have a plan for parking

If you want to be early to the concert and have a pass to park at your venue – pay attention to what time the parking lot opens and arrive an hour before that. Our parking gates were scheduled to open at 2:30 – we rolled up at 1:30 and there was already a line, and it got significantly worse QUICK to the point where it was blocking all traffic and they opened the parking gates early. We were happily in a great parking spot with plenty of time to Taylor-gait before 2:30 even struck. Having that time to relax, have a few drinks outside the stadium (to avoid paying $$$ on drinks inside), and mingle with others was super nice.

3. Get in on the friendship bracelets

Listen – if someone told me I was going to be deep into friendship bracelet making at age 31, I would have been confused too, but once you’re at the concert, having a stack of friendship bracelets to trade with others is the easiest way to make friends and start conversations with new people! It almost feels like a currency inside the concert. You will feel left out if you don’t have any.

Tip: If there are certain bracelets you don’t want to trade, keep them on a separate wrist from those you are willing to trade. This makes it easy to say “Pick whatever from this wrist!” and keep your favorites safe.

4. If merch is important to you, make a merch plan of attack

If you are on a merch mission – obviously be on top of parking so you can get in the stadium when it opens to get in line and have first dibs. If you don’t want to go this route – the second strategy would be going to the top level of your stadium where there will (likely!) be a shorter merch line vs. the merch stands closer to the entrances on lower levels. If you’re with a group – pick a line then send others to scout out other lines (and available items, not all stands have everything). We waited about 45 minutes – the line goes quicker than you’d think!

5. Stick to the women’s bathroom lines

Lines go quick – and at our concert, they turned some of the men’s restrooms into women’s. The caveat to this – men’s restrooms usually have fewer stalls, so those lines moved a lot slower. You might be better off waiting in a longer women’s line that moves faster!

6. Invest in a good clear purse with a good strap

Most stadiums will have a clear bag policy. You could get the first one that pops up on Amazon, but I would highly recommend reading reviews, looking at pictures, etc. I am so glad I went with this one because not only is it cute, it’s good quality so I now have a go-to option for future events and (my favorite part) it has great strap versatility. You can adjust the strap between shoulder length or crossbody. Always nice to have the option!

7. Pack your purse, check it twice

I packed my purse in a rush out the door and forgot my poncho which I was so bummed about. Once I realized it, I was so focused on “how could I have forgotten that!” and procuring a recycle bag from someone to build a makeshift poncho from. Thankfully, I didn’t end up needing it – but still. It never feels good to forget something!

8. Check the water policy

At our venue, you were allowed to bring one unopened bottle of water up to 20 oz in with you, and there were places to refill it once inside. This was huge! Not only did this help save money, but it also helped me make a healthy choice + stay hydrated (though the disco ball cocktails did look adorable).

9. Wear comfy shoes

I won’t lie, I was a little jealous of all the girlies in their sparkly knee-high cowgirl boots or high heels going into the concert. But after the concert – I’m not exaggerating – girls were dropping like flies, having to sit on curbs to take their shoes off and walking barefoot or in their socks. While I felt bad for them, I’m SO glad it wasn’t me. My trusty favorite white shoes gave me zero problems and were definitely the right choice.

Sidenote: I would encourage you to also think comfy thoughts when selecting your outfit! Ex: I know sequins would make me irritable after 12 hours, so I went for a comfy romper (so many people had this similar version from Amazon in lavender that I wish I had known about!).

10. Make the most of lines – there will be lots of them

Even with the best of planning, you will be in many, many lines. Make the most of it by getting to know the people around you, trading bracelets, and having games in mind to play. We saw a few groups of friends playing Heads Up/similar games and they were having a blast despite being in some of the world’s longest lines.

11. Take lots of pictures and videos

Emphasis on the videos. You never know what you might catch on camera (I caught Taylor Lautner’s backflip!), and the videos are SO much fun to watch in the days following the concert. I tried to get one video per era to remember the outfit/set changes!

Bonus: Look to see if the city you’re in has any extra photo ops around town. Kansas City had several balloon displays with marquee letters inside Union Station + an honorary Taylor’s Version street sign the intersection of Swift and Cornelia Street which we conquered the day after the concert! Bring bracelets to said external photo ops – the bracelet trading doesn’t stop after the concert!

12. Equip your phone for success

Two recommendations: First, my favorite portable charger – this one plugs right into the wall the charge, lasts forever, and has all the different charger types built into the sides so you don’t have to carry a bunch of cords in your purse.

Second, I would recommend some kind of pop socket/loopy attachment to help you take more stable videos (and for me, we were first row on a balcony so it made sure I didn’t drop my phone over the ledge into the abyss). If you have a mag safe case, I would highly recommend this phone finger loop + stand or this magnetic pop socket especially if you don’t love the idea of a permanent handle on your phone (I don’t love the look so appreciate having the option of taking it on/off as needed – I’m a magnet charger girlie). The magnet is super strong and secure!

Tip: Don’t leave your phone at a random concession stand (unfortunately speaking from experience…thank goodness Swifties are angels and I was reunited with it within an hour!)

Tip to the tip: Make sure everyone in your group knows your section/seat number in case you get separated – phone reception will be spotty or nonexistent, so knowing where to meet in case you get lost or disconnected could become important!

13. Have an exit plan for after the concert

We forgot to take note of which exit to go out of at the end of the show relative to what section our seats were in and ended up leaving the stadium via a different gate than we came in, then got lost in crowds trying to get back to where we parked, which made us get to our cars later, more time waiting in traffic getting out – you get the picture. In hindsight, we would have benefitted from having an exit plan!

Tip: Consider leaving yourself something to drink + snack on in the car for the ride home. Traffic will be inevitable, so making yourself as comfy as you can is all you can do to make it less miserable!

@whatnatisdoing

Eras Tour Kansas City Night One was simply incredible 💕 So thankful to @Skylar Bjork for having me come – I wasn’t a Swiftie before, but I most definitely am now! 🫶 #erastour #erastourtaylorswift #erastourkc #erastourkansascity

♬ original sound – taswiftclips

That’s a wrap on my advice! If you’re reading this – I hope it’s because you’re headed to an Eras show yourself, and I hope you have the absolute BEST experience!

And if you’re just reading this to fact-check my advice (no judgment) – I’d love to hear your own Taylor Swift Eras Tour tips for anything I might have missed, or things you’d recommend doing differently.

Long live! (Is that a thing Swifties say? …still new here!)