From the Brooklyn Bridge to its Prospect Park, Brooklyn offers one of the city’s best art museums, a zoo, an aquarium and an amusement park. Concentrate your time on a couple of areas for fun. As is the case with the rest of New York City, food is plentiful and good. Here are the top things to do in Brooklyn.
Top Things to Do in Brooklyn
Walk Through Prospect Park
Visit the Brooklyn Museum
Tour the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
See the Animals at Prospect Park Zoo
Tour the NYC Transit Museum
Walk Over the Brooklyn Bridge
Ride the NYC Ferry to Manhattan
Walk though DUMBO
Stroll through Brooklyn Bridge Park
Ride Jane’s Carousel
Visit one of Brooklyn’s Pier Parks
See the Sharks at New York Aquarium
Visit Coney Island
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Prospect Park
This 526-acre urban park touches the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Flatbrush and Windsor Terrace. A project of Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, of the Statue of Liberty fame, it opened in 1867, when Brooklyn was an independent city.
For Brooklyn residents, it’s their backyard, so visitors will see dogs, joggers, strollers and more. In addition to green space, Prospect Park is home to several institutions, like the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, the Prospect Park Zoo, the Litchfield Villa and the Boathouse.
Sporting facilities are also found in Prospect Park. During the winter, visitors will find an outdoor rink. There’s a 60-acre lake, plus courts and fields. You might even see horses, since there’s a 3.5-mile bridle trail in the park.
Be sure to check out Grand Army Square, located at Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue.
Located between Eastern Parkway, Washington Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Canton Avenue and Prospect Park West and Southwest. Open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. and free to enjoy.
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Brooklyn Museum
Next to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, this museum surprised me. In all honesty, it gets eclipsed by its Manhattan sisters. The 560,000-square-foot Brooklyn Museum is an art museum; however, it displays more than art.
It is New York City’s second-largest museum, and its collection totals over half-a-million objects. Established in 1823, the Brooklyn Museum is a Beaux-Arts masterpiece, designed by McKim, Mead and White.
Its collections are varied and include exhibitions ranging from Egyptian art and artifacts to contemporary American art. It also offers in-demand special exhibitions. In the entrance foyer, the towering KAWS: Along the Way is a wood sculpture. Another highlight is Woman in Gray (Femme en Gris) by Picasso.
Located at 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Adults $20, students 20 and older are $14, with those 19 and younger entering for free.
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Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Inside Prospect Park, this 52-acre garden is dedicated to natural beauty. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden includes more than 14,000 kinds of plants from all over the world.
Opened in 1911, the garden is open year-round and has plants for every season, plus several conservatories with tropical gardens and bonsai trees. Outdoors, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden features the Cherry Esplanade, the Fragrance Garden, the Rose Garden and more.
Located at 990 Washington Ave., Brooklyn. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (last entry 4 p.m.) Adults are $22, students 12 and older are $16, with kids 11 and younger entering for free. From December through February, it’s Pay What You Wish for Winter Weekdays.
Prospect Park Zoo
The 12-acre Prospect Park Zoo is on the Eastern side of the park. It is home to over 850 animals from 176 species.
Visitors can see dingoes, red pandas and the elusive Pallas’s cat. There’s also a sea lion exhibit.
Located at 450 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn. Open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from November until April. 5 p.m. for the rest of the year during the week and 5:30 p.m. on the weekends. Adult admission is $10.95, kids (3 to 12) are $7.95
NYC Transit Museum
In a decommissioned Court Street Station in Brooklyn, visitors can see the historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, like vintage trains. Find subway, bus, railway, bridge, and tunnel memorabilia too. There is an exhibit on how the subway tunnels were built in the early 1900s.
Located at 99 Schermerhorn St, Brooklyn. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed Monday and Tuesday). Adult admission is $10, kids (2 to 17) are $5. Exit Borough Hall/Court St.
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Brooklyn Bridge
Started in 1870, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first bridge to span the East River. Completed in 1883, its towers feature Gothic Revival Towers made of limestone and granite.
With its pedestrian walkway, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is a favorite for residents and visitors. In total, the Brooklyn Bridge is 1.1 miles long. You can take the ferry to Manhattan and Queens from DUMBO.
DUMBO
DUMBO stands for Down Under Manhattan and Brooklyn Overpasses, which is the area between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. This area offers a promenade, restaurants and a shopping district.
Take a stroll down Washington Street, a pedestrian-only zone, outfitted with outdoor furniture. The Arch Way under the Manhattan Bridge is another cool area to see.
There are art galleries and design spaces sprinkled throughout DUMBO. Another top space is the Time Out Market, a food hall.
During my trip, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. If that sounds arduous, take the NYC ferry from Manhattan for $4.50, available on the NYC Ferry App, and at Ticket Vending Machines located on NYC Ferry landings.
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Brooklyn Bridge Park
An 85-acre park along the East River, it offers a promenade that connects six Pier Parks, park spaces created from old piers. In total, this area features 500 trees, creating an urban oasis. This area offers epic views of Lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.
Brooklyn’s Pier Parks
Pier 1 is a 9.5-acre waterfront park, the largest of the pier parks, that combines public art, green and play spaces, a wide waterfront pedestrian walkway, plus dining and more. Travelers mingle with residents at the playgrounds and art installations, like Granite Prospect, a dramatic set of steps built from granite stones salvaged from the Roosevelt Island Bridge.
The green spaces include lawns for cloud spotting, a salt marsh with native plants and a water garden. Along the waterfront, Dining is a snap with the iconic River Cafe just under the Brooklyn Bridge, plus Luke’s Lobster and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
Pier 2 is dedicated to active recreation and features sports courts. Pier 3 is a green space with a lawn. At Pier 4, visitors can get on the water level with a beach and launch small non-motorized boats. On Pier 5, visitors will find large sporting fields, like soccer fields.
Pier 6 is features a collection of playgrounds, like Slide Mountain, Sandbox Village and Swing Valley. There are water features at the Water Lab.
Visitors will find picnic tables and an expansive lawn and seasonal wildflower meadow. From Pier 6, visitors can even see the Statue of Liberty.
Find a Grand Banks-style schooner built in 1924, moored at Pier 6. This is also where you grab the ferry to seasonal Governors Island.
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Jane’s Carousel
Built in 1922 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, Jane’s Carousel is a 48-horse carousel
Located at 1 Old Dock St., Brooklyn. Seasonal hours and days, however, open Thursday to Sunday year-round from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Tuesdays year-round), $3 a ride.
New York Aquarium
Opening in December 1896, the New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the U.S. It moved to Coney Island in 1957 and occupies 14 acres along the boardwalk.
The New York Aquarium is home to five major exhibits: Aquatheater, Conservation Hall, Sea Cliffs, Spineless and Ocean Wonders: Shark. Visitors can see 8,000 animals from 500 species, like sharks, rays, sea otters, octopus, jellyfish in
Located at 602 Surf Ave, Brooklyn. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Adult admission is $29.95 nonpeak, $32.95 peak, kids (3 to 12) are $25.95 nonpeak, $27.95 peak. Those 2 and younger are free.
Coney Island
Known as an entertainment district, Coney Island is also a neighborhood. A natural peninsula, it is most known for its boardwalk, a NYC landmark developed in 1923.
The Coney Island Boardwalk features a skatepark, a playground, a beach gym and the Steeplechase Pier, a 1,040-foot pier from 1904. There are two amusement parks: Luna Park and Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park.
Luna Park is the largest amusement park in NYC, with rides from extreme to mild. The first rollercoaster was installed in 1884, and the Thunderbolt still dominates. The Coney Island Cyclone is a wooden rollercoaster from 1927. The B&B Carousel was built in1906 by Coney Island-based manufacturer William F. Mangels, still in operation.
Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park with 21 rides, including its 1920 Wonder Wheel, an icon. This is also the home of the original Nathan’s Hot Dog Stand.
Where to Eat in Brooklyn
Time Out Market
Located close to the Brooklyn Bridge, the TimeOut Market features Ess a Bagel and Clinton Street Bakery for breakfast. Find burgers, Asian, pasta, Sugar Hill Creamery and more.
Plus, there are lots of tables. There’s a rooftop bar in the warm weather.
Located at 55 Water St. Open daily, breakfast vendors open at 8 a.m., otherwise 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday).
DeKalb Market Hall
In Downtown Brooklyn, the DeKalb Market Hall features 40 different eateries, like Katz’s Delicatessen and Soft Swerve Ice Cream, both of Manhattan fame.
Located at 445 Albee Square W, Brooklyn. Open daily, breakfast vendors open at 8 a.m., otherwise 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Grimaldi’s Pizza
Your destination for a coal-fired pizza. Make reservations for larger crowds since tables seating more than four are hard to get.
Located at 1 Front Street, and has locations across the U.S. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday).
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
This Brooklyn Heights favorite makes its ice cream in-house with traditional flavors.
Located at 14 Old Fulton St. Seasonal hours
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