Brooklyn, NY Road Trips

The borough of Brooklyn is coterminous with Kings County—the counterpart of Queens County to the north—but hardly anyone calls it that except in occasional official correspondence. Brooklyn was once a separate city independent from the City of New York. The cities merged at the end of the nineteenth century, forever after lamented by some Brooklynites as "The Great Mistake of 1898." Although Brooklyn is very diverse, what makes Brooklyn so different from the other boroughs are its distinct cultural neighborhoods. Manhattan is frequently referred to as "the city" by residents of the other boroughs — for example, in the phrase "I'm going to the city." Many Brooklynites have a great deal of pride in their borough, and most New Yorkers consider Brooklynites to have an identity distinct from that of other New Yorkers. In any case, remember while speaking to Brooklynites that referring to Manhattan as "the city" is acceptable but calling Manhattan "New York City" is not. Brooklyn Tourism & Visitors Center, Historic Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon St, Ground Floor (at Court St; Subway: 2/3/4/5 trains to Borough Hall, M/R trains to Court St-Borough Hall, or A/C/F trains to Jay St-Borough Hall), ☏ +1 718 802-3846. M-F 10AM-6PM. Official tourist and visitor information center and gift shop with unique Brooklyn souvenirs.

See the Districts articles for more listings. Downtown is where you'll find the one of the most famous of all New York landmarks: the Brooklyn Bridge, which connects the borough to Lower Manhattan. Grand Army Plaza marks the gateway to Prospect Park, and is home to the distinctive Soldiers and Sailors Arch. Coney Island is a hotspot during the summer season. One could go for a day and enjoy the beach and beach vendors, then at night visit Luna Park and ride rides for a cheap price or watch a game at the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball field. Among the attractions is the Coney Island Cyclone, one of the world's oldest and still operating wooden roller coasters. Prospect Park is home to the Brooklyn Museum, NYC's second largest art museum. Downtown is home to the New York Transit Museum. Bedford-Stuyvesant and Flatbush are home to the Brooklyn Children's Museum and the Jewish Children's Museum, which is the largest Jewish-themed children's museum in the United States. Williamsburg is home to the Hogar Collection. Prospect Park was designed by Olmsted and Vaux, who also designed Manhattan's Central Park but preferred their Brooklyn creation. Adjacent to the park is the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a 52-acre garden that is home to more than 10,000 taxa of plants. Both are covered in the Prospect Park district article. Marine Park is a public park that is in the Marine Park neighborhood and surrounds the westernmost inlet of Jamaica Bay. It has about 800 acres and has a bike path, handball court, shuffleboard court and playground.

See the Districts articles for more listings. The Brooklyn Academy of Music and Bargemusic in Downtown are both excellent options for concerts. During the summer season, Prospect Park hosts the Celebrate Brooklyn concert campaign every weekend in the Bandshell area of the park. There are also many concerts at churches and synagogues (for example in Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope), as well as at colleges (such as Brooklyn College and New York Technical College). Check the listings in newspapers like the New York Press and Village Voice, which also have websites. Coney Island is home to the Brooklyn Cyclones, the New York Mets' single-A minor league baseball team. In basketball, Brooklyn has been home to the NBA's Brooklyn Nets since 2012, and is home to the New York Liberty of the WNBA (women) in 2020. Both teams play in the Barclays Center in Downtown. The Cyclones' home of MCU Park is also home to Rugby United New York, a team playing in Major League Rugby, the top level of rugby union in the US and Canada. There are a number of great places to walk for excellent views of Manhattan. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge—or if you prefer, the Manhattan or Williamsburg Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge itself is beautiful, and the view is splendid. You can also walk along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade or under the Brooklyn Bridge into the DUMBO neighborhood to get amazing views of Manhattan overlooking the East River. 1 Adventurer's Family Entertainment Center. , 2 Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, 3059 W 12th St, ☏ +1 718-372-2592.

See the Districts articles for more listings. 8th Avenue (or Third Chinatown), stretching from 40th Street to 62nd Street, holds its own against Canal Street and Flushing. Fancy gourmet restaurants to alleyway noodle shops, Malaysian to Vietnamese and fare from every Chinese province, the neighborhood has it all. Closest subway is the N-line's '8th Avenue' stop on 62nd and 8th. Along 7th/5th Avenue in Park Slope, one can find any type of cuisine from Italian, to Mexican, to Japanese and even Fish and Chips. This part of Brooklyn has plenty of Zagat-reviewed restaurants that are sure to please any type of craving and tastebuds.

See the Districts articles for more listings. Williamsburg — This is the capital of NYC's hipster scene. There are plenty of bars along Bedford Avenue. Many of New York's small music venues are found here. Bay Ridge — This neighborhood has one of the highest concentrations of bars in the city! The neighborhood has been generally Irish/Italian and does not have the hipster/yuppie scene common in New York. Park Slope — This neighborhood is the yuppie capital of New York and you are more likely to find a tea house serving soy milk than a bar here. Young couples pushing strollers is a common sight. There is some low-key nightlife, although this has been on the decline. A number of lesbian bars are in this area.

See the Districts articles for more listings.

From Manhattan Most lines pass through Downtown Brooklyn and stop at Atlantic Avenue - Barclays Center, the largest subway stop outside Manhattan. From here, you can transfer between 2 3 4 5 B D N Q R and get to almost any destination in Brooklyn. You can also walk about two blocks north of the station to find Fulton Street G and Lafayette Avenue C stations. To use these, however, you have to pay another fare or have an unlimited rides card. For northern parts of Brooklyn, the L crosses into Williamsburg and Bushwick, then continues further east. The J Z M lines will get you to those same neighborhoods but a bit further south. From Queens There are four lines you can take to get directly from Queens to Brooklyn. The G snakes from Long Island City through Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn before ending near Prospect Park. Although it's seemingly the most direct route from Queens to Brooklyn, the service is notoriously slow and irregular, to the point where sometimes it's faster to get to Brooklyn through Manhattan. The A goes from the Rockaways in Queens, connecting with the JFK AirTrain at Howard Beach, and through the eastern edges of Brooklyn into Bedford-Stuyvesant and Downtown Brooklyn before continuing in Manhattan. The J Z go from Jamaica in Queens (accessible via AirTrain from JFK) into Bushwick and Williamsburg. The M travels from central Queens to Bushwick and Williamsburg, but on weekends its service terminates at Myrtle Avenue, requiring a transfer to the J for further service into Williamsburg and Manhattan.

The subway is overall the best way to get around Brooklyn, although there are some spots, notably Red Hook and parts of East Brooklyn (including most of the tourist attractions), where subway coverage is poor and bus transportation is encouraged. Using Google Maps transit directions is an easy way to get accurate directions throughout Brooklyn (as well as the rest of NYC). However, do check the MTA website for service changes, as Google Maps tends to miss out on those. You can also use the subway map on MTA website or pick one up for free at a station agent's booth. Brooklyn is well served by some 18 subway lines. The biggest hub is Atlantic Avenue - Barclays Center. There you may transfer to most subway lines in Brooklyn, 2 3 4 5 B D N Q R . In addition, the Fulton Street stop on the G line and Lafayette Avenue on the C line are close by, but require exiting and re-entering the subway system. Broadway Junction in Bed-Stuy and East New York is a minor hub between A C J L Z lines, which don't stop at Atlantic Avenue. Transferring there can be useful if you're going to Northern Brooklyn. Coney Island is a major hub for D F N Q lines—it's possible to do a "loop tour" of southern Brooklyn by changing there. For example, taking the D to Coney Island and then the F back to Downtown (both elevated lines) will provide great views of residential Brooklyn. Brooklyn has an extensive bus grid that proves very useful in accessing places where subway doesn't stop.

Brooklyn may have a tough reputation, but it is largely safe as of 2026. Just exercise normal precautions such as being aware of your surroundings and putting your wallet and phone in your front pocket, and you're very likely to be fine.