Guides / Brooklyn
GuideThings to do in Brooklyn
Brooklyn, the way people who live here do it: waterfront parks, brownstone streets, food worth crossing the bridge for and bars worth staying for. Best first.
What to see
Best firstParks, streets, museums and the places you came for.
9.8Coney IslandA boardwalk, a wooden roller coaster from 1927, and the Atlantic at the end of four subway lines.9.8Prospect ParkA wilder, more rural Central Park — the same designers, a decade later, on land they liked better.9.7Barclays CenterGo for a Nets game: a cheap weekday seat up top, a loud Brooklyn crowd, and dinner and drinks before or after instead of inside.9.7Brooklyn Heights PromenadeA third of a mile of cantilevered walkway with the entire skyline laid out in front of it.9.7Brooklyn MuseumA huge collection next to Prospect Park, and no one's in line.9.7New York Transit MuseumA real 1936 subway station, closed since 1946, with twenty vintage cars parked on the platform.9.6Pier 3, Brooklyn Bridge ParkA local escape into greenery, with art installations you find rather than get shown.9.6The Manhattan Bridge LookoutThe bridge with Manhattan sitting perfectly proportioned behind it — and far fewer people than the famous corner.9.6Williamsburg BridgeThe one to walk. Impeccable views from both sides, and a subway running straight down the middle.9.5Manhattan BridgeRolling thunder. Walk it at sunset, stand in the right spot, and feel the subway come through the steel.9.2Fort Greene ParkOlmsted and Vaux on a hill, with a 149-foot column on top of a crypt.9.2Louis Valentino Jr. Park and PierThe closest straight-on view of the Statue of Liberty you can get standing on land.9.1Cobble Hill ParkAn acre of brick paths and benches that works as somebody else's front garden.9.1Love LaneOne block long, and named, the story goes, for the couples who used to walk it.9.1Pebble BeachA stony little beach under the Manhattan Bridge, and the hinge of the whole DUMBO waterfront.9.1Syndicated Bar Theater KitchenA movie theater with a proper bar attached — one of the best rooms in Bushwick to just hang around in.8.9BathhouseThe modern take on the old-school bathhouse, with a bar and restaurant attached.8.9Domino ParkThe old sugar refinery site, rebuilt as a waterfront park that kept its cranes.8.5Brooklyn BridgeGenuinely beautiful, and home to some of the worst crowds in the city — go early and it is a different bridge.8.5Orange, Pineapple & Cranberry StreetsThree short blocks of Brooklyn Heights with the best names and the best doorways in the city.6.9SmorgasburgDozens of food vendors outdoors on weekends. A huge, diverse spread, but it can feel overpriced: better as a group outing than a meal.Where to eat
Best firstRestaurants we would go back to, best first.
9.6Cafe VolkanExcellent coffee and food good enough to keep people in their seats long after the cup is empty.9.4Joe & Sal's PizzeriaThin, well done, minimal flop — Myrtle Avenue pizza made by people who clearly care.9.2Cozy RoyaleA quiet block in Williamsburg, a room built for a long dinner, and cooking from the people who run the butcher shop down the street.9.2White Noise CoffeeA Smith Street roastery where the kitchen is as considered as the coffee, and still nobody talks about it.Where to drink and go out
Best firstBars, rooftops and nights out.
9.6KeyBarA bar that actually looks after the people in it — the owner is in the crowd, and the shots keep arriving whether or not you ordered them.9.5WestlightTwenty-two floors over Williamsburg, with the Manhattan skyline laid out across the East River.9.2Barely DisfiguredProper cocktails under red light, in a Boerum Hill room with a past.9.1Concrete ShoalsA gated bar in a floating cottage at the Brooklyn Bridge Park marina. It feels like you need a yacht to get in. You don't, just a reservation.Questions
What is the best thing to do in Brooklyn?
Coney Island, which we score 9.8/10. A boardwalk, a wooden roller coaster from 1927, and the Atlantic at the end of four subway lines.
Where should you eat in Brooklyn?
Start with Cafe Volkan, Joe & Sal's Pizzeria and Cozy Royale.
What is free to do in Brooklyn?
Coney Island, Prospect Park and Brooklyn Heights Promenade cost nothing, out of 15 free places we list in Brooklyn.
Did anyone pay to be on this list?
No. Nobody pays to be included, to rank higher or to be left off. Every place here is one we visited and would send a friend to.