arts culture
BAM
📍 Fort Greene
The Brooklyn Academy of Music, a Fort Greene arts center for theater, dance, opera and independent film across several historic venues.
Official site ↗
✈️ TRAVEL MODE · METRO AREA
New York City Metro Area
Top things to do for visitors, each linked to its official source.
METRO AREA
New York City Metro Area
arts culture
Brooklyn Children's Museum
📍 Crown Heights
The world's first museum built for children, founded in 1899, with hands-on exhibits for young kids in a bright yellow building.
Official site ↗arts culture
Brooklyn Museum
📍 Prospect Heights
One of the country's largest art museums, with Egyptian art, Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party and themed First Saturday evenings.
Official site ↗other
Center for Brooklyn History
📍 Brooklyn Heights
A Brooklyn Heights library and museum in an 1881 landmark, with exhibitions on the borough's past.
Official site ↗arts culture
City Reliquary
📍 Williamsburg
A tiny, volunteer-run Williamsburg museum of New York curiosities: subway tokens, Statue of Liberty souvenirs and other civic memorabilia.
Official site ↗arts culture
Coney Island Museum
📍 Coney Island
Run by the nonprofit Coney Island USA, with exhibits on the neighborhood's amusement history, plus the Coney Island Circus Sideshow and the Mermaid Parade.
Official site ↗other
Grimm Artisanal Ales
📍 Williamsburg
A Brooklyn brewery's taproom and rooftop in East Williamsburg, pouring creative sours and IPAs brewed on-site.
Official site ↗other
L&B Spumoni Gardens
📍 Gravesend
A Gravesend institution since 1939, known for square Sicilian slices with sauce on top and tri-color spumoni eaten at outdoor picnic tables.
Official site ↗arts culture
New York Transit Museum
📍 Brooklyn
A museum on Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn. In its own words: “Founded in 1976, the New York Transit Museum is dedicated to preserving and sharing the stories of New York’s mass transportation.” (official site)
Official site ↗arts culture
St. Ann's Warehouse
📍 DUMBO
A DUMBO theater inside a converted tobacco warehouse, known for bold international productions steps from the Brooklyn Bridge.
Official site ↗arts culture
Waterfront Museum
📍 Red Hook
A 1914 wooden railroad barge docked in Red Hook, now a floating museum and performance space with sweeping harbor views.
Official site ↗other
Wyckoff House Museum
📍 East Flatbush
New York City's oldest building, a Dutch farmhouse from around 1652, with tours, a garden and farm programs in East Flatbush.
Official site ↗arts culture
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
📍 Prospect Heights
A well-known museum or garden worth a few hours.
Official site ↗outdoorsFREE
Brooklyn Bridge Park
📍 DUMBO & Brooklyn Heights
85 waterfront acres of piers and lawns with the best Manhattan skyline views.
Official site ↗outdoorsFREE
Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse: free kayaking
📍 Dumbo, Brooklyn Bridge Park
Free kayaking in the calm water between Piers 1 and 2, under the Brooklyn Bridge. Book a slot two weeks ahead or try walking up.
Official site ↗arts culture
Brooklyn Escape Room
📍 Industry City
Themed puzzle rooms in Industry City.
Official site ↗fitness wellness
Brooklyn Go Karts & Mini Golf
📍 Gravesend
Outdoor go-kart track and mini golf.
Official site ↗family kids
Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park
📍 Coney Island
Rides and boardwalk-style fun. Seasonal hours.
Official site ↗outdoorsFREE
Domino Park
📍 Williamsburg
A waterfront park beside the old sugar refinery, with a long elevated walkway and skyline views.
Official site ↗tours walksFREE
Green-Wood Cemetery
📍 Sunset Park
A 478-acre National Historic Landmark with hills, ponds and famous graves. Admission is always free.
Official site ↗outdoorsFREE
Louis Valentino Jr. Park & Pier
📍 Red Hook
A quiet Red Hook pier facing the Statue of Liberty, good at sunset.
Official site ↗family kids
Luna Park in Coney Island
📍 Coney Island
Rides and boardwalk-style fun. Seasonal hours.
Official site ↗outdoorsFREE
Marine Park & Salt Marsh Nature Center
📍 Marine Park
530 acres of grassland and salt marsh with a nature-center trail run by Urban Park Rangers.
Official site ↗outdoorsFREE
McCarren Park Dog Run
📍 Williamsburg
A fenced run at North 12th Street, Driggs Avenue and Union Avenue.
Official site ↗family kids
New York Aquarium
📍 Coney Island
A well-known museum or garden worth a few hours.
Official site ↗fitness wellness
Pier 2 Roller Rink
📍 Brooklyn Bridge Park
Family-friendly outdoor roller rink under the Pier 2 canopy with skyline views.
Official site ↗outdoorsFREE
Prospect Park
📍 Park Slope
Brooklyn's big park: Long Meadow, the lake, the Ravine and the boathouse.
Official site ↗outdoorsFREE
Prospect Park off-leash hours
📍 Prospect Park
Dogs can run off-leash on the Long Meadow (not the ballfields), the Nethermead and the Peninsula during off-leash hours. Leash them the rest of the day.
Official site ↗family kids
Prospect Park Zoo
📍 Prospect Park
A small, easy zoo for little kids: sea lion training sessions, a barn with farm animals and red pandas. Kids 2 and under free.
Official site ↗arts cultureFREE
Public art: Woody De Othello, "Guardian Spirit"
📍 Dumbo, Brooklyn Bridge Park
A free Public Art Fund installation on the Brooklyn waterfront, with the bridges behind it.
Official site ↗outdoorsFREE
Sunset Park (the hill)
📍 Sunset Park
A hilltop with views of the Manhattan skyline, the harbor and the Statue of Liberty.
Official site ↗food giveawaysFREE
Time Out Market New York
📍 Dumbo
A Dumbo food hall with a rooftop that looks straight at the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. Free to go up; food is extra.
Official site ↗tours walksFREE
Walk the Brooklyn Bridge
📍 DUMBO to City Hall
The 1883 bridge's raised promenade is free to walk. About 30–45 minutes each way at a stroll.
Official site ↗fitness wellness
Xanadu Roller Arts
📍 Bushwick
A roller rink on a hand-painted maple floor with a serious sound system. Saturday Day Disco is all ages.
Official site ↗other
Arden
📍 Brooklyn
An American restaurant on Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn. Open 5 days a week. What sets it apart: tiki (per its official site).
Official site ↗other
Bar Francis
📍 Brooklyn
A bar on Fulton Street in Brooklyn. Open 5 days a week, until 2 AM on its latest nights. What sets it apart: speakeasy and tiki (per its official site).
Official site ↗other
Be Pasta
📍 Brooklyn
An Italian restaurant on 1st Street in Brooklyn. Open seven days. What sets it apart: a tasting menu (per its official site).
Official site ↗other
Brooklyn Brewery
📍 Williamsburg
The brewery behind Brooklyn Lager runs its Williamsburg tasting room with fresh beer, events and tours on select days.
Official site ↗music nightlife
Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.
📍 Park Slope
A playful Park Slope "superhero supply store" whose profits support 826NYC's free writing programs for kids.
Official site ↗other
Brooklyn Winery
📍 Brooklyn
A winery on Guernsey Street in Brooklyn. What sets it apart: makes its own wine (per its official site).
Official site ↗other
Castell's
📍 Brooklyn
An Italian restaurant on Avenue U in Brooklyn. Open every day but Friday. What sets it apart: wood-fired cooking and a supper-club format (per its official site).
Official site ↗other
Clark's Restaurant
📍 Brooklyn
An American restaurant on Clark Street in Brooklyn. Open seven days. What sets it apart: in business since 1986 (per its official site).
Official site ↗other
Clover Club
📍 Cobble Hill
A Smith Street cocktail parlor with a Victorian feel, a fireplace room in the back and a long list of classic and house cocktails.
Official site ↗other
Diner
📍 Williamsburg
A 1920s dining car under the Williamsburg Bridge, with a daily menu written on your paper tablecloth and a big burger.
Official site ↗other
Elsewhere
📍 Bushwick
A Bushwick music venue with several rooms and a rooftop. Concerts, DJ nights and dance parties run late on a packed calendar.
Official site ↗other
Freddy's Bar
📍 South Slope
A South Slope bar with a back room for live music, comedy and readings. Its owners moved it from Prospect Heights after a long neighborhood fight.
Official site ↗other
Gage & Tollner
📍 Downtown Brooklyn
A landmarked 1879 chophouse on Fulton Street, brought back with its gaslight-era interior, steaks, oysters and a tiki bar upstairs.
Official site ↗other
Gargiulo's
📍 Coney Island
A grand Neapolitan banquet-style restaurant in Coney Island since 1907, with tuxedoed waiters and a nightly raffle that can make dinner free.
Official site ↗