NYC is the grand metropolis, and all five boroughs have various fun, entertainment, lots of activities, and the best things to do in New York. Here, we discuss the most popular borough of Brooklyn. The borough over the river is a fascinating neighborhood to explore awesome things to do in Brooklyn, like cafes, bars, patio eateries, museums, open-air markets, public parks, shopping spots, gaming arenas, and various other interesting activities.
Whether you are a local New Yorker or a traveler, in this article, you will find the best things to do in Brooklyn for kids, families, and teens. Everyone can find the most exciting activities and events in this neighborhood. People used to explore the attractions in Manhattan, as it has the crowds and the hustle and bustle in the area and great NYC nightlife. Brooklyn is another awe-inspiring place where you can find rapidly changing and new activities. It always brings some new entertainment and the most fun things to do in Brooklyn.
1. Shop the Vintage Items at Brooklyn flea Market
Brooklyn Flea Market is the most popular place that New Yorkers love to visit this vintage item open-air market. Various vendors sell vintage jewelry, antique décor pieces, home goods, vintage outfits, casual clothes, handbags, backpacks, shoes, sandals, boots, art pieces, food stalls, and much more.
Brooklyn Flea Market is often organized in Dumbo and Chelsea locations, to spread over a huge area covered with several stalls and fun activities. It can be reasonable and may be costly. Some vintage items are affordable, and some antique pieces are too expensive. So, it’s not a place to get the same things as it is a little more pricey than other flea markets. However, you can find the best thrift stores in Brooklyn, but still, this flea market is an awe-inspiring shopping spot to sort out great vintage collections for everything.
2. Enjoy the Best Coffee at Joe Coffee in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn
Coffee is the main thing that every New Yorker loves to have it. Whether at home, office, shopping, or exploring the city, have a cup of coffee at the café or grab a cup of coffee while enjoying every sip with awesome sightseeing. You can get the best coffee shops in Brooklyn. However, the most popular is Joe Coffee in Dyker Heights.
The best time to visit Dyker Heights is the Christmas holiday season, when this place is sparkling with fantastic Christmas lights. You can enjoy winter chills and Christmas lights with a cup of yummy coffee at Joe Coffee in Brooklyn.
3. Explore the Art and Craft at the Brooklyn Museum
Travelers and visitors who’d love to explore history, art, and craft can enjoy the visit to the Brooklyn Museum. It’s one of the best things to do in New York for first-timers. You can explore more than one million awe-inspiring art pieces and artifacts at this huge museum. They have African, Japanese, European, and ancient Oceanic art pieces and historical artifacts on display at the 560,000-square-foot massive space. You may have great photo ops to share ancient art and craft with the world at this museum.
4. Taste the Yummy Bagels in Bagels Pub
Bagels are a favorite food for New Yorkers, and you can get the best bagels in Brooklyn. If you are going out to eat and hooping around the streets, you may need to taste some delicious bagels at the best Bagel cafes. The Bagels Pub is the most famous spot where you can get various spicy flavors of hand-rolled and freshly baked bagels. The Bagels Pub is available at multiple locations in Brooklyn.
5. Explore the Iconic Brooklyn Bridge for Awe-inspiring Photo Ops
Brooklyn bridge is a historical and iconic place where you can get awe-inspiring photo ops for the best landscapes and skyline views. You can take a walking tour or a bike ride to explore the fascinating scenes from the bridge. You can walk over the bridge while crossing the river to go down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The Brooklyn Bridge connects Lower Manhattan and the famous Brooklyn Heights opposite Manhattan. You can enjoy a sunny day, water waves, and a fresh breeze over the bridge, as well as enjoy the sightseeing of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Heights overview.
You can learn the facts about the Brooklyn bridge and remarkable overview of this iconic architecture in the history of New York City. It’s one of the best things to do in Brooklyn NY, to stroll at the Brooklyn Bridge and enjoy the fresh breeze. If you don’t like to move in crowds, then you must get up early in the morning for a peaceful walk and refreshing vibes across the river waves.
6. Taste the Best Pizza at the Lucali Pizza Shop
Brooklyn is famous for its food and dining spots. You can find the best pizza in Brooklyn. Whether it's Neapolitan-style Italian pizza, traditional wood-fired pizza, or New York-style pizza, you will get all flavors of yummy pizza slices in Brooklyn.
However, Lucali Pizzeria serves the most delicious pizza with Calzones. They allowed Byob and you can choose your favorite toppings for mouthwatering pizza slices. You need to arrive early at the pizzeria to reserve your spot. If you are looking for some reasonable eateries in Brooklyn, this place serves the best.
7. Fun and Nightlife at the House of Yes in Brooklyn
You know several night clubs, pubs, and dance clubs in Manhattan as it has an exciting nightlife. But you can enjoy the best nightlife, exciting dances, loud music beats, exclusive wines, beers, and cocktails at the House of Yes, a nightclub in Bushwick, Brooklyn. You can enjoy the colorful, rare dance costumes, high-energy dances, fantastic DJ music, and the spacious cocktail bar. It’s one of the most fun things in Brooklyn at night.
8. Explore the Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn
Brooklyn has various famous locations to explore like Manhattan. The Greenwood Cemetery is the most spacious site and the most popular tourist attraction in Brooklyn. Visiting the Greenwood Cemetery is one of the weirdest things to do in NYC. This cemetery has remarkable stone structures and statues of Gargoyles, Victorian-style Gothic tombs, and crypts.
It’s not only a graveyard, but it has outstanding historical monuments like a huge Gothic Arch at the entry of this cemetery, the top of the Battle Hill, which is the highest point in the county, and a crucial place from the historical period of Brooklyn battles.
9. Try Shuffleboard Games at the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Brooklyn
If you would like to play Shuffleboard games, then you must visit the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Brooklyn. It’s one of the best unique things to do in NYC. The club has a massive hall for shuffleboard games and a spacious shuffleboard-themed bar that serves the best wines, whiskeys, and cocktails. The game hall has ten courts for shuffleboard, and a minimum of four and a maximum of twelve players can play on a court. It’s one of the most luxurious and spacious activities for gamers in Brooklyn.
10. Enjoy the Jet Skiing Rides under the Brooklyn Bridge
Water sports like kayaking, paddle boating, speed boating, and cruise tours are great fun, but jet skiing rides are the most adventurous things to do in NYC. Try Jetty Jumpers for Jet Skiing rides on the Hudson River under the Brooklyn Bridge for thrills, fun, and remarkable excitement for water sports. You can explore the Lower Manhattan skyline and Coney Island and go sightseeing from the Brooklyn Bridge.
11. Taste the Dynamic Cuisines at Smorgasburg in Brooklyn
Are you a food lover and want to taste the dynamic cuisines in New York City? Smorgasburg is a fantastic food festival and open-air food market organized from March to April on different dates announced every year in Prospect Park and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The food festival has more than a hundred food vendors offering various flavors of different meals; spicy, chilly, hot, sweet, and tasty treats. It has several other fun attractions like street performers, live music and dances, face paintings for kids, and much more entertainment for visitors.
12. Kids can Explore the Historical Art at Children’s Museum Brooklyn
Kids can explore the USA’s first children museum in Brooklyn. It’s a great spot to explore the art collections of over twenty-thousand art pieces, fascinating masks, fantastic dolls, traditional musical instruments, historical artifacts, fossils, specimens, live plant and animal species, and great kid-friendly exhibitions with various fun and amusing activities for little ones.
13. Exciting Sports at Barclay Center
Are you a sports lover? The Yankee Stadium and Madison Square in Manhattan are the most famous sports arenas, but here, in Brooklyn, the best sports arena is Barclay Center. Visit the Barclay Center and enjoy the best sports and games for the famous Brooklyn Nets and Brooklyn Knicks. You can get your tickets online from their official website. There are food stalls, drinks, clubs, and cocktail bars for adults, while having fun with the Nets and Knicks is worth it for teens and young ones.
14. Get an Exciting Ferry Ride in Brooklyn
East River Ferry is an affordable option to explore the waterways and enjoy the cool water breeze while getting breathtaking skyline views from the ferry. However, we have discussed various ways to explore the city skyline, like Brooklyn Bridge, Bridge Park, Domino Waterfront Park, Brooklyn Promenade Heights, and Jet Skiing Rides. But still, there’s the best and most affordable fun ride to explore the panoramic views of the NYC skyline and take the East River Ferry Ride crossing under the Brooklyn Bridge. If you’re a budget traveler and can’t take expensive Jet Skiing or Speed Boat Rides, you can enjoy this hop-on ferry ride crossing the East River for fun.
15. Spend Some Time in Lush Green Prospect Public Park
You can enjoy the best picnic at the lavish green Prospect Park. It’s one of the best free things to do in Brooklyn, NY. Kids and families can spend hours relaxing and play around in long meadows where massive green spaces and tall trees give you fresh air. The kids can explore the Prospect Park Zoo and wildlife, Le Frak Center on the Lake, and enjoy roller skating and ice skating in winter. Teens and adults also have fun strolling in the Ravine Forest or enjoying a picnic at the Nether Mead, a lush green area in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
16. Explore the Industrial City for Entertainment
The Industrial City is a spacious location covered with industrial space and sixteen buildings with a waterfront, a lavish green area, stunning art collections, and exclusive shopping spots for various fantastic things. This area is the best place for dining options, events, shopping, and fun. You can spend more spare time exploring the art installations, tasting the delicious meals, grabbing a cocktail, and shopping for the most exclusive items at this place.
17. The Brooklyn Brewery Tour
Brooklyn Brewery is the best place to explore if you love beer. You can explore the manufacturing process at the brewery in Williamsburg while having a free beer to be worth the visit. The Brooklyn Brewery has been serving for a long time, and its classic and exclusive beers are a great treat for the brewery tour in Brooklyn. It’s one of the coolest things to do in Brooklyn.
18. The Brooklyn Bridge Waterfront Park
Brooklyn has various public spots, and the Brooklyn Bridge Park is one of the iconic public spaces that are free for everyone. This waterfront park under the bridge, covered with lush greenery, refreshing water waves, and cool breeze, gives you chills while getting fantastic views of the Hudson River and city skyline. This huge public park also hosts free movie nights in summer, various food and drinks, a play area for kids, and iconic photo ops at the sunset view behind the Hudson River.
19. Kids can Explore the Historical Art at Children’s Museum Brooklyn
Kids can explore the USA’s first children's museum in Brooklyn. It’s a great spot to explore the art collections of over twenty-thousand art pieces, fascinating masks, fantastic dolls, traditional musical instruments, historical artifacts, fossils, specimens, live plant and animal species, and great kid-friendly exhibitions with various fun and amusing activities for little ones. It’s one of the most fun things to do with kids in Brooklyn.
20. Rest and Relax at the Waterfront Domino Public Park
The Domino Waterfront Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is another free public space where everyone can rest, relax, and enjoy the refreshing air. Kids and families can have fun and explore the magical views of the city’s skyscrapers. Early morning and sunset are the best time to explore these fascinating views from this waterfront green space.
It’s an excellent play area for kids and practicing Yoga and meditation for adults. People can get a morning walk around the long pathways and water play areas in summer for kids and little ones to enjoy sunny days.
