Brooklyn Bridge Park — Photograph: Shaye Weaver for Time Out New York

Brooklyn, NY borough guide

Brooklyn, NY may seem like a foreign land if you never leave Manhattan—here's why you should check the borough out.

Thursday July 17 2025

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Editor, Time Out New York

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Brooklyn, NY (also known as Kings County) has a long and storied history. For the folks who never leave Manhattan, the borough may seem like a foreign land (and, oh, it is vast). If Brooklyn were its own city like it used to be, it would be the third-most populous one in the country. However, the area is definitely worth discovering for it is the home of iconic New York attractions like Coney Island, the Brooklyn Bridge and Prospect Park, plus some of the best New York pizza.

Read on for our favorite things to do in Brooklyn as well as where to eat, drink and party.

Things to do in Brooklyn

Things to do

The best things to do in Brooklyn

Experience the best the borough has to offer with this list of hidden gems and well-known haunts.

Restaurants

The best restaurants in Brooklyn

Has Brooklyn’s dining scene surpassed Manhattan restaurants?

Bars

The best bars in Brooklyn

The best Brooklyn bars can be found in Crown Heights, Red Hook, and, yes, okay, Bushwick, Williamsburg and Greenpoint, too.

Music

The best places to see live music in Brooklyn

These spots to see live music in Brooklyn offer everything you need to see killer local bands at intimate venues.

Art

The best Brooklyn art galleries

Want to know which Brooklyn art galleries are the best ones to visit? We’ve got the top spots here.

Restaurants

The best brunch in Brooklyn

On the hunt for the best brunch in Brooklyn? Feast on pancakes, eggs and more at these first-rate brunch spots.

Things to do

The best things to do in Williamsburg

Here's your guide to the best live music, art shows, comedy events and food fests the neighborhood has to offer

Things to do

The best Brooklyn attractions

Locals know that the best Brooklyn attractions rank among New York City’s most essential destinations.

Restaurants

The best bars and restaurants in Coney Island

From world-famous hot dogs to New York pizza icons and funky dives, these are the best bars and restaurants in Coney Island.

Hotels

The coolest Airbnb Brooklyn rentals you should check out

The best Airbnb Brooklyn homes you can rent if you’re looking for a rad place to crash while saving on a ritzy NYC hotel

Brooklyn by neighborhood

Things to do

Bushwick

It’s certainly an artistic and talented community.

Things to do

Greenpoint

It is not as flashy as other nearby Brooklyn nabes—it has a quiet cool.

Attractions

Coney Island

The city's playground has been the center of seaside amusement since before the turn of the 20th century.

Things to do

Park Slope

It's so much more than a family-friendly neighborhood.

Things to do

Prospect Heights

The Old-Brooklyn neighborhood is beloved for its cutesy mom-and-pop shops and a flourishing dining and drinking scene that lines Vanderbilt Avenue.

Things to do

Bedford-Stuyvesant

Big hitters like Notorious B.I.G., Aaliyah and Tracy Morgan hail from here but it is also the heart of Brooklyn's civil rights efforts.

Things to do

Williamsburg

The ’Burg always offers a good reason to cross the East River and check out its delights.

Things to do

Dumbo

Just across the Brooklyn Bridge, this charming nabe offers sweeping waterfront views of Manhattan—and so much more

Attractions

Gowanus

Our favorite places to eat, listen to music, see a burlesque show and play shuffleboard in this quirky industrial nabe