On multiple visits to NYC, I had never ventured outside of Manhattan. During my trip to Brooklyn I strolled through lush waterfront parks, visited world-class museums and marveled at a 300-year-old bonsai tree.
My fabulous walking tour of Brooklyn started in Manhattan, an easy subway ride away, and included a thrilling walk across the iconic mile-long Brooklyn Bridge then a exploration of DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights, two of the most vibrant of the over 70 neighborhoods in New York City’s most populous borough.
We stayed in the modern 42 Hotel in trendy Williamsburg, home to both hipsters and Hasidic Jews.
At this 60-room hotel in Williamsburg, we found friendly staff, an elegant guest room and a good location for our explorations in Brooklyn.
Our room was stylishly furnished and I loved the chaise lounge and super comfortable bed. We had a remote to close the blinds at night, which made our room pleasantly dark for sleeping. The room also included a coffee maker, robe and slippers, mini fridge and desk. The hotel has a fitness center and community lounge.
I have to plead ignorance as I had no idea how large Brooklyn is, that it’s the most populous of the five boroughs in NYC with 2.7 million people and that it has more than 70 neighborhoods.
From the hotel, we were able to walk to several restaurants and it was a short walk to the subway station where we could hop on a train to Manhattan.
42 Hotel has two restaurants, BlackBird and Evolution, both helmed by Brooklyn native and two-time James Beard Award nominee Chef Eric LeVine, Sadly, both were closed for dinner on Monday and Tuesday nights when we were there, but we enjoyed excellent breakfasts at BlackBird, which bills itself as a global gastropub and lounge.
Our dishes included avocado toast, breakfast tacos and French toast, served by attentive servers. Entrees at BlackBird include pastas, tacos, roasted salmon and tempura shrimp.
With just 35 seats, Evolution has a rotating tasting menu in an intimate setting “where every dish tells a Brooklyn story.” Dishes from the summer 2025 menu include olive tapenade tart, pan seared tuna, roasted quail and pork belly.
Things to do in Brooklyn
Take a walking tour
As I often like to do to get a sense of the history and geography of a new destination, we started our visit with a walking tour. I found Scott’s New York online. Scott leads walking and bike tours and we opted for a walking tour of Brooklyn. As much as I love bike tours, biking through a big city with lots of traffic is not for me.
The three-hour tour started at the beautiful Jacob Wrey Mould statue in Manhattan, where we learned a bit about the architecture of the area around City Hall before walking over the Brooklyn Bridge. We were just two of the close to 30,000 people who walk across the bridge every day. According to the NYC DOT, approximately 103,051 vehicles, 28,845 pedestrians, and 5,504 cyclists cross the bridge every day.
It was a gorgeous day and we stopped several times during the walk to take photos and admire the skylines of both Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Scott was a knowledgeable and friendly guide who taught us about the history of the bridge before leading us through Brooklyn Bridge Park and the DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights neighborhoods, pointing out restaurants and residences of celebrities.
A highlight for me was seeing the home where Truman Capote lived in a basement apartment from 1955 to 1965 and wrote “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” (It is now owned by Dan House, the creator of Grand Theft Auto.)
Visit museums and gardens
The Brooklyn Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums in the country, founded in 1823 and housed in a gorgeous Beaux-Arts building. We navigated to the American Art section while also enjoying some of the period rooms and ancient Egyptian art.
There’s a large light-filled café on the main level that serves coffee, sandwiches, salads, afternoon tea and cocktails.
Adjacent to the museum is the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which has several gardens. We strolled through the Native Flora Garden, Fragrance Garden, Lily Pool Terrace and Japanese Garden. There’s a Cherry Esplanade that would be magnificent during cherry blossom season.
My favorite part was the Bonsai Museum in a Conservatory, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. We saw several meticulously sculptured bonsai, including one dating back to 1720.
My college friend Judy recommended the New York Transit Museum, which is housed in a former subway station and tells the story of public transportation in New York City.
I loved reading about how the subway was built and how it changed the city since it opened in 1904. My favorite exhibition was of the vintage subway cars.
Wander through the neighborhoods and waterfront parks
One of my favorite parts of our visit to Brooklyn was walking down tree-lined streets past brownstones with lush gardens and flower boxes in their small front yards.
Scott had taken us down the charming streets of Brooklyn Heights and we found equally pretty 19th-century homes in Cobble Hill.
We learned from our tour guide and a long-time resident of Cobble Hill that Brooklyn’s waterfront has been completely transformed over the past few decades. Abandoned warehouses on piers have been replaced with recreational areas with playgrounds, soccer fields, pickleball courts and basketball courts. Factories and shipping terminals now house retail, restaurants and housing.
The 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park meanders along 1.3 miles of the waterfront with green spaces, gardens, biking and walking trails and excellent views of Manhattan.
During our walks and Uber rides, I saw dozens of indications of the large Hasidic Jewish population – signs in Yiddish, men with curled sideburns and beards wearing black hats and long black coats, women with head scarves pushing baby carriages.
I got curious about their culture and how they can live an insular life in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world. During one rainy afternoon I took a deep dive into the YouTube videos of Frida Vizel. She grew up in the community and is now a tour guide specializing in Hasidic neighborhoods.
To learn more about Brooklyn, go to VisitBrooklyn.NYC
– Jan Schroder, The Travel 100