Walking the Brooklyn Bridge is a fabulous way of spending a day in New York City and best of all- it’s free! This impressive bridge links Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn and took 14 years to build. I started from the Manhattan side but the views are probably best coming from Brooklyn as you see the Manhattan skyline in the background. I just turned around a lot haha! Plus there is a bit in the middle which allows you to stop to get some great photos.
I didn’t really succeed in getting up early and eventually made it to the start of the bridge at 11am. Most tourists seemed to have the same idea as it was so busy, even in cold November. Wished I had got there for 8am which was my original plan. Anyways I followed everyone else along the huge bridge. The views are spectacular right from the start and the architecture is mesmerising and skilful. I even happened to spot a bride and groom on the bridge taking their wedding photos!
Walking the Brooklyn bridge you can really feel the enormous scale of it and the work gone into it, the construction is really incredible. The walk took me around 35 minutes with stopping pretty regularly to take photos. The views are amazing looking back onto Manhattan so anyone who loves photography then definitely do this!
What can you do in Brooklyn?
Exploring Brooklyn was great being an art lover as it’s so grungy and cool. Be sure the check out the Brooklyn Bridge park when you get to the other side of the bridge. This gives excellent views looking back to Manhattan.
I could have easily spent another day in Brooklyn, just exploring the different neighbourhoods and taking street photography. You’ve got trendy and arty suburbs such as Williamsburg. Culture and museums in Prospect Heights and DUMBO (which stands for “Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass”)ย with an artsy chic vibe. You literally could spend all day looking at galleries and photographing the street art.
I only had a day and headed first to the New York Transit Museum. This small museum is situated in an old subway station so you go underground to enter. There are facts and photos of how they built the subway system as well as old subway trains no longer in use. Now I’m not a lover of trains but it was actually fascinating being able to walk into an old train from the 1920’s- like stepping back in time.
Next up was the Brooklyn Museum which is huge and holds a variety of paintings, artefacts and sculptures. I was more impressed with the botanical gardens situated directly behind. It’s so pretty in Autumn (or Fall) and you could spend quite some time here wandering around the different gardens.
The final thing I did in Brooklyn was to visit the Dyker Heights neighbourhood to see the Christmas lights. There are some gorgeous houses here- some look like museums themselves with huge statues outside! Each year the residents decorate their houses with hundreds of lights and people come from all around to view them. If you’re not already in the Christmas spirit this will surely get you there!
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So that’s all I had time for in Brooklyn but if you’re walking the Brooklyn Bridge then I would highly recommend staying a night as there is a lot to do on the other side. But seriously, if you’re pressed for time then even walking the Brooklyn bridge and back is enough in itself for those awesome views back at Manhattan.
Tip 1: What I will say though is get up early! The bridge get busy with tourists so if you want unobstructed views set that alarm clock!
Tip 2: Stick to the correct side of the bridge on the walking path- the cyclists get VERY mad when they cant get past!
Any questions? Just ask below!
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