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Brooklyn, New York City — Area Guide & Where to Stay
The Brooklyn Bridge crosses the East River into Brooklyn, the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City, at the western end of Long Island.
About Brooklyn
Where to stay in Brooklyn
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Brooklyn rewards a stay in its own right, not just as a base for Manhattan. Near the East River, the brownstone streets closest to the Brooklyn Bridge put you within a short walk or subway ride of both boroughs, and the waterfront looks straight across at the skyline. The views are the draw.
Around Prospect Park, the neighbourhoods gather the Brooklyn Museum, the Prospect Park Zoo, and the Brooklyn Children's Museum in a leafy stretch of the borough, so a first visit works well from either the waterfront or the park. Each side has its own feel. Deeper into the borough, the older Dutch heritage survives in houses like the Wyckoff House and the Old Stone House, and the Weeksville Heritage Center keeps the story of a historic free Black community.
For a first visit, base yourself near the East River by the Brooklyn Bridge, since it keeps both boroughs within easy reach. Stay near Prospect Park if the museums and the zoo are your reason to come. Kings County covers the whole of Brooklyn, and every corner of it repays exploring.
About Brooklyn
What are the main landmarks in Brooklyn?
Brooklyn's landmarks run from its bridges to its old Dutch houses, spread across the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City. The Brooklyn Bridge and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge tie the borough to Manhattan and Staten Island, the Brooklyn Bridge crossing the East River. The Brooklyn Museum, the Prospect Park Zoo, and the Brooklyn Children's Museum draw families.
Many sit near Prospect Park. Older still are the Wyckoff House, the Old Stone House, and the Lefferts Historic House, and the Weeksville Heritage Center keeps a distinct chapter. Once a city in its own right, the borough still feels like one.
What is the history of Brooklyn?
Brooklyn began as a cluster of Dutch farming towns founded in 1634 at the western end of Long Island. The Wyckoff House survives from those first colonial generations, one of the oldest buildings in the whole of New York City, and the Old Stone House and the Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church recall the same era. Farms covered the land then.
Over the following centuries the scattered towns merged and grew into a great city, an independent municipality that stood apart from the settlement across the East River. Through the industrial age Brooklyn became a city in its own right before joining New York City, and the Brooklyn Bridge, thrown across the East River, bound the two together. The borough is coextensive with Kings County.
Its heritage is deep. The Weeksville Heritage Center preserves the memory of a free Black community that took root here, while the Brooklyn Museum grew into one of the great museums of the country. History is layered thick.
From Dutch farm towns of 1634 to the borough it became, Brooklyn grew into the most populous quarter of New York City. It has never quite stopped feeling like its own city.
Where is Brooklyn?
Brooklyn lies at the westernmost end of Long Island, the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City. It shares a land border with Queens and reaches Manhattan by bridge and tunnel across the East River. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge links it to Staten Island.
Kings County covers the same ground. From the water's edge the borough spreads inland across the flat island, in the United States.
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Updated July 2026