How to Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge (and make it worthwhile)
View of Brooklyn Bridge from DUMBO
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is a requisite for visitors to New York, and it's well worth it. But please recognize some caveats.
First, you're not the only one who wants to walk the bridge. On days with many tourists--summer, and holiday time year-round--the bridge can be enormously crowded. The walking path is narrow in places and but, especially at the beginning of the walk, for those starting in Manhattan, congested by vendors.
The lesson: the larger the group, the more likely you will be split up.
Some advice: try to go at off-hours, such as early in the morning. I mean early. (That's also good for photography.) Weekends and holidays, obviously, are busier than weekdays. Note: the bridge can be breezy, so cooler than the regular ambient temperature. You may have to dress warm.
Is a tour needed? How long should you allot?
You can walk the bridge (about a mile) in just 30 minutes--directions and photos below--but I typically recommend small groups to budget 45 minutes so you can spend time taking photos. Larger groups need more time, because more people will meander. But remember: walking the bridge is not a two-hour project.
Lots of tour guides (including me!) offer tours that include the Brooklyn Bridge, usually with an addition to walk in DUMBO and Fulton Ferry near the bridge in Brooklyn. Other tours include sights in Lower Manhattan. But you don't need a tour guide to walk the bridge. (There, I said it. Maybe that doesn't help my business, but I want to provide helpful advice.)
Tours can offer more value, but the bridge is difficult logistically for large groups; sure, we can talk before and after we get on the bridge, but there are only two places on the bridge--at the two bridge towers). I can also offer people history and old photos before or after they get on the bridge.
More than just a bridge walk
Please don't make "walking across the Brooklyn Bridge" your sole goal! You should combine the bridge walk with a visit to adjacent neighborhoods, such as DUMBO and Fulton Ferry at the least, and then Brooklyn Heights and beyond.
Brooklyn is complicated. If you want to visit other neighborhoods, or attractions, such as Williamsburg, or Coney Island, or Prospect Park, please recognize that they are not close to each other. You can't always fit it all together. For example, If you walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and end up in DUMBO, you can get to Williamsburg fairly easily, either by ferry (recommended) or taxi. But that takes you farther from Prospect Park and even farther from Coney Island.
Is there a right way or direction?
I've seen online advice that the "right way" is to travel from Brooklyn to Manhattan so you can see the Manhattan skyline and don't have to turn around. Don't listen to that.
There's certainly value to walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan. But whatever direction you choose, you can stop at either of the bridge's two towers and get a good sense of the 360-degree skyline.
The value in walking from Manhattan to Brooklyn is not simply that you can meet me in Brooklyn for a tour, it's that walking to Brooklyn offers a decompression from Manhattan, while also providing a sense of Brooklyn's urban scale.
Walking directions from Manhattan
I generally advise people to walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn, not vice versa, though both are of course possible. The entrance to the bridge for pedestrians is just across the street from City Hall in Manhattan. See the first photo at bottom, and keep clicking through.
The two best places to pause are around the two grand gothic towers. In the perimeter around each tower, you'll find metal plaques affixed with information about the history of the bridge, its construction, and the skyline visible in Brooklyn and Manhattan. (This is one place that a guide can be helpful, because the skyline has changed.)
After you pass the second (Brooklyn) tower, the wooden path will turn into a concrete walk. Stay left. You will see a small green sign (see below) that says "DUMBO & SUBWAY." The path will split, with the right passageway taking people deeper into Brooklyn. Stay to the left. That split path will lead to steps that take you to Washington Street in DUMBO. At the sidewalk, turn left and you'll see a map. (There should be vendors around, as well.)
I sometimes meet people at that map, which is near the corner of Prospect Street (east-west) and the north-south street that to the south is called Cadman Plaza East and to the north is called Washington Street.
You can turn left from the stairs and walk down Washington Street into DUMBO. But before you continue past Prospect Street look to your right to see the office complex dubbed, oxymoronically, DUMBO Heights. (Taken literally, DUMBO = Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.)
As you continue down Washington, the next cross street is York Street. After that is Front Street; by then, you're in the heart of DUMBO. There are several places to stop for a drink or snack--feel free to ask me for advice.
At Water Street, you can see--at least if it's not too cloudy--the Empire State Building framed by the Manhattan Bridge. It's the most Instagrammed spot in Brooklyn (and, frankly, something of a cliche). When Washington Street reaches Plymouth Street, bordering Brooklyn Bridge Park, there's an Environmental Educational Center building just to your right, with bathrooms available.
First, you're not the only one who wants to walk the bridge. On days with many tourists--summer, and holiday time year-round--the bridge can be enormously crowded. The walking path is narrow in places and but, especially at the beginning of the walk, for those starting in Manhattan, congested by vendors.
The lesson: the larger the group, the more likely you will be split up.
Some advice: try to go at off-hours, such as early in the morning. I mean early. (That's also good for photography.) Weekends and holidays, obviously, are busier than weekdays. Note: the bridge can be breezy, so cooler than the regular ambient temperature. You may have to dress warm.
Is a tour needed? How long should you allot?
You can walk the bridge (about a mile) in just 30 minutes--directions and photos below--but I typically recommend small groups to budget 45 minutes so you can spend time taking photos. Larger groups need more time, because more people will meander. But remember: walking the bridge is not a two-hour project.
Lots of tour guides (including me!) offer tours that include the Brooklyn Bridge, usually with an addition to walk in DUMBO and Fulton Ferry near the bridge in Brooklyn. Other tours include sights in Lower Manhattan. But you don't need a tour guide to walk the bridge. (There, I said it. Maybe that doesn't help my business, but I want to provide helpful advice.)
Tours can offer more value, but the bridge is difficult logistically for large groups; sure, we can talk before and after we get on the bridge, but there are only two places on the bridge--at the two bridge towers). I can also offer people history and old photos before or after they get on the bridge.
More than just a bridge walk
Please don't make "walking across the Brooklyn Bridge" your sole goal! You should combine the bridge walk with a visit to adjacent neighborhoods, such as DUMBO and Fulton Ferry at the least, and then Brooklyn Heights and beyond.
Brooklyn is complicated. If you want to visit other neighborhoods, or attractions, such as Williamsburg, or Coney Island, or Prospect Park, please recognize that they are not close to each other. You can't always fit it all together. For example, If you walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and end up in DUMBO, you can get to Williamsburg fairly easily, either by ferry (recommended) or taxi. But that takes you farther from Prospect Park and even farther from Coney Island.
Is there a right way or direction?
I've seen online advice that the "right way" is to travel from Brooklyn to Manhattan so you can see the Manhattan skyline and don't have to turn around. Don't listen to that.
There's certainly value to walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan. But whatever direction you choose, you can stop at either of the bridge's two towers and get a good sense of the 360-degree skyline.
The value in walking from Manhattan to Brooklyn is not simply that you can meet me in Brooklyn for a tour, it's that walking to Brooklyn offers a decompression from Manhattan, while also providing a sense of Brooklyn's urban scale.
Walking directions from Manhattan
I generally advise people to walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn, not vice versa, though both are of course possible. The entrance to the bridge for pedestrians is just across the street from City Hall in Manhattan. See the first photo at bottom, and keep clicking through.
The two best places to pause are around the two grand gothic towers. In the perimeter around each tower, you'll find metal plaques affixed with information about the history of the bridge, its construction, and the skyline visible in Brooklyn and Manhattan. (This is one place that a guide can be helpful, because the skyline has changed.)
After you pass the second (Brooklyn) tower, the wooden path will turn into a concrete walk. Stay left. You will see a small green sign (see below) that says "DUMBO & SUBWAY." The path will split, with the right passageway taking people deeper into Brooklyn. Stay to the left. That split path will lead to steps that take you to Washington Street in DUMBO. At the sidewalk, turn left and you'll see a map. (There should be vendors around, as well.)
I sometimes meet people at that map, which is near the corner of Prospect Street (east-west) and the north-south street that to the south is called Cadman Plaza East and to the north is called Washington Street.
You can turn left from the stairs and walk down Washington Street into DUMBO. But before you continue past Prospect Street look to your right to see the office complex dubbed, oxymoronically, DUMBO Heights. (Taken literally, DUMBO = Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.)
As you continue down Washington, the next cross street is York Street. After that is Front Street; by then, you're in the heart of DUMBO. There are several places to stop for a drink or snack--feel free to ask me for advice.
At Water Street, you can see--at least if it's not too cloudy--the Empire State Building framed by the Manhattan Bridge. It's the most Instagrammed spot in Brooklyn (and, frankly, something of a cliche). When Washington Street reaches Plymouth Street, bordering Brooklyn Bridge Park, there's an Environmental Educational Center building just to your right, with bathrooms available.
Walking directions from Brooklyn
It can be a little tricky to enter the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn, since the paths are not so clearly marked. From DUMBO, the easiest thing is to find Washington Street--that's where everyone gathers for a photo of the Empire State Building framed by the Manhattan Bridge and walk away from the waterfront up the sloping hill. After two blocks, and once you go under the highway, you'll see stairs on the right. take those stairs to the bridge and keep walking straight, toward Manhattan.
For people starting from deeper in Brooklyn, the path to those Washington Street stairs instead comes via Cadman Plaza, near several subway stops. The closest stop is the High Street, for the A or C trains, but there are multiple options.
Below are photos for the walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn: please click on any photo to see the caption--and keep advancing to the next photo.
