The Best Brooklyn One Day Itinerary for First Time Visitors

We enjoyed exploring Brooklyn, a New York City borough that many tourists do not visit. This is a pity because we found many awesome attractions here, such as the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge Park, vibrant flea and food markets, an upscale neighbourhood with gorgeous Christmas decorations, an amusement park by the beach, and arguably the best pizza joint in New York!

We visited New York / Brooklyn twice, once during winter in December and another time during spring in April. Therefore, we have created two Brooklyn one-day itineraries, one for winter season and another for non-winter seasons. Both winter and spring have their beauty, but if I had to choose one I would say Brooklyn is more vibrant during spring. These two itineraries should be useful if you are a tourist visiting Brooklyn for the first time! Also read: 9 Fun Things You Must Do in Brooklyn (New York)

Non-Winter Itinerary

Morning

Brooklyn Bridge


From our hotel in Manhattan, we went on our pilgrimage to Brooklyn Bridge, the famous attraction that almost every tourist will visit. This iconic suspension bridge connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn and is 486 metres long. The panoramic views from the bridge provided plenty of photo ops, but it was hard to take good photos here because there were LOTS of locals and tourists. Nonetheless, we kept our patience and managed to take some pretty photos.

Cafe Luluc


After crossing the bridge, we were famished because we had not eaten breakfast yet. Therefore, we decided to take a Lyft ride to Cafe Luluc for breakfast. This cozy cafe is supposed to be “French” but the menu offers American comfort food such as fries, pancakes, bacon, toasts, etc. We had the Luluc French Toast with Nutella and Fruits ($13) and a side of two sunny-side up eggs ($3). The french toast was delicious and went nicely with the sweet Nutella and fresh fruits. Service was decent and we enjoyed our meal here.

Cafe Luluc
Address: 214 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
Phone: +1 718 625 3815
Opening Hours: | Mon – Fri: 8.30am to 3.30pm | Sat & Sun: 8.30am to 4.30pm |

Afternoon

Prospect Park


From the cafe, we walked for about 15 minutes to the Borough Hall subway station and took the 4 Train for four stops to Grand Army Plaza 2/3. Exiting the station, we walked for a few minutes to the Grand Army Plaza, which is home to the majestic Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch. This memorial commemorates the Union Army who fought to keep the collective states united during the American Civil War. We took some great drone shots of this iconic arch. The park is flanked by the Brooklyn Public Library, which has a beautiful bronze gateway and is regarded as an excellent example of Art Deco architecture.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is nearby too, and you can pay a small fee to check out the beautiful plants, trees and manicured gardens inside. We didn’t have time to do so, but we managed to take some pretty shots with our drone.

The main attraction in this area is Prospect Park, a 526 acres urban park. The large park houses many attractions and amenities such as a zoo, a lake that spans 60 acres, an outdoor performance venue, baseball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts, and more. However, we didn’t spend too much time in the park because our itinerary was quite tight. And we had already visited the gorgeous New York Central Park anyways.

Smorgasburg at Prospect Park (Sundays only)

A highlight of this park on Sundays is the famous Smorgasburg! This open-air food market only operates at Prospect Park on Sundays from 11am to 6pm. There are plenty of awesome vendors selling scrumptious food here. We indulged in the ice cream sandwich from The Good Batch, and the SUPER delicious 48 Hour Pork Shoulder & ‘Nduja ($10) from Carnal. The savoury smoked pork was so juicy and tender that it seemed to melt in my mouth!

Brooklyn Flea Market at DUMBO

From Prospect Park, our next stop was the popular DUMBO neighbourhood. To get there, we walked back to 7 Avenue Station and took the F train for 6 stops to York Street Subway Station. The popular Brooklyn Flea Market is held at DUMBO every Sunday! This weekend flea market sells a large variety of artsy items such as vintage furniture, stylish clothes, antiques, jewelry and more. It was really fun to explore the vibrant market! After looking around for a while, we bought a “Brooklyn Flea Market” cup and trendy sling bag.

Evening

DUMBO
Popular vantage point from Washington Street

We also explored the surrounding neighbourhood of DUMBO, which stands for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass”. This trendy neighbourhood is located roughly between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. Over here, we saw many old warehouses, interesting shops, awesome eateries, and art galleries. The arty St. Ann’s Warehouse, a contemporary performing arts venue, is located here too.

Being tourists, we had to take the iconic photo of Manhattan Bridge from Washington Street. From the vantage point here, we got an excellent vista of the Manhattan Bridge, and took many pretty photos. This is also the same perspective used by countless New York photographers, locals and tourists!

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

From Washington Street, we walked for about five minutes to Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, a well-known ice cream joint that sells delicious ice cream in various signature flavours. We enjoyed our Chocolate ice cream ($4.50) which had a smooth velvety texture and natural sweetness. The chocolate is produced by Brooklyn Ice Cream factory using organic cocoa powder and cane sugar extract. You can check out our full review of Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Address: 1 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA (The Corners of Old Fulton and Water Street)
Phone: +1 718 246 3963
Opening Hours: Daily 12pm to 10pm

Brooklyn Bridge Park


Ice cream in hand, we walked to the adjacent Brooklyn Bridge Park, a beautiful waterfront park beside Brooklyn Bridge. From here, we got awesome views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges, the Manhattan skyline, and the world famous Statue of Liberty. However, our favourite part of the park was the Empire Fulton Ferry Park, a tranquil green space within Brooklyn Bridge Park. We loved relaxing on the lush green field and enjoying the wonderful waterfront views from here! And it was nice to see children having fun at the popular Jane’s Carousel nearby. This was one of our fondest New York memories.

Juliana’s



And it was time for dinner! From the park, we walked for about five minutes to Juliana’s, a popular pizzeria which many New Yorkers have claimed to be the best pizza joint in New York. We found out that Juliana’s is embroiled in an interesting pizza feud with Grimaldi’s, a nearby joint that serves brick oven pizzas too. You can find out more about this feud in my full review of Grimaldi’s.

We ordered a small Margherita Pizza ($18) and added sausage toppings ($3). It was delicious! The crisp crust had just the right amount of bite, the cheese was luscious and savoury, and the chunks of sausage toppings were great. But the highlight was the delicious tomato sauce, which had a nice tangy flavour without being overly rich. Having tried the Margherita pizza from Grimaldi’s before too, I have to say the clear winner in this pizza feud is Juliana’s. Therefore, if you only have time to check out one pizzeria, make it Juliana’s!

Juliana’s
Address: 19 Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
Phone: +1 718 596 6700
Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am to 3.15pm, 4pm to 10pm

Winter Itinerary

Morning

Brooklyn Bridge

Have a hearty breakfast first! After that, stroll across the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, but make sure you wear many layers of warm clothing to protect yourself from the cold winter weather.

DUMBO

Explore this trendy neighbourhood and take the iconic photo of Manhattan Bridge from Washington Street.

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

From Washington Street, walk for about five minutes to Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and buy a delicious ice cream.

Brooklyn Bridge park

Next, explore Brooklyn Bridge Park, a beautiful park beside Brooklyn Bridge with awesome waterfront views.

Afternoon

Juliana’s

For lunch, check out Juliana’s, a five-minute walk from Brooklyn Bridge Park. This pizza joint is famous for its delicious coal-fired brick oven pizzas.

Buttermilk Channel

From Juliana’s, take the subway to Buttermilk Channel, a casual bistro that offers delicious American-style comfort food. We had the Hot Sausage Egg Scramble ($14), which was scrambled egg mixed with sausage, bell peppers, and onions. The dish came with sides of bittersweet greens, a potato cake, and toast. We enjoyed this savoury dish very much, though the portion was a little small.

Buttermilk Channel
Address: 524 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231, USA
Phone: +1 718 852 849
Opening Hours: | Mon – Thur: 11.30am to 3pm, 5pm to 10pm | Fri: 11.30am to 3pm, 5pm to 11.30pm | Sat: 10am to 3pm, 5pm to 11.30pm | Sun: 10am to 3pm, 5pm to 10pm |

Brooklyn Flea Market and Smorgasburg at Industry City

From the bistro, take the subway to Industry City. In winter, both the Brooklyn Flea Market and Smorgasburg are held indoors at this large industrial building. Do note that the markets are held on weekends only, you can check the respective websites for exact details.

Evening

Dyker Heights



Dyker Heights is a middle class neighbourhood in Brooklyn that transforms into a Christmas lights and decorations bonanza during the Christmas period. The houses are decorated with thousands of glittering Christmas lights and decorations, along with speakers playing Christmas songs.

We were fortunate to visit Dyker Heights during Christmas, and it was gorgeous! We were amazed by the entire streets lined with dazzling Christmas decorations. And there were plenty of locals and tourists here which gave the place a nice festive vibe.

Itinerary Summary

Time	Non-Winter	Winter
Morning	Brooklyn Bridge	Brooklyn Bridge
Morning	Cafe Luluc	DUMBO
Morning	–	Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Morning	–	Brooklyn Bridge park
Afternoon	Prospect Park	Juliana’s
Afternoon	Smorgasburg	Buttermilk Channel
Afternoon	Brooklyn Flea Market	Industry City
Evening	DUMBO	Dyker Heights
Evening	Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory	–
Evening	Brooklyn Bridge park	–
Evening	Juliana’s	–

Conclusion

Do take note that the Brooklyn Flea Market and Smorgasburg are weekend markets and held at different locations on Saturdays / Sundays. You can check their respective websites to find out the most updated details. And that’s it! Thank you for reading our one-day Brooklyn winter and non-winter itineraries. They should be useful if you are visiting Brooklyn for the first time. I hope you will enjoy exploring Brooklyn as much as we did!

This article is part of our completely free and fantastic Ultimate New York Travel Guide for First Timers. Why spend days researching when all your holiday information is simply a click away?