Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour, New York City

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Views from Brooklyn Heights Promenade, seen during the Brooklyn Bridge NYC Walking Tour

©Vic Valdes

Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour, Manhattan Bridge, Washington Street, NYC sightseeing, NYC tours, NYC Tour guide

Walking tour on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City with a guide leading a diverse group of tourists. The iconic Brooklyn Bridge towers in the background with Manhattan skyline visible. Tour participants listen attentively on a sunny afternoon.

Walking tour guests photograph themselves from the public roof of DUMBO's beautiful Empire Stores complex

Shopping and great restaurants during walking tour of Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge Park, NYC sightseeing, NYC tours, NYC Walking Tour guide

Elegant Brownstones, circa 1820 to 1890, seen during walking tour of Brooklyn Bridge

NYC Skyline seen from Brooklyn Bridge Park, NYC sightseeing, NYC tours, NYC Walking Tour guide

Juneteenth Grove commemorates slavery abolition seen during walking tour of Brooklyn Bridge

Flowers in Brooklyn Bridge Park seen during a walking guided tour

Acroterion

Elegant 19th century rowhouses in Brooklyn Heights

Elegant Brownstones, circa 1820 to 1890 seen during Walking Tour of Brooklyn Heights neighborhood

Manhattan skyline as seen from Brooklyn at sunset during a walking tour

©Pierre Blaché

Family enjoying a tour of Brooklyn Bridge during a walking tour

Milestones in Brooklyn History

1000 BCE
Native Americans, the Lenape

New York’s metropolitan area was the ancestral home of the Lenape Native American tribe. The explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was greeted by local Lenape in 1524 who came by canoe, after his ship entered what is now called Lower New York Bay. Later in 1609 Henry Hudson would explore the river that now bears his name. The Indian Removal Act of 1803 moved the last of these inhabitants to the regions of Oklahoma and Kansas.

1646
Brooklyn is born

During the era of New Amsterdam, Dutch settled in Long Island to develop farms. Originally named “Breuckelen” after a Dutch town, Brooklyn would serve as a breadbasket for the nascent colony and remained an agricultural region until the 19th century. Brooklyn also provided excellent visibility during the Revolutionary War, hosting Fort Brooklyn and Fort Stirling on its elevated bluffs, while General George Washington made plans in a home dubbed “Four Chimneys,” today reproduced in Gowanus neighborhood.

Brooklyn Navy Yard, Available as an NYC tour

1800
Brooklyn Navy Yard

Federal government purchases 335 acres of land surrounding the Wallabout Bay. By 1806 the US Navy establishes a shipyard that would operate for 160 years. The Navy Yard workforce would expand to over 75,000 during WWII, producing countless war ships including the USS Monitor, the USS Arizona, and the USS Missouri. Closure of the Yard in 1966 was a blow to Brooklyn economy but today a repurposed Yard is an innovative campus hosting over 500+ ranging from Urban Farms, artisan furniture makers, fashion design, tech and more. The Yard is one of the more unique NYC tours and can be booked via Turnstile Tours.

Fulton Ferry, the Nassau, site shown during an NYC tour

1814
All aboard the ferry!

Robert Fulton (name sound familiar?) began operating the first steam-powered ferry. The Nassau could hold 600 passengers and travel between Wall Street and Brooklyn in 10 minutes for only four cents. Development of the Brooklyn shoreline exploded with housing in Brooklyn Heights and industry in DUMBO. Ferry travel became extremely popular and was even immortalized in poem by Brooklyn writer Walt Whitman, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry .

Coney Island's Wonder Wheel, circa 1930.

1830
Coney Island, NYC’s playground

Once truly an island, the canal that separated it has long since been filled in. Coney Island saw its first development as a vacation destination and a leisure spot for New Yorkers of means. Perhaps a bit less tony today, it still remains a fun diversion offering carnival rides, roller coaster, weekend fireworks, freak shows (now tamer), boardwalk and beach and clam rolls. Don’t miss the annual Mermaid Parade in May.

1845
The Brooklyn Female Academy is founded

Today known as the co-ed Packer Collegiate Institute, this school was founded in 1845 with the goal of providing college preparatory education to girls. Alums include suffragettes, CEOs and entertainment stars. The school was designed by Minard Lafever, a noted designer of Brooklyn churches, and features stained-glass Tiffany windows. It’s one of the city’s most exclusive private schools and was occasionally used as the exclusive upper east side private school attended by the kids of Gossip Girl.

1883
Brooklyn Bridge Opens

After 14 years, 14 millions dollars, and the fruit of over 600 laborers, with great fanfare, the Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 27, 1883. The first bridge built into Manhattan, it promised prosperity to both shores. And it delivered. Development of neighborhoods and business thrived on both shores, so that the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges were completed within 30 years. And 141 years later the bridge remains an icon of Brooklyn, New York, and America. This physical connection between the two cities foreshadowed a political unification that would follow swiftly after.

1898
Brooklyn joins New York City

In an effort to create a unified port system and to share costs of urbanized infrastructure, the plan to consolidate cities and village that today make up the five boroughs was pursued. Long considered a twin city and a rivel to New York, Brooklyn was the most skeptical of the idea. A vote of nearly 130,000 passed by a fewer than 200 votes. Old timers will refer to consolidation as The Great Mistake, fearing it would marginalize Brooklyn. And for a period, that may have been correct. In the 21st century, Brooklyn is a boomtown, as its industrial infrastructure has been popular choice for housing and creative businesses. In the last 20 years 48% of new jobs created in the city have been in Brooklyn.

Subway being built in Brooklyn, NYC tour

1908
Subway reaches Brooklyn

Four years after opening to great fanfare in Manhattan, the subway reaches Brooklyn, with the first stop being Atlantic Avenue (still in operation, the site of the Brooklyn Nets NBA stadium). The population of Brooklyn crossed the one million threshold as the new century began and an expanding network of elevated and buried trains facilitated housing of ever farther reaches, making the borough home to a ever growing and diverse population of many cultures. If you’re interested in history of transit in NYC tour the Transit Museum.

1945
Brooklyn Dodgers sign Jackie Robinson

Brooklyn Dodgers, one of the oldest ball clubs in the country, sign Jackie Robinson, making him the first black player in the National Baseball League. Robinson will lead the team on to the 1953 World Series victory, but sadly by 1957, the team moved to Los Angeles, an incident referred to as “the great tragedy of Brooklyn.” Though west coasters now, Dodgers still retain a name from their original playing field. Situated next to a street car hub, the players were first nicknamed the Trolley Dodgers.

Still from Saturday Night Fever, NYC Tour of TV and Film

1977
Night Fever sweeps the nation

Saturday Night Fever, a musical film, starring John Travolta, in his break-out major role, is filmed in Brooklyn. Famous for it’s disco music soundtrack by The BeeGees, it is set, and filmed, in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn. Featured in the film is the Verrazano Bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Staten Island is today the largest bridge in NYC. This bridge is also the starting point of the New York City marathon.

2017
Repurposing for the 21st century

Architecture firm WXY announces a $136 million renovation of the Bush Terminal in a master plan for the spacing renaming it the “Made in NY” campus. Investments in fiber optic broadband and other upgrades have turned the former shipping warehouses into a thriving campus of offices, shops, restaurants, playspaces and more, now known as Industry City. Also seen in DUMBO, the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn Army Terminal, the trend represents a turning point in Brooklyn repurposing industrial spaces into incubators for a new economy. In the last 20 years, 48% of new jobs created in NYC, were created in Brooklyn. For a insider look at this reinvigorated industrial hub of NYC tour Industry City by booking here.

Book Now!

Enjoy a 3-hour, 3-mile Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour with a 30-year resident of Brooklyn.
Intimate groups, don’t be lost in the large crowds of large operators. I’m running a one-man show and will give you personal attention you won’t find elsewhere.
I’ll lead you to the most picturesque photo ops and find corners that only a local would know.
Learn about the history of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, development of the area, people and technology that defined Brooklyn’s rise.
We’ll pass by the homes of some very famous stars of TV and film, as well as through shoot locations you will almost certainly recognize from popular TV and films.

Experience the city like a true New Yorker with expert guide, Scott, as you uncover hidden gems and iconic filming locations. Gain insider knowledge and make unforgettable memories on this one-of-a-kind Brooklyn Bridge walking tour.

The Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour will end up in NYC’s hottest neighborhood, Dumbo, home of NYC’s best pizza. Make time for lunch and, during warm-weather weekends, to browse Brooklyn Flea (on weekends) for a bespoke, vintage souvenir. You won’t regret booking this Brooklyn Bridge Tour.

This is a typical itinerary for my Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour

City Hall Area, Manhattan

Learn about the vicinity of City Hall, where General George Washington read the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution was born. Other nearby places of note: City Hall, Municipal Building, Woolworth Building, St Paul’s Chapel, Tweed Courthouse.

Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan

Marvel at unprecedented views of the New York Harbor, Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines while suspended 133 ft (40.5 m) over the East River. Learn the amazing history of the 14 year effort to build this remarkable 19th century monument to science and art. We’ll cover the history of the Roebling family.

Manhattan Bridge View, Washington Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn

We’ll stop by one of NYC’s most instragrammable spot for an icon photo op under the Manhattan Bridge, surrounded by DUMBO’s historic warehouses and factories. DUMBO is today one of NYC’s hottest neighborhood as the industrial buildings have been transformed into posh shop, swanky eateries and some of the city’s most glamorous loft homes. I’ll give you tips on the best places to shop, relax, grab for a meal or a drink

Brooklyn Bridge Park, DUMBO Brooklyn

This 85 acre expanse of picturesque woodlands, lawns, tidal pools, basketball courts and soccer fields is one of NYC’s newest, biggest and most innovative park spaces. Learn about Brooklyn’s shipping history, and the innovative and sustainable design principals employed in park while drinking in breathtaking views of the city.

Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn

This picturesque brownstone neighborhood, with it’s elegant 19th century townhouses and its shady canopy of mature trees, looks plucky out of your favorite NYC romantic comedy. No wonder it’s the choice of so many of the country’s TV and film stars. I might even point out where they live. We’ll finish the tour at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. This balcony cantilevered over the Brooklyn waterfront offers the best view of Manhattan skyline you’ll find in the Big Apple.

Book the sunset over NYC tour at 6 pm

Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour FAQ

How long is the Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour?

The Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour lasts approximately 3 hours and covers about 3 miles, providing plenty of time to explore key landmarks and enjoy breathtaking views.

What should I bring on the tour?

We recommend wearing comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing. Don’t forget your camera or smartphone for the many photo opportunities! Water and snacks are also a good idea.

Is the tour suitable for all ages?

Yes, the tour is suitable for all ages, but please note that it involves a moderate amount of walking. If you have mobility issues, please contact us in advance so we can discuss accommodations.

What if the weather is bad on the day of the tour?

The tour runs rain or shine, so please dress accordingly. In the event of extreme weather, we may reschedule the tour or offer a refund.

How many people are in each tour group?

To ensure a personalized experience, our tour groups are kept small, typically ranging from 6 to 12 people. This allows for more interaction and a more intimate exploration of the city.

Where does the tour start and end?

The tour begins near City Hall in Manhattan and ends at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade in Brooklyn. Specific meeting details will be provided upon booking.

Can I book a private tour?

Yes, private tours are available and can be customized to fit your interests and schedule. Contact us directly to arrange a private or custom tour.

Are there restroom breaks during the tour?

Yes, there will be a designated restroom break during the tour, approximately halfway through the route.

Can I join the tour if I’m not an experienced walker?

Absolutely! The tour is designed to be accessible to a wide range of fitness levels, with a moderate pace and plenty of opportunities to rest and take in the sights.

How do I book the tour?

You can easily book your spot on the Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour through our website. Due to limited space, we recommend booking in advance to secure your place.