Downtown, Brooklyn: neighborhood guide

Downtown Brooklyn is the borough's business and civic core: Fulton Street west of Flatbush Avenue for shops, Borough Hall, courthouses, three universities, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Barclays Center arena. Two decades of tower building added thousands of apartments and a skyline that now reads as a smaller, newer Manhattan. It is busy on weekdays, quiet after about 20:00, and useful rather than pretty.

The wider district around it is where the appeal sits. Brooklyn Heights is low-rise brownstone streets with the best Lower Manhattan skyline views, protected as a historic district, and priced above parts of Manhattan. Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill are quieter, with Court Street and Smith Street for restaurants and bars. DUMBO, under the Manhattan Bridge, has converted lofts and a riverfront park between the two bridges. Fort Greene and Clinton Hill add brownstones, restaurants and the Academy of Music's art-house cinema and concerts. The Navy Yard sits at the district's northern edge.

Stay if transit is your priority. Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center is the biggest subway interchange outside Manhattan, with the B (weekdays), D, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and Atlantic Terminal runs Long Island Rail Road trains. From here you reach Lower Manhattan in roughly 10–20 minutes and can walk the Brooklyn Bridge in about 30 minutes. Hotel rates usually undercut comparable Manhattan addresses, which is the main reason visitors book here.

Skip it if you want the trip people imagine when they say Brooklyn. Downtown's own streets are offices and construction, and evenings are thin. Book Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill or Fort Greene for brownstones and restaurants, Williamsburg for nightlife, or stay in Manhattan and visit for a day. Also skip if you are in town for a Barclays Center event and want a calm night: arena crowds fill the surrounding blocks and push room rates up.

The strongest food streets are just outside the office core. Smith Street and Court Street through Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill carry Italian-American red-sauce places, pizza, bakeries and bars; DeKalb Avenue and Fort Greene's side streets add newer restaurants. Fulton Street and the malls around it are for quick lunches rather than destination meals. Expect US$15–30 for a main course and remember that listed prices exclude sales tax and that 18–22% tipping is expected at sit-down places.

For a cheap meal, look at pizza slices, delis and food halls rather than the towers. DUMBO's riverfront is better for coffee and brunch than dinner. If you want the borough's famous food, plan an evening in Williamsburg or a day in Sunset Park instead of eating around the arena.

Almost every Brooklyn subway line passes through the district. Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center handles the B (weekdays only), D, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4 and 5; Borough Hall covers the 2, 3, 4, 5 (weekdays only) and R and puts you near Borough Hall and the courts. Clark Street (2, 3) is the closest station to the Brooklyn Bridge. The A, C, F and G serve parts of the area, but transfers between those and the Atlantic Avenue lines are awkward: Jay Street–MetroTech and 4th Avenue–9th Street are the practical change points.

On foot, the Brooklyn Bridge is the reason many people come. Pedestrian access is at Tillary and Adams Streets, or by the staircase on Prospect Street between Cadman Plaza East and West; the walk to Manhattan takes about 30 minutes and is best early morning or after dark when crowds thin. The Manhattan Bridge also allows walking and cycling but has mesh fencing and rattles with passing trains, so most people use the Brooklyn Bridge. Buses link the district to the rest of Brooklyn; a taxi or rideshare across to Manhattan is usually slower and dearer than the subway.