Brooklyn Bridge Bike Tour: Waterfront ride with skyline views

The Brooklyn Bridge has two sides, and you'll ride both in a single morning.

A guided bike tour of New York City's East River waterfront, starting in Manhattan and crossing the Brooklyn Bridge with multiple photo stops before exploring Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn Bridge Park and the DUMBO warehouse district. The tour runs two hours with a live English-speaking guide. Children are welcome from age 5, and helmets and bikes are provided. You'll stop at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade for views of the Wall Street skyline, ride through the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park that opened in 2010, and see the 19th-century warehouses and cobblestone streets of DUMBO and Vinegar Hill before returning via the Manhattan Bridge and East River Park.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time spent at each

1. Brooklyn Bridge30m
2. Brooklyn Heights20m
3. Brooklyn Heights Promenade20m
4. Brooklyn Bridge Park30m
5. DUMBO20m
6. Manhattan Bridge20m

Brooklyn Bridge and Waterfront Bike Tour

• Tour City Hall area
• Ride over Brooklyn Bridge with photo stops
• Explore Brooklyn Heights brownstone streets
• Stop at Brooklyn Heights Promenade
• Visit Brooklyn Bridge Park
• See DUMBO warehouse district
• View from Manhattan Bridge
• Return via East River Park and Chinatown

The experience

The ride starts in Manhattan near City Hall, where you'll get a quick look at the historic park and the surrounding icons (the Woolworth Building, the Municipal Building, Tweed Courthouse) before rolling toward the bridge itself. John Augustus Roebling's engineering feat combines art and structure in a way that becomes clear the moment you're on it. The tour builds in stops along the span so you can actually stand with the skyline instead of just passing through it.

Once you're in Brooklyn, the route shifts from bridge views to neighborhood. Brooklyn Heights is all elegant 19th-century brownstones on quiet, tree-lined streets. The Promenade there is the single best vantage point in the city for the Wall Street towers across the water. From there you'll move into Brooklyn Bridge Park, the 85-acre waterfront that was repurposed from six abandoned shipping piers. It's still being finished, but it's already the kind of place where the industrial past and the present coexist visibly.

DUMBO and Vinegar Hill are where the tour gets its texture. These neighborhoods were once the working heart of Brooklyn's shipping industry: warehouses, docks, cobblestone streets built for commerce. They've been reborn as something glitzier and grittier at once, and the guide will walk you through that history as you ride. The return takes you back over the Manhattan Bridge for bird's-eye views of north Brooklyn and Queens, then through East River Park and parts of Chinatown and the South Street Seaport before you head back to the shop.

What’s included

• Helmet and bicycle use.
• live guide in English.
• stops at the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Brooklyn Bridge Park, DUMBO, and the Manhattan Bridge.
• return route through East River Park, Chinatown and South Street Seaport.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 10:00 and 14:00

Book up to3h before

AgesAdult (18 and older) · Youth (5 to 17 years) · Under 5: can't be booked

GroupUp to 10

Live guideEnglish

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated yesterday

Good to know

Moderate physical effortInfant seats availablePublic transport nearbyNot recommended with heart problemsNot recommended with back problems

Operated by SCOTT'S NEW YORK LLC

Is this one for you?Pick this if you want to bike across Brooklyn Bridge with a guide who stops for skyline views and handles navigation, rather than cycling solo or joining a walking tour.

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Top questions

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (5 to 17 years). Children under 5 can't be included in the booking.

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

What's the Brooklyn Bridge actually like to ride across on a bike?

The Brooklyn Bridge has a dedicated bike lane separate from pedestrians, and the tour includes multiple stops along the span so you're not rushing through it. You'll have time to take in the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines from the middle of the bridge itself, which is where the views are sharpest.

Is this tour okay for someone who hasn't ridden a bike in years?

The tour requires at least a moderate level of physical fitness, and it's not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries or poor cardiovascular health. The route covers ground, but it's a guided pace with stops built in, not a race.

What exactly is DUMBO, and why does the tour spend time there?

DUMBO is a neighborhood of 19th-century warehouses and shipping buildings that once thrived as the industrial heart of Brooklyn. The tour takes you through the cobblestone streets and shows you how these spaces have been repurposed, giving you a sense of Brooklyn's working past and its transformation.

Do I need to know how to get to the starting point, or is there transit nearby?

The tour starts near City Hall in Manhattan, and public transportation options are available nearby, so you can reach the shop without a car. If you're staying in Brooklyn, you can also bike or take the subway to the meeting point.