Backyard Destinations

For the last couple of years, one of my travel goals has been to go to New York and walk the entire length of the Brooklyn Bridge twice – either from the Manhattan side to Brooklyn and back or vice versa. There’s no particular reason this made it on my list. It’s just that I’d seen tons of photos of the double arches along the bridge, but I was curious to see what the rest of it looked like.

I originally wanted to complete the walk when I was in New York in 2014, but things didn’t pan out. I then got another opportunity to visit the state in 2015, but time was limited so I didn’t get to do it then. This year, I got to spend a full week in NYC in late July/early August and was determined to make it happen this time around.

A quick Google search shows that the Brooklyn Bridge is 5,989 feet, or about 1.1 miles. Round trip, it would be about 2.2 miles. Walking at a leisurely pace, I estimated it would take about an hour to walk across the bridge and back.

I decided to make the trip on a Sunday afternoon so it wouldn’t be too hot. It was a good call because it definitely wasn’t scorching and the setting sun cast a nice warm light over the scene that made my photos turn out nicely.

The only con during my walk is that there were tons of people walking across the bridge. I began the walk on the Manhattan side and it was super crowded from the start of the path to the first double arch. The crowd generally declined little by little from the first double arch to the Brooklyn end of the bridge, but it was still packed to a point where my pace was dictated by how saturated the pedestrian path was. Sometimes, whenever the bike path was clear, I’d walk on that side to move along faster

Since it was summer, there were quite a lot of tourists strolling along the bridge. I stopped a few times to ask people if they’d like me to take their photos, and everyone I asked happily accepted. One couple offered to take mine in return, and it ended up being one of my favorite shots:

I also ended up taking a few photos of a couple visiting from Argentina and offered to send it to them. This one was my favorite:

Overall, walking the Brooklyn Bridge was an enjoyable experience. I brought a bottle of water with me in case I got thirsty, but there were also several people selling bottles of water for $1 scattered across the bridge (mostly closer to either the Manhattan or Brooklyn sides. Not so much in the middle of the bridge). Also not going to lie – I was definitely wondering how much car exhaust fumes I breathed in throughout the hour-and-some I was there. Lol. But I loved simply appreciating the architecture of the Brooklyn Bridge, and pausing along the way while falling in love with Manhattan’s skyline.

If you haven’t yet, I’d definitely recommend walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. If you can go early in the morning, you might be able to avoid heavy crowds. But going in the afternoon while the sun is setting is a great time to go as well.