Coney Island/Brooklyn Walking Tour
 

Hi everyone. Planning on going to CI on Sat July 5th. I know it will be packed. Neverless, I must do it before it disappears and who knows when we will get back to NY. Would like to do CI first part of the day and do a tour of Brooklyn the second half and walk the bridge back to Manhattan around sunset ish. Would like to have dinner at Grimaldi's before heading back. Does anyone have any good itinerary suggestions for either/both? Husband and I are also amateur photogs and would like to get some great shots. Thanks!

Grimaldi's and Coney Island on are opposite ends of the Brooklyn.

I also think Gimaldi's is over rated.

While you are in Coney Island you can do two things:

Go to Tontonno's in Coney Island. they have been there for about 70 years and it is better than Grimaldi's. Map provided.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&rl...1&ct=title

Also superior is DI Fara

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/difara_pizza/

Take the Q train at Stillwell Avenue to the Avenue J Stop and walk south. It is basically a residential area.

I wouldn't necessarily agree with Grimaldi's being overrated. It lacks in ambiance -- you have to wait in a long line outside, and you'll probably be seated with many other people at a long table inside -- compared to Lombardi's, for example, where there is a (small) bar where you can wait, and you'll have a table or booth -- but the Grimaldi's pizza is definitely deliziosa!

Mike
My travel blog: www.stricklandia.com

Do you know about the Brooklyn pizza tour? http://asliceofbrooklyn.com/ You get to see a lot of different sections of Brooklyn including Coney Island and you get to taste several different pizzas. There's still room on July 5th.

If you'd prefer to do this on your own, I'm not sure what itinerary suggestions you're looking for. The NY Aquarium is near Coney Island. You'll need to take the subway from the Coney Island end of Brooklyn back toward the Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO end where the bridge is. Here's the subway map
http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

Brooklyn Heights promenade is a very nice stroll as are the streets in the area. The Brooklyn Museum and Prospect park are near there, but I don't think you'd have time for all of this.

Sorry. By itinerary I meant walking tour/guide suggestions. Like a point A-Z kinda thing. Thanks for the pizza tour idea but I don't want to spend the day on a bus. We'd like to explore and take photos on foot in each area. I hope I'm not making this confusing. But thanks for the suggestions so far. I'm just having a hard time finding availability and pricing and we don't mind doing it on our own.

We thought Grimaldi's was very good, but not worth going to Brooklyn for (I'm sure there's equally good pizza in Manhattan). Still glad we walked over the bridge, though. Now, the Jacques Torres hot chocolate I had AFTER dinner was scrumptious!

Pick up Streetwise Brooklyn - it is a fold out map - it will give you an idea of the sections that make up Brooklyn.
You mention Coney Island, I hope you are including Brighton Beach. Great people watching photo opps at M&I Grocery/Market 249 Brighton Beace Ave.
From Brighton Beach - Coney Island more great people watching and amazing food (Jerome Ave towards Nostrand Ave) You will have gone through the Russian community of Brooklyn, the Pakistanian section and West Indian section -- within a few short miles.
Public Television (NYC-Metro area) channel 13 did a fine piece, http://www.thirteen.org/brooklyn/
you can access the tour on line.
(Walking Tours series features a tour of Brooklyn that highlights the borough's history and profiles its neighborhoods and landmarks.)
There is a Brooklyn home page (http://www.brooklyn.net/) that will assist you with putting together a do it yourself tour and also check out http://www.brooklynonline.com/
a great resource for planning your tour.
Having said all of this- I realise I have not given you a one stop tour site however I can offer
http://www.hopstop.com/ which after you decide where in Brooklyn you want to go -- will help you use public transportation to plan the route.
Brooklyn is great! You are going at a great time, enjoy!

Time Out New York (TONY) ran a story htis week (June 26 - July 2) a subway Tour of NY that includes a Brroklyn Section.
FYI