Flights to New York

Fly with SAS to Newark Liberty International Airport or John F. Kennedy International Airport and you’ll arrive in the Big Apple ready and raring to begin your holiday feeling relaxed and well rested.

Newark Liberty International Airport

John F. Kennedy International Airport

OCTOBER 2023

More and more people are heading out beyond Manhattan to see what else New York has to offer. The first stop is often diverse and exciting Brooklyn. Here are some tips on where to eat, stay, and walk during your visit.

Brooklyn is the beating heart of New York, home to nearly three million people and many of the celebrities who have come to define the city in the 21st century: from rap star Jay-Z to comedian Larry David.Brooklyn is home to the whole world. Over 200 different languages are spoken here and only half the residents are native speakers of English.So when someone says they’re going to Brooklyn, the obvious question is: which Brooklyn do they mean?

Maybe the fancy brownstone neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, or the projects where Jay-Z grew up? The old Italian-American neighborhoods of South Brooklyn, where you can still buy huge sandwiches and watch soccer on tiny TVs? Or the Ukrainian neighborhood of Little Odessa in Brighton Beach, where you can take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean and then enjoy a refreshingly cold borscht on the boardwalk?The part of Brooklyn along the East River closest to Manhattan has become home to hundreds of thousands of artists, writers, musicians, and creatives in recent decades. It is now home to world-famous art galleries, Michelin-starred restaurants, and some of New York’s loveliest parks. In the historically African-American neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, further into Brooklyn, you can now find star Nigerian chefs cooking innovative tasting menus and queer feminist bookstores with poetry readings.

Brooklyn is also unique when it comes to cuisine—in one weekend you can enjoy Polish pierogi in Greenpoint, Cantonese dim sum in Sunset Park, modernist Japanese omakase in Park Slope, or phenomenal Mexican tacos and tlayudas in Bushwick. This diversity reflects Brooklyn’s full cultural spectrum and contributes to the constant change in the borough. If anything is unique about Brooklyn, it’s that every year tens of thousands of newcomers move here, mostly young people or families with children, each with their own hopes and dreams of what Brooklyn should be. Together they help create a different city, where they collectively write new chapters in Brooklyn’s history.Here are some of the new and old gems among Brooklyn’s vibrant offerings.

Brooklyn's trendiest restaurants

Israeli roof terrace with a view

Laser Wolf

A crowd-pleasing and atmospheric Israeli restaurant on the roof terrace of the Hoxton Hotel in Williamsburg. The menu has an emphasis on charcoal-grilled and vegetarian dishes, but many people come just for a drink and to soak in the views of the Manhattan skyline. Good for large parties.

Innovative menu and phenomenal wines

Place des Fêtes

This particular gem, named after a square in Paris, can be found among the brownstones on a leafy street in the pleasant neighborhood of Clinton Hill, with an innovative menu closer to the Basque Country and the Iberian Peninsula. The wine list is phenomenal and the sommelier always suggests something genuinely surprising, like macerated gewurztraminer and experimental natural wines from the Balearic Islands.

A creative pizzeria

Ops

When it comes to pizza, the traditional is often preferred to the innovative, but Ops has found a happy medium, combining classic ingredients and artistry with ingenuity in a very charming spot in the heart of bohemian Bushwick. There are also great wines and interesting collaborations with innovative chefs, such as the Cambodian restaurant Ha’s Dac Biet.

Classic, refined Taiwanese

Mama Lee

New York has Taiwanese food fever, which means there are endless lines for the most popular restaurants in Brooklyn, like WenWen and WinSon. But the best food is to be found at Mama Lee. Run by a Taiwanese family in Queens, it serves classic but refined Taiwanese home cooking, such as the famous three-cup chicken or lu ro fan (pork rind with rice and shiitake) in a beautiful space.

The best hotels

Conscious with panoramic views

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

An environmentally conscious hotel filled with greenery and beautiful plants, with warm wooden interiors and huge panoramic windows looking over Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan. From the terrace’s elegant pool, you can enjoy the sunset over the East River with a cocktail in hand.

Stylish in Boerum Hill

Ace Hotel

A new addition to Boerum Hill, a part of Brooklyn that has long been lacking in cool hotels. The stylish Ace has loft-like rooms with exposed brick walls and industrial windows, a lively bar and nightly diner serving classic American comfort food. Close to charming Brownstone neighborhoods and Brooklyn Heights.

Hotel institution with famous rooftop bar

Wythe Hotel

An institution in the most vibrant part of Williamsburg, close to the river, the parks and all the shops and restaurants that have made the neighborhood world famous. Many come here just for the famous rooftop bar with its stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. The stylish brasserie Le Crocodile in the lobby also features an excellent wine list and a sommelier from the best wine bars in Paris.

Photo: Unsplash

Parks to visit

Wonderfully busy

Prospect Park

One of New York’s largest and most beautiful parks, created in the 1860’s by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park. Wonderfully busy at weekends, with Caribbean barbecues on the south side and acoustic bluegrass concerts on the other. The Botanic Garden, which requires a special ticket, is a unique oasis from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Popular park with big sports facilities

Brooklyn Bridge Park

The most ambitious transformation of New York City’s waterfront in the 21st century started as climate-smart protection against future flooding but ended up as perhaps the most popular park in Brooklyn, reflecting the diversity of the entire borough. Beautiful green spaces, large-scale sports facilities for soccer and roller skating, carousels and playgrounds for children, and always fascinating public art exhibitions and sculptures.

Fabulous food market excursion

Domino Park

The industrial area around the former Domino sugar factory is now a stylish park surrounded by luxury apartments, art galleries, and weekend food markets. You can also play volleyball, basketball, and boules, or relax outdoors at Other Half Brewing.

Tips for shoppers

Eccentric vendors at antique market

Brooklyn Flea

This popular antique market takes place every Sunday under the huge arches of the Manhattan Bridge. There are plenty of eccentric vendors with interesting collections of Americana, vintage clothing, and small food stalls selling tacos and other street food.

Visit a mini Tokyo

Cibone

A mini Tokyo has emerged in this old industrial area in South Greenpoint, near Williamsburg. Cibone sells elegant Japanese ceramics, handmade clothing, and art pieces crafted by Japanese artists. There’s also House, a French-Japanese fine dining restaurant, a charming café for tea and Japanese pastries as well as a deli for dashi and gourmet Japanese ingredients. In the same neighborhood, you’ll also find great record stores, vintage clothing, and the popular Izakaya Rule of Thirds.

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