Brooklyn is probably not the first place that comes to mind when you think about scenic driving. There are no mountain passes here, and you are never too far from traffic, apartment buildings, or another busy intersection.
But there are some roads that show you a very different side of the borough. You can drive beneath mature trees on historic parkways, follow New York Harbor through Bay Ridge, see the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge filling the horizon, or keep going south until Brooklyn opens out towards Jamaica Bay.
You do not need a full day for most of them either. Pick one route, add a couple of stops, and you have an easy way to explore Brooklyn from the road.
Ocean Parkway to Coney Island
Ocean Parkway gives you one of the easiest scenic drives to start from central Brooklyn. The boulevard begins near the southwestern edge of Prospect Park and continues for about five miles towards Brighton Beach and Coney Island.
This is not the Ocean Parkway on Long Island. Brooklyn’s version is a much older, tree-lined boulevard designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the same landscape architects behind Prospect Park. Wide landscaped malls separate the main roadway from the local streets, and mature trees line long sections of the route. It is also one of New York City’s designated Scenic Landmarks.
The scenery is not dramatic in the usual road-trip sense. What makes the drive interesting is watching Brooklyn change around you. The brownstones and apartment buildings near Prospect Park gradually give way to the neighbourhoods farther south before the road ends close to the coast.
Keep going towards Brighton Beach or Coney Island once you reach the southern end. You can park, walk the boardwalk, and spend some time beside the Atlantic before heading back.
If you are visiting and using a car rental in NYC, this is a simple route to combine with Prospect Park and Coney Island without leaving Brooklyn. A four-door model such as the Bentley Flying Spur is also among the current NYC rental options.
Eastern Parkway From Grand Army Plaza to Ralph Avenue
Eastern Parkway starts beside Grand Army Plaza, so you are immediately surrounded by some of central Brooklyn’s best-known sights. Prospect Park sits behind you, while Brooklyn Museum and Brooklyn Botanic Garden are close to the western end of the road.
From there, the parkway heads east through Crown Heights towards Ralph Avenue.
Like Ocean Parkway, this road was designed by Olmsted and Vaux. Its broad layout includes tree-lined malls separating different parts of the roadway, which gives it a noticeably different character from the ordinary avenues around it. The section from Grand Army Plaza to Ralph Avenue is a designated New York City Scenic Landmark.
This is more of an urban scenic drive than a nature route. You are here for the boulevard itself, the architecture around Crown Heights, and the sense of moving through one of Brooklyn’s historic corridors.
It is also easy to turn into an afternoon rather than treating the drive as the whole activity. Start with the Brooklyn Museum or Botanic Garden, drive east along the parkway, and then continue exploring Crown Heights.
If you have another day to fill after Brooklyn, our guide to luxury things to do in NYC has more ideas across the city.
Shore Road Through Bay Ridge
For actual water views, head to Bay Ridge.
Start around Owl’s Head Park and follow Shore Road south towards Fort Hamilton. The road runs close to Upper New York Bay, with Shore Road Park and the waterfront sitting between you and the harbour for much of the journey.
Staten Island is visible across the water, but the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge becomes the real focus as you continue south. At first, it sits in the distance. Keep going, and the bridge gradually takes over the view until you are almost beneath it near Fort Hamilton.
That gradual approach is what makes this one of the best scenic drives in Brooklyn.
There are plenty of reasons to stop too. Shore Road Park has paths and green spaces running beside the waterfront, while American Veterans Memorial Pier gives you an open view across the harbour and towards the bridge. NYC Parks, American Veterans Memorial Pier
Late afternoon is a particularly good time to drive here when the weather is clear. You get the harbour in daylight, then the bridge begins to light up as evening arrives.
If you want the car to be part of the outing, the Lamborghini Huracan Evo is one of the NYC models currently listed by STARR. You can also browse the wider Lamborghini collection before choosing a vehicle.
Belt Parkway Through Southern Brooklyn
The Belt Parkway gives you the longest drive on this list, but there is one thing worth knowing before you set out.
It is not scenic the entire way.
Start around Bay Ridge, and you get sections close to the harbor and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Continue east, and the road becomes much more like an ordinary city parkway for a while as it passes through southern Brooklyn.
Stay with it.
Around Sheepshead Bay, Plumb Beach, and Jamaica Bay, the landscape begins opening again. The dense residential streets of Brooklyn give way to water, marshes, and wider views that feel surprisingly removed from the neighborhoods you have just driven through.
You can leave the parkway near Coney Island for the boardwalk, around Sheepshead Bay for food, or continue towards the Jamaica Bay side of the borough.
That flexibility is the main reason to choose this route. You are not driving it for one continuous view. You are driving it because it links several very different parts of southern Brooklyn.
A coupe such as the Rolls Royce Wraith offers another option from the NYC fleet, while the wider Rolls Royce rental collection gives you other models to consider.
Flatbush Avenue to Floyd Bennett Field and Jamaica Bay
Flatbush Avenue is busy for much of Brooklyn. Drive far enough south, though, and things start to change.
The interesting part comes after you pass through the more built-up neighbourhoods and approach Jamaica Bay. Roads become wider, development thins out, and the landscape starts feeling much more open.
Keep following Flatbush Avenue, and you eventually reach Floyd Bennett Field just before the Marine Parkway Bridge.
Floyd Bennett Field opened as New York City’s first municipal airport and is now part of Gateway National Recreation Area. The old airfield gives you open grassland, historic aviation buildings, former runways, and a sense of space that is difficult to find elsewhere in Brooklyn. National Park Service, Floyd Bennett Field
Stop here rather than automatically crossing the Marine Parkway Bridge. Once you cross the bridge towards the Rockaways, you are leaving Brooklyn and entering Queens.
That makes Floyd Bennett Field a good endpoint. You can explore some of the former airfield, look out towards Jamaica Bay, and then head back north.
Driving Around Brooklyn
Brooklyn traffic can turn a short route into a much longer one, so avoid planning these drives around exact journey times. Weekday rush hours and busy summer weekends around Coney Island can make a big difference.
Commercial vehicles are also prohibited on several Brooklyn parkways, including Ocean Parkway, Eastern Parkway, and the Belt Parkway. Check the registration and classification of the vehicle you are using before choosing your route.
If you would rather spend part of a Brooklyn sightseeing day watching the streets instead of navigating them, you can arrange a chauffeur in New York. Current NYC options include the Mercedes S-Class and Rolls Royce Ghost Series II, although any route still needs to allow the type of vehicle being used.
See Brooklyn From the Road
Brooklyn’s scenic drives are not about empty roads or huge landscapes. They are about seeing the borough change as you move through it.
You can begin beneath the trees of Ocean Parkway, follow the harbour through Bay Ridge, or keep going until the city opens towards Jamaica Bay. And if you would rather spend another day away from the car, our guide to hidden gems in Manhattan gives you a completely different way to explore New York.
Pick one route, give yourself time to stop, and enjoy the parts of Brooklyn that are easy to miss when you are travelling underground.
