If it’s pouring outside, you’re in the right place, because this guide to the best rainy day activities in Brooklyn includes many fun indoor activities.
Your outdoor plans may be canceled, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a lot of fun if you want to spend a day in Brooklyn. From playing an escape game to going to the movies to visiting amazing museums, there are lots of incredible indoor activities you can choose from.
So if the forecast calls for rain, I got you covered! These are the most fun things to do on a rainy day in Brooklyn.
Rainy Day Activities in Brooklyn
Go to the Brooklyn Museum
When it’s raining outside, a visit to a museum can be a great idea, and one of the best museums in Brooklyn to visit is the Brooklyn Museum at 200 Eastern Parkway.
This is one of the largest art museums in New York City and it has a collection of about 500,000 objects. You can find objects here from a period that spans more than 3,000 years and there are works of art from all across the world. The collection also includes a lot of works by famous artists, such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Max Weber.
In addition to that, the museum has temporary exhibitions with modern and contemporary art that can be great to check out on a rainy day.
Address: 200 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Try Delicious Food at the DeKalb Market Hall
DeKalb Market Hall is a great indoor food hall that you can find at 445 Albee Square West in Brooklyn. At this food hall, you can find both well-known and up-and-coming vendors that sell delicious food with flavors from all around the world.
There are more than 35 vendors in total, so there is a lot of food to choose from and there is definitely food that you’ll like to have for lunch or dinner. Also, because of the variety of food, you can go here with friends and have everyone choose their favorite food.
From burgers to sandwiches to Brazilian snacks to mochi bites, you can try it at DeKalb Market Hall.
Address: 445 Albee Square W, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Go to Nitehawk Cinema and See a Movie
You can go to the movies when it is raining in Brooklyn, and one of the best places for this is Nitehawk Cinema.
This is a movie theater with two locations in the borough. One of them can be found in Williamsburg and the other one is in Prospect Park.
What’s great about this movie theater is that you can see a movie here while you are having dinner or lunch! The food is delicious and you’ll definitely have an enjoyable time at this place. Seeing a movie and having food here is also fun if you’re looking for date ideas in Brooklyn.
What’s great about Nitehawk Cinema as well is that you can see both independent and mainstream movies here. So there is a movie for everyone!
Address: 136 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Play an Escape Game at the Brooklyn Escape Room
An escape game is a great activity to do with friends and a great place for an escape game is Brooklyn Escape Room.
So what’s an escape game? This is an immersive game that you do together with other people during which you have to escape from a room by finding clues and solving puzzles. For this, you have 60 minutes.
What’s great is that each escape room has a different theme. For example, you might play an escape game with a “haunted” theme. Each game comes with a different story, different puzzles, and different decor.
At Brooklyn Escape Room there are 2 different escape games that you can play.
Check out the Coney Island Museum
The Coney Island Museum is an interesting museum that was founded in the year 1983. You can find this museum in Coney Island in the southernmost point of the borough.
Through its temporary exhibitions and permanent displays, the museum is dedicated to promoting and preserving the contributions of Coney Island to American popular culture and the history of the “People’s Playground”
There are many interesting artifacts at this museum that relate to the former amusement park of Coney Island, and there are also objects related to the history and culture of the neighborhood. You can also see works of art at the museum.
Address: 1208 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224
See Contemporary Art at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts
The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts is one of the best places for contemporary art in New York City and it’s perfect when looking for rainy day activities in Brooklyn.
At this museum, which you can find at 80 Hanson Place in Brooklyn, you can learn about the art and culture of the African diaspora through exhibitions that relate to the experiences of people of African descent. These exhibitions can be great to attend when it’s raining outside.
Also, there are often lectures, festivals, and other types of events that take place at the museum.
Address: 80 Hanson Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Go to the Brooklyn Bowl and Listen to Live Music
Brooklyn Bowl is one of the best music venues in Brooklyn that you can go to for a variety of concerts. There are often rock concerts here, but you can go to a concert of a variety of genres here.
But that’s not all that you can do at Brooklyn Bowl! That’s because this is not just a music venue, but it is also a bowling alley with 16 bowling lanes.
You can also get delicious food by Blue Ribbon here, so it is also a great place if you want to have lunch or dinner.
So if you want to go to a place with great music, bowling, and tasty food, you should consider going to Brooklyn Bowl.
Address: 61 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Bowl at Melody Lanes
Melody Lanes is a great bowling alley that you can find in Sunset Park at 461 37th Street.
You can go here on a rainy day for a fun bowling game as there are 26 modern bowling lanes here.
There is also an arcade at Melody Lanes, so you play games here and have a fun time.
In addition to that, Melody Lanes serves tasty food.
Address: 461 37th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Visit the New York Transit Museum
The New York Transit Museum is one of the best museums in New York City and it is a great place to check out when it’s raining outside.
This museum is dedicated to transportation in New York City. From buses to subways to trains, you can learn about it at this museum.
At the museum, you can find all kinds of memorabilia related to transportation in NYC and there are also historic subway cars.
Also, what’s interesting is that you can find this museum inside a former subway station with the name “Court Street” at 99 Schermerhorn Street.
In addition to that, what’s great is that you can do special vintage train rides here during which you ride a vintage train to various places in the city.
Address: 99 Schermerhorn St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Go to Pioneer Works and See Contemporary Art
Pioneer Works, which is located at 159 Pioneer Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, is a cultural center that focuses on radical thinking across disciplines. You can go here for visual arts, performing arts, music, technology, and many other disciplines.
There are often interesting exhibitions and performances through which you can discover new subjects. The center also focuses on thinking about societal challenges in an alternative way.
If you want to learn and see something new when it is a rainy day in Brooklyn, then Pioneer Works is a great place to check out.
Address: 159 Pioneer St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
See Marine Life at the New York Aquarium
The New York Aquarium is the oldest aquarium in the country that is still in operation. The aquarium has many different exhibits through which you can learn about aquatic wildlife, and several of these exhibits are indoors making them great to see when it is raining outside.
You can find the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, where it has been located since the year 1957. The aquarium was founded in 1896 but later moved to its current location.
At the aquarium, you can see many types of animals and, in total, there are about 250 species of animals.
For example, you can see sand tiger sharks, harbor seals, sea lions, and many other animals here.
This is also a great activity to do with children when it’s pouring outside, as going to the New York Aquarium is one of the best things to do with kids in Brooklyn.
Address: 602 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224
Go to a Concert at Warsaw Concerts
Warsaw Concerts is a music venue with a capacity of about 1,000 people that can be found on the border of the Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
Many different live music concerts take place here and it is a great place to go if you want to listen to music by up-and-coming artists.
Also, there is a good bar at Warsaw Concerts, so it is also a great place to get a drink when you’re looking for things to do on a rainy day in Brooklyn.
Address: 261 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Have a Cup of Coffee at Devoción
A great coffee shop with a cozy and elegant interior is Devoción Coffee. This is a coffee shop with several cafes in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. You can find one of the locations in the Williamsburg neighborhood.
You can get delicious fresh coffee here that is directly sourced by the coffee shop from their independent coffee producers network. You can get a fresh cup of coffee at this coffee shop made with beans that traveled from Colombia to Brooklyn in 10 days, a process which is much quicker than regular coffee shops where it usually takes a few months.
You can get very delicious coffee here and I’m sure you’ll love it a lot.
Address: 25 E 20th St, New York, NY 10003
See a Movie at Alpine Cinema
Alpine Cinemas in Brooklyn is a great movie theater to check out on a rainy day.
This is a historic movie theater that dates back to the year 1921 and it used to have only one auditorium. Today, the movie theater has 8 modern auditoriums and all have the capability to project 3D movies.
Because of this, you can be sure that there is a movie that you want to watch here, and you can see all the latest blockbuster movies here.
You can also get delicious popcorn at Alpina Cinemas Brooklyn, which makes your movie theater more enjoyable.
Address: 6817 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220
Go to an Event at the Barclays Center
The Barclays Center is a large arena that you can find in the Prospect Heights neighborhood, and many indoor events take place here. The arena has a capacity of 17,000 people and was opened in 2012.
The center is the home of the Brooklyn Nets, which is a team of the NBA, so if you like basketball you can go to a basketball event here. It is also the home of the New York Liberty team of the Women’s National Basketball Association. Going to a game at the Barclays Center is also one of the best things to do in Brooklyn.
In addition to that, lots of concerts and other fun events take place at the venue, so there is definitely something for your liking.
Address: 620 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Have Fun at Kick Axe Throwing Brooklyn
If you’re looking for fun things to do when it rains in Brooklyn with friends, a great place to have fun is Kick Axe Throwing Brooklyn.
This is an indoor axe-throwing bar where you can do an axe-throwing session. During a session, you’ll first learn the basics of axe-throwing in about 10 to 15 minutes, and after that, you can compete in several fun games during which you throw axes at a target.
You can compare axe-throwing to darts, instead, you use an axe.
Besides that, you can also get drinks at Kick Axe Throwing Brooklyn. There is a full bar with food and drinks, including tacos, flatbreads, and much more.
Address: 622 Degraw St, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Go to the Bargemusic and Listen to Chamber Music
Bargemusic, a great music venue in Brooklyn, is a unique music venue to go to on a rainy day. This is a floating concert hall that you can find in the East River just under the Brooklyn Bridge.
Bargemusic dates back to the year 1977 and is a great place to listen to chamber music by both established and emerging artists.
Each year, there are more than 200 different concerts of chamber music at this venue.
What’s great about this place is that it is a very intimate and cozy venue where you can listen to music while you enjoy a view of the Brooklyn Bridge, the skyline of Manhattan, and the East River.
Address: 1 Water St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Check Out the City Reliquary
A rainy day is a great day to learn more about New York City, so the City Reliquary Museum, which you can find at 370 Metropolitan Avenue, can be great to check out.
You can learn about the history of each borough of New York City at this interesting nonprofit museum.
You can find permanent displays here with all kinds of artifacts from New York City. These objects all relate to specific historical events that took place in the city.
For example, you can go here to see objects from the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair.
Furthermore, there are often events at the museum, such as talks, workshops, and film series, and there are also often temporary exhibitions at the museum.
Address: 370 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Go to an Event at the Music Hall of Williamsburg
You can see a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. This is a standing-room-only live music venue with a capacity of 650 people that you can find in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. Going to this venue is also one of the best things to do in Williamsburg.
This venue used to be the rock club Northsix, but it was renovated. Nowadays, you can still go here for great up-and-coming rock bands and it is a great place for discovering new music in New York City. Also, you can listen to all kinds of other genres of music when you are here.
Also, what’s amazing is that you can go here for live music on most days of the week. So whenever it rains, you can check out this venue.
Address: 66 N 6th St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Have Fun at The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club
The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club is a very fun walk-in shuffleboard club that you can find at 514 Union Street.
There are 10 shuffleboard courts at this place that you can play one. For example, you can go here with a group of friends and shuffleboard for one hour.
Moreover, there is a variety of rotating food trucks here, there are DJs, and you can play board games at The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club. Also, you can get all kinds of unique and colorful cocktails here.
Keep in mind that you have to be more than 21 years old when you want to go here.
Address: 514 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Learn About History at the Center for Brooklyn History
A day with rain is a great opportunity to learn more about Brooklyn’s History, so a visit to the Center for Brooklyn History is one of the best rainy day activities in Brooklyn.
This is a museum that was founded in the year 1863 and that is now part of the Brooklyn Public Library.
At the museum, you can learn about the 400-year history of the borough through exhibits of interesting objects. For example, you can see pamphlets, historic maps, objects related to firefighting, and much more here.
What makes this place even better is that you can visit this place for free.
Address: 128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
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Things To Do When It Rains in Brooklyn Tips
Don’t forget to bring an umbrella when you are exploring these things to do on a rainy day in Brooklyn! Even though these are all indoor activities, you have to get inside first by public transportation or your car, so an umbrella is a necessity!
Things To Do on a Rainy Day in Brooklyn Map
As you see, you can have a lot of fun in Brooklyn if it’s pouring outside. Thanks for reading my guide to the best rainy day activities in Brooklyn!