Green-Wood is 478 acres of Victorian landscape architecture with the Battle of Brooklyn fought across it and Jean-Michel Basquiat buried in it, and in December the warm trolley is the only sane way to see any real amount of it. An expert guide handles the two hours, so you get the sweep of the place — glacial hills, monuments, sightlines to the harbour — without walking it in the cold. If you have only ever seen Green-Wood from the Fifth Avenue gate, this is the fix.
What to expect
You check in at the trolley by the Gothic Arch near the main entrance at Fifth Avenue and 25th Street, then ride a heated, enclosed trolley on a guided loop with stops. Expect two hours of landscape, monuments and biography, with the guide pointing out both the famous graves and the design logic of the grounds.
Good to know
- The R to 25th Street puts you at the main entrance gate; check in at the trolley by the Gothic Arch.
- The trolley is heated and enclosed, which makes this one of the more comfortable outdoor-ish tours in December.
- Tickets are limited — if only one shows as available during checkout, that is genuinely the last seat.
- The trolley is wheelchair-accessible and ADA compliant, but some stops where you disembark are not; arrange mobility accommodations in advance by calling 718-21
- Suits first-time visitors and repeat explorers equally; no prior knowledge needed.
- There is no need to print tickets — attendees are checked in by name.
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Common questions
Where does the tour start?
Check-in is at the trolley by the Gothic Arch near the main entrance at Fifth Avenue and 25th Street (500 25th Street).
Is the trolley accessible?
The trolley itself is wheelchair-accessible and ADA compliant, but some disembarking stops are not. Arrangements for a wheelchair or mobility aid must be made in advance.
How big is Green-Wood?
478 acres, which is why a trolley tour covers far more of it than a walk would in the same two hours.
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