Burj Khalifa at the hour it turns gold
828 metres, and from level 148 the desert and the sea are both in the same frame. Sunset slots go first, so book the day you decide.
Al Fahidi is the surviving coral-and-gypsum quarter of old Dubai: lanes narrow enough to shade themselves, wind towers instead of air conditioning, and the fort at the end of it holding the city museum. It is the one part of Dubai that can only be seen on foot.
Al Fahidi metro station is at the edge of it; the creek and Deira are one abra ride away.
25.2637, 55.2977
Dubai
828 metres, and from level 148 the desert and the sea are both in the same frame. Sunset slots go first, so book the day you decide.
A wooden boat, a bench, a coin, and the oldest working commute in the city. Spice souk on one bank, gold on the other.
Turquoise water held between bare Hajar rock, ninety minutes from the skyline. Go early: the wind picks up after eleven.
What's on
December to January
The retail festival that reshaped the region's winter season: city-wide sales, nightly fireworks and open-air concerts.
Entry to the festival and the city-wide sales is free. The concerts and the ticketed attractions inside it are sold separately.
Late March
The richest day in world racing, at Meydan, and the closing night of a carnival that runs from January.
Enclosures and hospitality are sold by the racecourse, and the raceday fills long before the date.
Neighbourhoods