Dubai · Arts & museums
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.
90 minutesAED 179 from
Island · Dubai
Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jumeirah is a reclaimed island off the Dubai coast laid out as a trunk, sixteen fronds and a crescent breakwater around them — which means the shoreline is enormous and most of it is beach. A monorail runs the length of the trunk, and the view worth having is the one back at the city rather than out to sea.
What marks it out
- Public beach stretches with the skyline behind them
- The monorail along the trunk to the crescent
- A waterpark and an aquarium on the crescent
Getting there
Twenty minutes from Downtown; the tram connects the mainland end to the metro.
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25.1124, 55.1390
Dubai
Experiences in this emirate
Dubai · Heritage & forts
Cross the Creek by abra
A wooden boat, a bench, a coin, and the oldest working commute in the city. Spice souk on one bank, gold on the other.
20 minutesAED 1 from
Dubai · Mountains & adventure
Kayak the Hatta dam
Turquoise water held between bare Hajar rock, ninety minutes from the skyline. Go early: the wind picks up after eleven.
Half dayAED 120 from
What's on
What is on in this emirate
Shopping & city
Dubai Shopping Festival
December to January
The retail festival that reshaped the region's winter season: city-wide sales, nightly fireworks and open-air concerts.
Free entry · elements ticketed
Entry to the festival and the city-wide sales is free. The concerts and the ticketed attractions inside it are sold separately.
Dubai
Sport
Dubai World Cup
Late March
The richest day in world racing, at Meydan, and the closing night of a carnival that runs from January.
Ticketed
Enclosures and hospitality are sold by the racecourse, and the raceday fills long before the date.
Dubai
Islands
Elsewhere in Dubai
City
Dubai city
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Neighbourhood
Al Fahidi
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Deira
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Region
Hatta
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