Things to do in Dubai

The tallest building in the world rises 828 metres over Downtown Dubai, a tapering stack of setbacks that opened in 2010 and sets the outline every photograph of the city is framed around. Three observation decks are open to visitors: At the Top on levels 124 and 125, reached by one of the fastest double-decker lifts built, and a higher deck on level 148. The entrance sits on the lower ground floor of Dubai Mall rather than at the foot of the tower, and a late afternoon slot puts sunset over the Gulf and the switch to city lights in the same visit.

Architect: Adrian Smith · Style: Neo-futurist

Location: Downtown Dubai, entrance inside Dubai Mall

Access: Ticketed with timed entry. The tower itself is free to see from Burj Park and the promenade around Burj Khalifa Lake.

The mall at the foot of the Burj Khalifa opened in 2008 and remains one of the largest shopping centres in the world, with more than 1,200 shops wrapped around the base of the tower. Most visitors come for what is not a shop: the Dubai Aquarium, whose ten million litre tank stands behind a viewing panel that needs no ticket, the Olympic size ice rink and the entrance to At the Top, the observation decks of the Burj Khalifa. The promenade on the lake side is the best free spot for the Dubai Fountain, and a long air conditioned walkway links the metro station to the doors.

Developer: Emaar · Opened: 2008

Location: Downtown Dubai, Financial Centre Road

Access: Free to enter; the aquarium tunnel, the ice rink and the Burj Khalifa decks are ticketed

The sail-shaped hotel stands on its own artificial island off Jumeirah Beach, and Jumeirah traces the silhouette to a 1993 sketch of a passing sail, drawn as a nod to the pearl divers and traders the city grew from. Tom Wright designed it, it opened in 1999, and for over 25 years it has worked as shorthand for Dubai itself, lit above the Gulf every night. A restoration led by the French architect Tristan Auer is under way and the hotel describes the approach as renewal rather than reinvention, keeping the bold decor, the gold leaf and the Statuario marble of the original rooms.

Architect: Tom Wright · Style: High-tech

Location: Its own island off Jumeirah Beach

Access: Hotel. The exterior is the sight; going inside means a room, a restaurant table or a booked experience.

Built from reclaimed land as a series of artificial archipelagos, Palm Jumeirah is shaped like a palm tree when seen from above, its outer crescent carrying the resorts that made the island famous. Atlantis The Palm anchors the crescent, joined more recently by Atlantis The Royal. Roads, tunnels and the Palm Monorail all reach it, the monorail stopping at Atlantis The Palm and Nakheel Mall. Along the trunk, the Palm Jumeirah Boardwalk, Palm West Beach and the restaurant pier at Club Vista Mare face the Gulf, the Dubai skyline and Burj Al Arab.

Location: Off Al Sufouh Road, on the Jumeirah coast

Access: Free. The island is public and reached by road or monorail; its resorts, beach clubs and attractions charge separately.

Roughly 72,000 square metres of Al Barsha South are laid out as sculpted displays rather than borders: a heart-shaped tunnel, a floral castle, an Emirates A380 covered in blooms and a Smurfs village. The garden counts more than 150 million blooms across a season and more than 50 set pieces, and the Dubai Butterfly Garden next door is sold on its own or in a combined ticket. It runs on a growing calendar rather than a year-round one, which is what makes each opening look freshly planted.

Location: Al Barsha South 3, Dubai

Access: Ticketed and seasonal. The official site gives the operating season as late September or October through April or May, closing during the summer for maintenance and replanting; season hours run 9:00 to 21:00, last entry 30 minutes earlier.

Hundreds of jewellers line the covered arcades on the Deira side of Dubai Creek, their windows stacked with gold sold by weight rather than at a fixed price, in a spread of carats and designs from across the region and beyond. All of the merchandise is regulated by the Dubai government, so authenticity is checked rather than taken on trust, and retailers expect to be bargained with. Diamond-set pieces, strings of pearls, platinum and silver share the windows. The Spice Souk is a three-minute walk away, the Perfume Souk five, and the Deira Old Souq abra station puts Al Fahidi one short water crossing away.

Location: Deira, north bank of Dubai Creek

Access: Free to walk through. Most shops open 10:00 to 22:00 and individual stores vary, per Visit Dubai.

An indoor ski slope runs down the side of Mall of the Emirates, recognisable from a distance by the slanted box perched on the roof, and the temperature inside holds at minus four degrees all year. A chairlift carries skiers and snowboarders to the top of the run, while everyone else rides a bobsled, rolls downhill inside a zorb ball, crosses a frozen zipline or walks through a snow cavern. A colony of king and gentoo penguins lives here as part of a conservation programme and can be met up close. Chalet-style restaurants around the edge look straight onto the snow, with the shoppers passing in the windows behind.

Location: Mall of the Emirates, Sheikh Zayed Road

Access: Ticketed by session. The mall around it is free to enter and sits on its own metro station.

Photo: "The indoor ski slope at Ski Dubai, Mall of the Emirates" by Ank Kumar (CC BY-SA 4.0).

An archipelago of 260 man-made islands lies just off the Dubai coast, grouped into seven sets that trace the shape of the world map across roughly 232 kilometres of shoreline. Islands carry the names of countries, cities and regions, and one is named for Michael Schumacher, a gift to the Formula One driver from the Ruler of Dubai. The Heart of Europe cluster holds the voco Dubai Monaco resort, an adults-only property guests reach by a 25 minute boat crossing. The map only resolves from the air, which is why most people meet The World from a helicopter.

Location: Offshore from the Dubai coastline

Access: No general admission and no scheduled public transport. Resort guests cross by boat; otherwise the archipelago is seen from a private yacht or a helicopter tour.

The world's largest choreographed fountain system sits on the 12 hectare Burj Khalifa Lake, the water held between Dubai Mall, Souk Al Bahar and the foot of the tower. Jets fire in time with music and light, evening shows run at half-hour intervals with shorter afternoon performances earlier in the day, and the crowd gathers along the mall waterfront and on the bridge across to Souk Al Bahar. The California firm WET designed it. A boardwalk platform reaches to within about ten metres of the jets, and abras cross the lake during the show.

Location: Burj Khalifa Lake, Downtown Dubai

Access: Free from Burj Park, the Dubai Mall waterfront and the Souk Al Bahar bridge. The boardwalk platform and the abra rides are ticketed extras and timings are set by the operator.

A steel torus stands on a planted green mound beside Sheikh Zayed Road, its skin cut with Arabic calligraphy spelling out three poems written by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. It opened in 2022 and its curved facade is built from 1,024 individually shaped panels that light up after dark. Inside, it is staged as a journey through possible futures rather than a set of galleries, with a floor of near-future technology from working innovators and a children's world built around future skills.

Architect: Killa Design · Style: Neo-futurist

Location: Sheikh Zayed Road, by Jumeirah Emirates Towers

Access: Ticketed, date and time specific, open daily 10:00 to 19:00 with last admission at 17:00. Emirates Towers metro station on the Red Line connects by a link bridge.

Two gold-clad towers 150 metres tall and 93 metres apart carry a bridge across the top, holding Old Dubai's low-rise streets to the north and the Downtown towers to the south inside the same picture frame, from the edge of Zabeel Park. The sky deck bridge runs 50 metres in liquid crystal glass that stays opaque until a sensor registers someone on it, at which point the floor clears over the drop. At ground level the city's past is told through animation, holographic effects, traditional music and scent, and a Future Zone projects Dubai fifty years ahead, flying taxis and underwater living included.

Location: Zabeel Park Entrance 4, Sheikh Rashid Road

Access: Ticketed. Max metro station on the Red Line is a short walk from the park.