Where To Go in Dubai
27 places across 9 categories — the landmarks on the postcards, the observation decks, the museums, the parks, and the neighborhoods where the city actually lives.
Landmarks
TODO — what landmarks in Dubai are actually worth the time.
Burj Khalifa
The tallest building in the world by a margin nothing has yet threatened, with three observation levels at three quite different prices.
Burj Al Arab
The sail-shaped hotel on its own artificial island, which you cannot enter without spending money, and can photograph for nothing.
Palm Jumeirah
Ninety-four million cubic metres of dredged sand in the shape of a palm tree, now a suburb with a monorail.
Dubai Frame
A 150-metre gilded picture frame with a glass floor, positioned so old Dubai is on one side and new Dubai on the other.
Jumeirah Mosque
The one mosque in Dubai open to non-Muslim visitors, on a guided programme designed to let you ask anything.
The Dubai Fountain
A choreographed fountain on a 12-hectare lake, free, every half hour after dark, and better from the bridge than from a restaurant table.
Museums
TODO — what museums in Dubai are actually worth the time.
Museum of the Future
A torus of Arabic calligraphy with no columns and no windows, holding an exhibition that is closer to immersive theatre than a museum.
Al Shindagha Museum
A string of restored merchant houses on the Creek telling the pearling story properly, and the best history museum in the emirate.
Etihad Museum
Built on the spot where the UAE was signed into existence in 1971, in a building shaped like the parchment they signed.
Al Fahidi Fort and Dubai Museum
The oldest building in Dubai, from 1787, which housed the city museum for fifty years and has been closed for restoration.
The Coffee Museum
Two floors of a wind-tower house given over to coffee, with roasting demonstrations and an Ethiopian ceremony upstairs.
History
TODO — what history in Dubai are actually worth the time.
Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood
Fifty restored courtyard houses with wind towers, in the only part of Dubai where the streets are too narrow for a car.
Dubai Creek and the Abras
The saltwater inlet the whole city grew from, still crossed by wooden boats for one dirham.
Parks & Outdoors
TODO — what parks & outdoors in Dubai are actually worth the time.
Dubai Miracle Garden
150 million flowers arranged into an Emirates A380, a Disney castle and a great deal else, in the middle of a desert, for six months a year.
Al Qudra Lakes
Artificial lakes in the deep desert with flamingos on them, an eighty-kilometre cycle track, and no light pollution at all.
Kite Beach
A free public beach with showers, a running track, a view of the Burj Al Arab and none of the resort pricing.
Food & Drink
TODO — what food & drink in Dubai are actually worth the time.
Deira Waterfront Market
Hammour, kingfish and Gulf prawns on ice at six in the morning, with a kitchen upstairs that will cook whatever you buy.
Ravi Restaurant
A Pakistani canteen open since 1978 where a plate of nihari costs less than a coffee at the Burj Khalifa.
Al Seef
A newly built heritage waterfront on the Creek that is honest about being new, and rather good in the evening.
Culture & Music
TODO — what culture & music in Dubai are actually worth the time.
Shopping
TODO — what shopping in Dubai are actually worth the time.
Day Trips
TODO — what day trips in Dubai are actually worth the time.
Neighbourhoods
TODO — what each part of Dubai is like to walk around, and who lives there.
