Dubai is a city of superlatives! Everything is bigger, higher, more modern and hardly any other city changes as fast as Dubai. No matter if just for a city trip or on a stop over to Asia - Dubai is definitely the most popular travel destination in the Emirates.
Some people come here to see the most important sights within one or two days just to fly back again.
Others spend their entire vacation here and combine sightseeing with trips to the beach.
No matter which group you belong to, in our article you’ll find the most important tips for your vacation in Dubai.
We’ll show you the modern and historic sights in Dubai, reveal our Highlights, which trips are worthwhile and give you practical tips for your time in Dubai.
#1 Burj Khalifa
Of course, the absolute highlight in Dubai is the Burj Khalifa. Since everything in Dubai always has to be bigger and better, it’s no wonder that the highest building in the world is located here.
The Burj Khalifa stands tall at a proud 828 meters (2,716.5 feet). By comparison: The Berlin TV Tower, the highest building in Germany no less, isn’t even half as tall at 368 meters. Crazy!
A visit on the Burj Khalifa is a must on a Dubai trip. You best buy tickets for the Burj Khalifa before coming here to avoid standing in line for long. You can also spend the night at the Burj Khalifa. The Armani Hotel isn’t exactly a bargain, but then what is in Dubai?
#2 Dubai Mall
A mall as a highlight? For real? Sounds odd, but it actually fits in this case. The Dubai mall at the foot of the Burj Khalifa is not simply a shopping mall, it’s a world for itself.
We actually managed to get lost in there and still didn’t even get close to seeing all of it. Just so you understand the scale we’re talking about, let’s take a look at what the Dubai Mall has to offer over a total area of over 1.1 million square meters:
Sounds ludicrous? It really is! Even if you’re not a big fan of shopping malls just like us, you should take a look.
You won’t come around going to the Dubai mall anyways, as the entrance of the Burj Khalifa viewing platforms is located in here.
10 am to 11 pm
Red Line. Station: Burj Dubai/Dubai Mall
#3 Dubai fountain
Every night, directly at the Dubai Mall, the famous fountains in front of the Burj Khalifa take place.
The Dubai fountain on the Burj Khalifa lake is, how else could it be, the biggest fountain in the world and every night its water dances to the beat of music.
The show lasts a few minutes and starts at 6pm. After that the show is repeated every half hour until 11pm.
There are also two afternoon shows at 1 pm and 1.30 pm (Fridays 1.30 pm and 2 pm). However, at night the Dubai fountain is illuminated and therefore definitely more impressive.
There is always quite a crowd around the fountains and patience is needed to find a good photo spot.
A boat trip on the Burj Khalifa lake during the times of the fountain show is a a nice alternative.This costs around 15 euros and you can buy the tickets online here: Bootsfahrt Dubai Fountain.
Sat.-Thu.: 1 pm, 1.30 pm, 6 pm and 11 pm
Fri.: 1.30 pm and 2 pm, 6 pm and 11 pm
Red Line. Station: Burj Dubai/Dubai Mall
#4 Mall of the Emirates
Compared to the Dubai Mall the Mall of the Emirates is a real midget with a total of 600 stores. Still, it once used to be the biggest shopping mall in the world.
The highlight of the Mall of the Emirates is definitely the integrated ski slope, where you can jump into the snow while it’s over 100°F outside. No need to talk about the nonsense of this facility. We prefer to go skiing on real mountains.
Sun.-Wed.: 10 am to 10 pm
Thu.-Sat.: 10 am to 12 pm
Sun.-Wed.: 10 am to 10 pm
Thu.-Sat.: 10 am to 12 pm
2 Hours for approx. 46 euros
Single Day Ticket for approx. 75 euros
Red Line. Station 19: Mall of the Emirates
#5 Burj Al Arab
In a city where a shopping mall is a sight, it’s not surprising to hear that a hotel is one of the top sights as well.
The Burj al Arab is one of the most luxurious and well-known hotels in the world and aside from the Burj Khalifa the symbol of Dubai.
It is located on one of the artificial islands in front of Dubai and a real eye-catcher. Unfortunately you cannot simply walk into the hotel just like that, because even though it is one of Dubai’s top sights, they want to keep a little privacy for their guests.
You do have a few options. Here are 3:
#6 The Palm Jumeirah
The Palm Islands are artificial islands at the coast of Dubai formed to look like palm leaves. Yet another crazy project that is so typical for Dubai.
Only the Island Jumeirah is finished so far, two are still under construction. Of course, you get the best view from above. If you’re lucky, you can spot the islands from your plane.
On the island there is one luxurious hotel next to the other. The prices per room may not be as high as in the Burj Al Arab, but still not cheap either.
You can also go visit the islands. The Palm Jumeirah Monorail, a single-lane line, goes through the entire island and makes four stops along the way. The rail starts every 15 minutes between 10 am and 10 pm.
A single ticket costs 20 VAE (1.80 euros) and a round way ticket costs 30 VAE (2.70 euros). The tickets are available at the first and at the end station cash or with credit card.
The Island Jumeirah is also worth seeing from the water. On a boat tour, you can see the island and its fantastic hotels from a completely different angle.
# 7 Dubai Creek
The Dubai Creek is a 14 km long estuary and the lifeline of the old Dubai. The Creek divides the old parts of the town Deira in the East and Bur Dubai in the West.
For every visit in Dubai, a trip in one of the water taxis from one part to the other is mandatory.
The boats, called Abras, leave once all the seats are occupied, which happens pretty fast. The ride only costs 1 dirham, which is about 25 cents. The ride on the water taxi is probably the cheapest highlight in Dubai.
#8 Gold and Spice Souk
Deira is the second oldest district in Dubai. It is located East of the creek close to the airport.
The highlights and most exciting sights in this district are definitely the markets, called souk in Arabic. We liked the gold market and the spice market the most.
At the gold souk, immense amounts of jewelry is being traded and at the spice souk there are spices over spices.
The markets come to live at night, when it’s not as hot outside anymore.
No matter how beautiful the souks may be, a trip to the market can be pretty exhausting as the dealers are not known for their restraint.
However they do it, the dealers have an eye for finding out which country you come from and approach you with funny sentences in your native language. Our favourite so far: “Aldi prices! Take a look.”
Sat.-Thu.: 9 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 10 pm
Fri.: 4 pm to 10 pm
Green Line. Station: Palm Deira.
#9 Al Bastakiya
West of the Dubai Creek, there is the oldest district of the city: Bur Dubai. Here you can also find the oldest buildings of the city.
Especially worth seeing in Bur Dubai is the Bastakaya with its old loam buildings. The historic buildings with its characteristic wind towers, which serve as a natural air conditioner, were beautifully restored and invite to a cozy stroll through the streets.
#10 Dubai Museum
Directly next to it is the oldest existing building in Dubai, the 200 year old Fort Al-Fahidi. Today the Fort accommodates the Dubai Museum.
It’s worth a visit, because the museum is quite nicely done and you can learn a lot about the history of Dubai from being a Bedouin settlement to this city of superlatives. We liked it a lot.
8:30 am to 8:30 pm
adults: 70 cents
children under 6 years: 20 cents
Green Line. Metro Station: Al Fahidi Metro Station
Beaches in Dubai
Dubai has a total of 170 kilo meters of beach. Who would have thought? The coast along the city alone is almost 70 kilo meters long, in addition to that there are the countless beaches along the man-made islands.
The Jumeirah Beach, located directly in the city at the inflow of the Dubai Creek, is very popular. If you want to combine your city trip to Dubai with some beach feeling, Jumeirah Beach is the right place for you.
Many beaches in Dubai belong to the big hotel complexes and are usually reserved for the guests. Some beaches, however, can be visited by external visitors.
If you intend to visit Dubai for a beach vacation, we definitely recommend to book a hotel directly at one of the beaches. One of the most well known is the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.
The best time to visit Dubai
The best time to travel to Dubai is between November and April. That’s when the temperatures in Dubai are the most pleasant, which certainly not means that it is cold. You can wear T-Shirts and the weather is really good for bathing.
From May until October, Dubai is quite literally extremely hot. Temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius and more is definitely not uncommon and the heat outside is unbearable.
We were in Dubai at the beginning of October and the heat was not fun. Thus for a vacation at the beach the summers are definitely way too hot.
For a stopover to the most important sights, however, you can certainly go there in summertime as well. You can easily stay in air-conditioned rooms and still see everything.
Money in Dubai
The official currency in Dubai is the Emirati dirham (AED). The euro conversion rate is about 1:4, that means you get around 4 dirhams for 1 euro. There are ATMs everywhere so withdrawing money is no problem.
Overall, Dubai isn’t a cheap place to visit, but if you can make do with a simple hotel and local food (very delicious!), then you won’t have to spend heaps of cash.
If you really want to live the high life, then Dubai offers ample opportunities to go wild, and you can easily drop a small fortune there in no time.
Our final thoughts on Dubai
Dubai is definitely impressive and we can recommend taking a quick stopover in the city. It’s worth visiting for a day or two, but that’s about it.
For a longer vacation we would not recommend going to Dubai. There might be one or the other imressive building, but there is one important thing missing: Flair.
The city lacks a heart and a soul, just like malls have neither heart nor soul
Have you ever been to Dubai? What did you think of it? Do you have a great must-see tip? Or perhaps you can convince us to return and give it a second chance? We’re looking forward to your comment!
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