Dubai
A city of many faces, Dubai is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Home to the tallest tower in the world, the Burj Khalifa, this global city is known for its lavish architecture, incredible skylines and a plethora of tourist attractions that break records to be the tallest, longest and biggest. Dubai has abundant opportunities when it comes to adventure activities like Desert Safaris through golden Arabian Dunes, Skydiving over the beautiful Palm Islands, Reef and wreck diving, kite surfing, wakeboarding, etc.
Burj Khalifa
Towering at a height of 2,700 feet, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest tower in the world. With two observation decks, a Las Vegas-inspired fountain, nine of the city’s best luxury hotels and multiple restaurants, this 21st- century architectural marvel must be your number one place to visit when in Dubai or even the UAE. Also, make sure to book your tickets in advance well to avoid last moment hassles.
Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s magnificent artificial archipelago, is the epitome of beauty created by land reclamation, extending into the Persian Gulf. The archipelago resembles a palm tree with a circle when you take an overhead view of it. It was one of the first major tourism projects in the UAE and currently houses some of Dubai’s top tourist destinations like Atlantis, the Palm, Aquaventure Waterpark and the Lost Chambers Aquarium.
Burj Al Arab
Established in the year 1999, Burj Al Arab is one of the premium hotels of Dubai located on an artificial island off Jumeirah Road. Designed in the shape of a sail of a dhow, this iconic landmark houses an array of shiny chauffeur-driven limousines and a private helipad. Talking of luxury, the hotel features an attractive fountain, an admirable lobby and richness induced 203 suites. Standing tall at a height of 180 meters, the royalty factor of the hotel is brought out by its may interior elements adorned in real gold! A prior reservation (on its website) is required to get past the lobby security to visit its restaurant if you are not staying there.
Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo
Located on the ground floor of the Dubai Mall, the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo houses over 33,000 marine life occupying the 10 million litres of water within the tank. A unique underwater zoo occupies the level above the tank showcasing a plethora of underwater life that can be found inhabiting the oceans, rivers and other water bodies across the planet. The VR Zoo makes up the third section offering thrilling wildlife adventures via realistically created virtual tours.
The Dubai Mall
The Dubai Mall, also known as the home of the Dubai shopping festival, is one of the world’s largest shopping malls with an area of over 500,000 square meters! With more than 1200 stores, a large walk-through aquarium, a world-class ic rink, 14,000 parking spaces and more exciting experiences for shoppers, the mall was voted the best shopping experience in the world by Grazia Magazine in 2010.
Global Village Dubai
Global Village Dubai is claimed to be the world’s most significant tourism, leisure and entertainment project of UAE. It is the region’s first cultural, entertainment, family and shopping destination. Every year, the place receives over 5 million visitors over an area of 17,200,000 sq ft. The compound has various pavilions that each
Miracle Garden Dubai
Miracle Garden is one of the most beautiful and biggest natural flower gardens in the world. Located in Dubailand, it is spread across a vast area of over 72,000 square meters, the garden is the world’s largest natural flower garden featuring over 45 million flowers and plants. The place is a heaven for those seeking nature’s beauty in the city. The garden is open only from mid-November to mid-May.
Atlantis the Palm
With a private sandy beach and 5-star amenities, Atlantis is the first ever resort to be built on the Palm Jumeirah Island in Dubai. Offering mesmerizing views of the Arabian Gulf and being themed on the myth of Atlantis, this resort inculcates a few distinct Arabian elements. Providing unique features such as an underwater aquarium and swimming with dolphin opportunities, Palm Atlantis is surely one of the world’s most popular attraction destination for tourists.
Dubai Desert Safari
Dubai, mainly renowned for its great infrastructure, is also known for its adventurous streak. At the heart of Dubai is still its desolated desert. And so, to enjoy the desert a bit more effectively, the city presents various Desert Safari options. The experience is one of its kind and worth every penny spent! Visitors can experience desert camping with a delicious Arabian dinner, belly dancers and other traditional performers. Day safaris hold you in for an adventure as you get to try out Dune Bashing, sandboarding, quad biking, camel rides and more.
Dubai Fountain
Dubai Fountain is the world’s largest choreographed water fountain located in the beautiful Burj Complex. This dancing fountain surges as high as 150 meters in complete synchronisation to classical, Arabic and other popular world musical numbers. Forming beautiful arcs and jumping to the beats, this fountain was designed by California-based WET, the creators of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas. The show begins in the evening every day, and the best way to approach it is through the Dubai Mall.
Jumeirah Beach
Stretched along the coast, south of the city’s historic Al Faihidi district, this sandy white strip of sand is among the top beach destinations for the visitors of Dubai. The cluster of high-end resorts and properties such as Burj Al Arab (Arab Tower) hotel, Wild Wadi Water Park, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Burj Al Arab (Arab Tower) hotel adds grace to the lively waterfront. For adventure buffs, there is the facility for various watersports like jet skiing, kitesurfing and more. For a quiet day at the beach, visitors can rent sun loungers too.
Dubai Opera
Located in Downtown Dubai, this 2016 established Opera is one of the finest and radiant cultural and art centres. Built by the famous Emaar properties, Dubai Opera is a multi-format performing arts centre with the capacity of holding approximately 2000 persons. It engages the audience and brings an exciting vibe and life to the place. Dubai Opera is a unique blend of art and culture and presents something you’ve never had seen before. The opera is shaped like a dhow or a sailing vessel and hosts several performances like theatre, ballets, concerts, orchestras, conferences and even fashion shows.
Dubai Gold Souk
Dubai is famous not just for its deserts, adventure parks and resorts, but for its many shopping hubs as well. Dubai’s famous gold souk happens to be the world’s largest gold market! Situated in Deira, this golden souk is the most famous and highly visited tourist spot in Dubai because of its excellent quality and designs of gold. With more than 350 jewellery traders and retailers, Gold Souk is restocked with at least 10 tons of gold daily.
Bollywood Parks
Bollywood Parks Dubai is the ‘first theme park dedicated to the B-town’ in the world! A part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, it is the perfect location to learn and experience what goes into making a Bollywood film and how the Indian movie industry works. Visitors can visit various remakes of famous Bollywood movie sets like Lagaan, have a 4D movie experience to the movie Krish, the Cinema Circle for dance workshops and more. This place has perfect photo opportunities with the beautiful Indian décor, henna artists, vintage movie posters, mannequins of stars and colourful live performances.
Legoland Dubai
Situated amidst Dubai parks and resorts, Legoland is a family-theme park which lets you play with the Lego bricks and enjoy on water slides too! Ideal for kids aged between 2 to 12, Legoland is divided between two parks- a Lego park and a Lego Water Park. Legoland, Dubai consists of almost forty interactive rides, twenty water slides and more than fifteen thousand Lego models.
Dhow Cruise
Dhow Cruise is a must-try for those who are curious enough to know the rich heritage of the nation. Cruising past the Creek or the Marina, a Dhow cruise highlights how fishers would use the vessels for fishing and pearl diving. The Dhow cruises in Dubai exposes you to the other side of this magnificent city with a ride through the historical places. It is best experienced through a dinner cruise. With plenty of options at its disposal, you could explore the old Dubai creek or escape on a romantic dinner with your special someone. You can either witness the ultramodern episodes of a Cruise dinner or wonder at the sight of nature!
Guru Nanak Darbar, Dubai
Guru Nanak Darbar is the first official Sikh temple in the UAE. Established with the aim of offering more than 50,000 Sikhs a place to worship in Dubai, the gurdwara is an epitome of peace, hope and solace. Situated in Jebel Ali, the construction work of this first Sikh temple in UAE started in 2008 when Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum offered a free of cost piece of land to the Sikhs to build this gurudwara. The Gurudwara broke the Guinness world record for “serving breakfast to more than 600 people from 101 different nationalities” as a part of its special Breakfast Diversity event which was hosted in Jebel Ali Garden in Dubai.
Dubai Frame
One of the most recent megaprojects of Dubai launched in January 2018, the Dubai Frame is the world’s largest frame structure inspired by the logo of the upcoming World Expo 2020 which is to be held in the city. Located in Zabeel Park, it acts as a frame to some of the greatest architectural marvels of Dubai including the Burj Khalifa. It is flanked by two high-rise towers that go up to 150 meters and are connected by a Sky Deck which has a breadth of 93 meters acts as a top member of the frame structure.
Wild Wadi
Wild Wadi Water Park is one of the premier water parks of Dubai and boasts of innovative rides for all ages providing a unique experience for visitors. Located in front of the iconic Burj Al Arab, Wild Wadi Water Park is themed around Juha, the character from the very popular folktale Arabian nights. Apart from the rides, the water park also provides an excellent surfing experience.
Ferrari World
Ferrari World is the world’s first Ferrari ‘themed’ park offering adrenaline-pumping experiences to its visitors with its unique concepts in its rides. Apart from the thrilling rides, explore the state of the art simulators, live performances, electric go-karts and purchase some authentic Ferrari racing memorabilia.Located on Yas Island, Ferrari World is also the world’s largest indoor theme park comprising of various Ferrari themed rides and attractions. It also has the biggest Ferrari store along with an array of authentic Italian restaurants at your disposal. Nestled under the bright red roof are some of the most thrilling rides including two of the world-famous ones, Flying Aces, the world’s highest ride and Formula Rossa, the world’s fastest roller coaster.
Ski Dubai
Ski Dubai is an indoor ski resort with 22,500 square meters of the indoor ski area. It is the largest indoor ski park in the world. The park has a Snow Park, ski slopes, an ice museum and a skiing academy for those who wish to learn skiing. Apart from the regular facilities, Ski Dubai also hosts various events and concerts and a very cosy eatery called the Avalance Cafe which has a balcony that faces the ski slopes.
Yas Island
Yas Island is a 2,500-hectare human-made island in Abu Dhabi and is one of the biggest tourist attractions in UAE. This engineering marvel encompasses everything from posh hotels to shopping centres. It is also home to the famous Ferrari World and the Yas Marina Circuit which hosts the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix every year since 2009.