Places to visit in Dubai

Fun things to do in Dubai

Maybe you think a few days are enough to spend in Dubai but there are so many things to do in Dubai that you can easily stay there for a few weeks. In addition to great tours, attractions and sights Dubai has beautiful beaches so you can perfectly combine a city trip with a beach holiday. Furthermore Dubai offers a few nice museums and you can make fun day trips from Dubai to the desert and Abu Dhabi.

Attractions and sights in Dubai

Dubai has a number of iconic buildings known throughout the world such as the Burj Al Arab, the luxury hotel in the form of a Dhow and the Burj Al Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. In addition to these modern buildings, Dubai has a historic center, where you can see how Dubai used to be in past time. Here you can find the historic Al Fahidi district with small shops and at the nearby Dubai creek you can sail with the abra’s (water taxis) or take a cruise with a Dhow ship. On both sides of the Creek you will find the old markets, souks, where you can buy nice souvenirs. On the other side of Dubai you will find the Dubai Marina, a landscaped marina between the skyscrapers, where you will find dozens of restaurants and a long pedestrian promenade. If you want to be sure that you see everything, you can buy a ticket for the hop-on hop-off double-decker buses from Big Bus Dubai or City Sightseeing. Even kids won’t get easily bored in Dubai, because there are a number of great fun water parks with plenty of slides in Dubai. And there’s more fun, because Dubai offers many theme parks with super fast roller coasters and the best rides. For more information about the best attractions and sights, check out our pages about attractions in Dubai and sights in Dubai. If you are looking for exciting activities such as a skydive above the Palm Jumeirah, a helicopter or hot balloon ride or a sliding down a zipline from a skyscraper, have a look at our page with thrills in Dubai.

Museums in Dubai

In addition to attractions and sights there are more fun things to do in Dubai. You probably do not immediately think of interesting museums when you travel to Dubai, but there you can find a few nice museums. The most famous museum is the Dubai Museum with the historic Al Fahidi fortress in the historic center of Dubai. Here you will find a nice exhibition about the history of Dubai with lifelike sculptures. In the vicinity of the Dubai museum you will find a number of smaller museums such as the Pearl museum, the Coffee museum and the Coins museum. Soon a new museum will open in Dubai, the Museum of the Future, where you can view new inventions which you will probably encounter in daily life in the future. You can also easily travel from Dubai to Abu Dhabi where you will find the Guggenheim and the Louvre museums, annexes of the famous museums from New York and Paris. Read more on our page about museums in Dubai.

Beaches in Dubai

On some days you just want to relax and Dubai is a great place to do so, because, the weather is always good and there are beautiful beaches. One of the most popular beaches is the JBR beach near the Dubai Marina. There is a lot to do around this beach including a long beach promenade with many restaurants and shops. On the beach itself you can do plenty of water sports and beach activities and opposite the beach you will find the Ain Dubai and Madame Tussauds. Another popular beach is Jumeirah Open Beach, where you can find many shops and restaurants as well and even the Laguna Waterpark. In the vicinity of old Dubai you can find the Al Mamzar Beach park with a number of beautiful beaches and swimming pools surrounded by palm trees. Besides these public beaches there are dozens of hotels and beach clubs in Dubai with private beaches. More information can be found on our page about beaches in Dubai.

Shopping in Dubai

Dubai is also known as one of the best shopping cities in the world, because you will find many large shopping centers with hundreds of stores in Dubai. The Dubai Mall is the largest shopping center in the world and also the Mall of the Emirates is huge. Besides shops you will also find all sorts of fun attractions in these shopping centers and you can easily spend a day there. In the historic part of Dubai you will find nice souks, such as the old souk, the Spice souk and the Gold Souk. On these markets you will find lots of small shops where you can buy nice souvenirs. The Souk Madinat Jumeirah is a modern souk which targets tourists with lots of souvenirs and restaurants where you can eat with a view at the Burj Al Arab. For more information, visit our page about shopping in Dubai.

When you really want to see and do everything in Dubai, you can easily spend a few weeks! It is wise to make a list in advance of things that you really want to do, because the offer is overwhelming.