Dubai is often described as Las Vegas without the casinos. It certainly likes to do things on a grand scale. Supersized hotels, buffets, malls, amusement parks, aquariums, designer cars and luxury yachts are all commonplace. Expect to crane your neck looking up at the world’s tallest building — the Burj Khalifa — and then score a dizzying number of Instagram likes with a photo taken in front of the world’s largest flower arrangement (five million blooms set in the shape of an Airbus A380 plane, thanks to the Dubai Miracle Garden).
Don’t be afraid of the heights, mega brunches or the 16-lane Sheikh Zayed Road that is the spinal column of Dubai. Indulge in the emirate’s excesses; put that elastic belt to the test, skydive out of a plane, spend like no one is watching and enjoy the year-round sunshine on more than 10 miles of wide sandy beaches. Moderation doesn’t suit this place. Go big, and then go home.
Explore our interactive map below for all the local highlights, and scroll down for our suggested day-by-day summary of the best things to see and do. For further Dubai inspiration, see our guides to the city's best hotels, restaurants, shopping, nightlife, things to do and family-friendly things to do. For a stay where all of your food and drinks are included, go to our guide to the best all-inclusive hotels in Dubai.
How to spend your weekend
Insider tips
When should I visit Dubai?
Where to stay in Dubai
What to bring home
Essential information: what to know before you go
Start the day at Dubai’s beloved Burj Al Arab, the sail-shaped “seven-star” hotel perched on its own man-made island, reached via a private causeway from Umm Suqeim. Enjoy a decadent breakfast at Bab Al Yam or even lunch at sunny Sal restaurant on the impressive terrace. While you’re here, take a look around. Inside Burj Al Arab is a fascinating 90-minute butler-guided tour of the iconic hotel’s rainbow atrium, Royal Suite and new Experience Suite, which tells the landmark’s history through interactive displays and memorabilia, including the sports car David Coulthard span doughnuts in on the helipad.
Fancy a spot of shopping after lunch? Dubai is famous for it, after all. Take a taxi to The Outlet Village in Jebel Ali for discounted designer clothes from the likes of Armani, Hugo Boss and Coach. Then head in the opposite direction to explore the famous Dubai Mall, the UAE’s biggest, packed with high street and designer boutiques, in the heart of Downtown Dubai. For more suggestions of where to go shopping in the city, see our guide.
This mega mall is in the shadow of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa. Visit the At The Top observation decks, open from 10am to midnight, to get an aerial view from the tower, or marvel at its mammoth proportions from the ground up where the Dubai Fountain performs rousing water, music and light shows from 5.45pm until 11.30pm.
Complete your retail experience around historical Dubai Creek, a 10-minute drive from Downtown. Hop on a traditional wooden abra to sail between the main souks; facing the mouth of the creek, the Textile Souk (Ali Bin Abi Talib Street) is on the left bank and on the right there’s the Spice Souk (34 Street), the Perfume Souk (Sikkat al Khali) and the Gold Souk (Old Baladiya Road). Abra rides costs just AED 1 (22p), making them the cheapest sightseeing tours in Dubai. For more suggestions of the best family-friendly things to do in the city, see our guide.
Model your new purchases at one of Dubai’s best restaurants, among them Michelin-starred Ossiano helmed by French chef Grégoire Berger at Atlantis, The Palm, and Himanshu Saini’s Indian fine-dining degustation restaurant Trésind Studio above Nakheel Mall, both on Palm Jumeirah.
Later, enjoy drinks at one of Dubai’s buzzing night spots. West Beach, also on Palm Jumeirah, is lined with beach clubs that transform into clubs after dark; Surf Club, with its finger on the R&B pulse, is a popular choice. On the Jumeirah Beach Residences (JBR) strip, head to Bla Bla Dubai, an emporium of different-themed bars with sea views, and on Bluewaters Island explore the gin menu among the foliage at The London Project, a leafy retreat beneath the Ain Dubai wheel of light. For more suggestions of the best restaurants in the city, see our guide.
Watch the sun rise as you run off yesterday’s excesses along the track at The Beach, JBR, which is punctuated with outdoor gym stations and exercise machines so fitness enthusiasts can maximise their workouts.
Then – if it’s the weekend – promptly undo all your good work by going out for the Dubai institution that is brunch: three to four hours of unlimited food and drinks that normally clocks in at between AED 300 (£64) to AED 600 (£127) per person. Some hosts offer a more refined brunching atmosphere than others.
For a supersized spread, stroll over to The Ritz-Carlton Dubai for the London Social Garden Brunch at Caravan restaurant. Inspired by London’s Notting Hill, and set in a high-ceilinged dining hall that spills out onto landscaped gardens, the concept is centred on vibrant farm-to-table ingredients and good champagne. The upscale gathering takes place every Saturday from 1pm to 4pm and costs from AED 395 per person.
Walk off brunch with a sedate stroll through the Dubai Miracle Garden, a surreal petal-filled landscape, only open during winter, presenting photo opportunities at every turn thanks to a kaleidoscope of 45 million artfully arranged flowers incongruously blooming in the desert.
Admire heart-shaped trellises swollen with petunias along the Avenue of Love, and see houses, windmills, and even a Mercedes, all repurposed as planters for marigolds, roses, calendulas and tulips.
After sunset, experience a different type of garden made entirely of light bulbs. Dubai Glow Garden also operates an ice park, where miniature Dubai landmarks are frozen in time. From here, it’s a 10-minute cab ride to the Dubai Fountain at the foot of the Burj Khalifa. Every half-hour, from 6pm to 11pm, a water show erupts, with accompanying lights and a soundtrack that oscillates between classical music and pop hits. For more suggestions of the best things to do in the city, see our guide.
Conclude your hedonist’s trip at Zuma Dubai, where you can dine izakaya-style (a bit like the Japanese version of a tapas bar), sharing a winning last supper of moreish monkfish tempura with yuzu mayo and a fresh take on grilled chicken wings with sea salt and lime. For more suggestions of the best bars in the city, see our guide.
Next to Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood in Dubai Creek, alongside atmospheric Dubai Creek, you’ll find Al Seef, more than a mile of waterfront promenade lined with fashionable and traditional restaurants, spice shops and ice cream parlours.
Find collections from local established and rising artists at creative hub Alserkal Avenue, which is home to more than 60 art and design studios. Look out for Alserkal Lates, where certain spaces are open well into the evening, but do note most galleries are closed on Friday.
Download The Entertainer Dubai app to access two-for-one vouchers for some of Dubai's top restaurants, attractions and experiences, including the water park at Atlantis the Palm and a desert safari. The 2024 edition costs AED 595 and contains more than 7,000 deals.
Experience a new kind of pool club 100 metres above Dubai. Poised on top of the cantilever corridor that connects the twin towers of One&Only One Zabeel, Tapasake serves Japanese haute cuisine and has in-pool tables.
Nouq camel milk ice-cream is a Dubai must-try and can be found throughout the emirate. The lactose-free treat is made in Dubai and popular flavours include date, honey-saffron and pistachio.
Dubai is steamy and sweltering for most of the year. The best time to visit is November-March, when temperatures are moderate – though in the past few years, January, once considered the optimum month to visit, has been overcast and rainy. If you’re heading here for sun, sea and sand: spring and autumn are ideal, when you can bronze your body by day and cool down after dark in the air-conditioned restaurants, bars and shopping malls.
Summer, while blistering, is increasingly proving popular with budget travellers and families for the bargains that can be found – it’s the cheapest time to visit, but note that from June to September the average daily temperature is well over a scorching 40 degrees Celsius.
The lavish Bulgari Resort Dubai is perched on Jumeirah Bay, an artificial island shaped like a seahorse. It's an antidote to the city’s ubiquitous skyscraper hotels, with a low-rise, Mediterranean-style design, a swanky spa and the world’s first Bulgari Marina and Yacht Club. It’s also just 15 minutes' drive from the Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall.
Enjoy arty Arabian minimalism at XVA Art Hotel. This tiny boutique option also happens to be one of Dubai’s best contemporary art galleries, so the courtyard café attracts some of the city’s more interesting creative types.
With a superb downtown location and views of the Burj Khalifa, Rove Downtown Dubai, sets a new standard for affordable hotels in Dubai. It's as hip as it is homely, featuring quirky décor, an outdoor pool, excellent restaurant and relaxed service. For more suggestions of the best hotels in the city, see our guide.
If you want to know your Medjool from your Mactoumi, visit Bateel, a Dubai-based specialist famous for selecting and preparing the world’s best dates from 600 varieties available. Bateel’s flagship store is on the ground floor of the Sadaf 1 building at Jumeirah Beach Residence.
Dubai-based Dr Hamdan secured a loan from the Sheikh Mohammed Establishment for Young Business Leaders to create beauty brand Shiffa, and her Arabia-inspired oils are indeed shiffa — the Arabic word for healing. Find her range at branches of Sephora, which are located in most of Dubai's shopping centres, including The Dubai Mall (Financial Centre Road). For more suggestions of the best shops in the city, see our guide.
Sarah is a travel writer, author and TV presenter. She moved to Dubai more than a decade ago and, despite travelling extensively for work, she hasn’t found anywhere else she’d rather live.
2022-12-21T17:03:11Z dg43tfdfdgfd