Dubai Marina & Palm Jumeirah
If you don’t know the story behind it, you might wonder why people are taking so many pictures of an ornamental elephant. But when you learn it’s a…
Must-see attractions in Dubai
Downtown Dubai
Two wooden bridges link the massive Dubai International Finance Centre to Gate Village, a modernist cluster of 10 midrise stone-clad towers built around…
Bur Dubai
Dubai's oldest souq (market) flanks a central arcade canopied by an ornately carved wooden roof. Friday evenings here are especially lively, as it turns…
Saruq Al Hadid Archaeology Museum
Bur Dubai
Only discovered in 2002, Saruq Al Hadid sits deep in the desert sands of the southern reaches of the Dubai emirate and is believed to have been an iron…
Dubai Marina & Palm Jumeirah
In a city of air-conditioned malls, this attractive outdoor shopping and dining promenade was an immediate hit when it opened in 2008, originally to meet…
Dubai
Some 15,000 butterflies flutter around these beautifully styled indoor domed gardens. Visitors love to pose with them as they land on shoulders and…
Bur Dubai
This sprawling park, where lots of palms and other greenery provide plenty of shade, is a weekend family favourite. It brims with activity zones,…
Downtown Dubai
Although neither the tallest nor the newest skyscrapers in Dubai, the twin, triangular towers coated with silver-coated aluminium panels and topped with…
Downtown Dubai
It's always worth stopping by this top-notch gallery, which is the only one in the UAE focused entirely on fine-art photography. While providing a…
Bur Dubai
Dubai's oldest fine-art gallery was founded in 1989 by British expat Alison Collins and presents mainly paintings and sculpture by international artists…
Dubai
One for the nature lovers, this series of man-made lakes is in the middle of the Saih Al Salam desert on Dubai’s southern outskirts. Swap skyscrapers for…
Downtown Dubai
In a fabulous space taking up the entire ground floor of Gate Village’s Building 10, this highly regarded gallery shines the spotlight on midcareer and…
Bur Dubai
Tucked into the Al Fahidi Historic District since 2003, XVA has a knack for ferreting out top-notch up-and-comers from around the Middle East and India…
Downtown Dubai
The Jurassic era meets the future in Dubai Mall's Souk Dome, the home of Amphicoelias brontodiplodocus, an almost complete 155-million-year-old dinosaur…
Downtown Dubai
With branches at Gate Village and well as here, on the Alserkal Avenue gallery campus in Al Quoz, this top gallery's main mission is to promote emerging…
Dubai Marina & Palm Jumeirah
Linked to the Dubai Marina Mall via a glass-encased walkway, this circular tower gets its name from the seven restaurants – from Asian to international –…
Downtown Dubai
This illuminated and motion-operated waterfall cascades down both sides of Sheikh Zayed Bridge, stopping only for passing vessels. It's an impressive…
Dubai
After some 10 years of stagnation, the ambitious plans for The World are up and running again. If you want proof, check out the vast Heart of Europe model…
Dubai
Quiet by day, 2nd December St turns into one of Dubai’s liveliest walking strips after dark with plenty of fine pickings for street-food aficionados…
Dubai Marina & Palm Jumeirah
Enjoy a delightful stroll along this tree-flanked promenade with its dancing fountains, terraced restaurants and cool cafes. Too hot? Head for the nearby…
Dubai
One of the oldest parks in Dubai, dating from 1974, Mushrif covers more than 5 sq km of natural ghaf forest, which is a haven for birds, including owls,…
Bur Dubai
Opened in January 2018, this 150m rectangular 'picture frame' sits in Zabeel Park, right between historic and modern Dubai, and provides grand views of…
Dubai
This rare vestige of pre-oil times was built in 1955 as the summer retreat of Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the father of current ruler Sheikh…
Dubai
Al Barsha Pond Park is a welcome patch of greenery surrounding a pretty manmade lake where you can hire a kitsch swan boat for a paddle around the water…
Bur Dubai
Opened in September 2018, this museum is fast becoming a favourite for families and Instagram fans, with several of the 'illusions' frankly looking a lot…
Dubai
With shops, restaurants, a waterpark, a beachfront with hammocks and a huge playpark, La Mer is Dubai’s newest beachfront destination. Opened in 2018 …
Bur Dubai
Truly impressive and truly green, this living wall is touted as the Middle East's largest, measuring some 6m in height and 212m in length. Its green cred…
Bur Dubai
Step back in time to retrace history at the Dubai Creek House, part of the Al Shindagha Museum restoration project. The Birth of a Nation exhibit takes…
Downtown Dubai
With the energetic Malini Gulrajani at the helm, this gallery has brought some of the foremost names in India’s contemporary art scene to Dubai since 2009…
Dubai Marina & Palm Jumeirah
Riva Beach Club is a popular independent beach club (ie not attached to a hotel), especially among expats. The entrance fee will score you a sunbed and…
Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde
Downtown Dubai
This edgy gallery has developed relationships with artists from Europe, Latin America and Africa whose work has some connection to the Middle East. Part…
Downtown Dubai
A co-venture by two Emirati business tycoons and British art dealer Charles Pocock, this blue-chip gallery is dedicated to presenting the masters of…
Downtown Dubai
Founded by prominent Iranian collector Ramin Salsali, SPM is the first private museum for contemporary Middle Eastern art in the region and has made it…
Downtown Dubai
Green Art has been around for more than four decades and played a key role in championing modern Middle Eastern art, including such masters as Fateh…
Downtown Dubai
This minimalist white-cube space serves as a gateway to the UAE art scene for accomplished artists from around the world, and vice-versa. Some of them…
Dubai
Fancy a nighttime swim with the twinkling Burj Al Arab as a backdrop? Since 2017, you can legally take a post-sunset dip along a 125m stretch of beach…
Downtown Dubai
Don't be deceived by the relatively small gallery space here; the emphasis is firmly on quality rather than quantity. This is one of the pioneering…
Downtown Dubai
This fabulous, vast 700-sq-metre space is associated with the prestigious Waddington Custot gallery in London. The exhibitions promote such major masters…
Downtown Dubai
This prestigious New York import presents cutting-edge art from emerging and mid-career artists from the Middle East, Central Asia, southeast Asia and…
Bur Dubai
Dubai’s tallest minaret (70m high) lords over the more than 50 small and large domes that give the city's largest mosque its distinctive silhouette. Today…
