Dubai

360°

Jumeirah Beach Hotel Complex. Open air bar with great views of the Burj hotel and the Jumeirah beach hotel all helped by a cool breeze from the ocean. Various DJs but think Ibiza lounge bar and you will not be far off.

Sun-Wed 17:00-02:00, Thu-Sat 17:00-03:00

Al Ahmadiya School and Heritage House

Built in 1912, Al Ahmadiya School was Dubai's first school and has now been nicely restored. It would be a stretch to call the exhibits of old reed pens and diplomas fascinating, but they've tried pretty hard, and if nothing else, the air-con and clean toilets may come in handy. The attached heritage house is a traditional Emirati-style home built in the 1890s.

Sat-Thu 8AM-7:30PM, Fri 2:30-7:30PM·Free

Al Dawaar Revolving Restaurant

Serving an assortment of cuisines, the highlight of this beautiful restaurant is that it revolves, giving a nice tour of the city.

Lunch: 12:30-3:30PM, dinner: 7PM-midnight·Lunch: 185 dirhams per person, dinner: 235 dirhams per person

Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood

Bastakiya District

One of the last remaining pockets of Old Dubai, home to many reconstructed buildings in the traditional style. While information on the structures is slim here (see the museum in preference), the atmosphere is very evocative and there are plenty of delightful art galleries and cafes to explore.

Free of charge

Al Fresco

Specialized in Italian food with cosy outdoor seating. Business lunch, Family friendly place. Smoking and alcohol is permitted. Try the garlic bruschetta with traditional tomato, the leafy green salad, oozy burrata cheese, tomato, sprinkled with drizzles of balsamic vinegar.

Closed · opens noon tomorrow

Al Mahara

Part of the Burj Al Arab hotel, and as you would expect is also very high quality, especially seafood.

Closed · opens 12:30 pm tomorrow·700 dirham

Al Mallah

Amazing food. It is popular for casual dining, juices, sandwiches and fast food. A good place to visit along with family and friends.

Al Nafoorah

Arabic, Lebanese and Middle Eastern cuisines. Outdoor seating with perfect sense of fine dining accompanied with comfortable, Arabian-style terrace. Smoking and alcohol is permitted.

Closed · opens noon tomorrow

Al Safa Park

A beautiful planned park and one of the oldest parks in Dubai. It is a favourite for sports enthusiasts, and many visitors enjoy playing tennis, volleyball, and soccer. Children love playing games in the video arcade, or riding the Ferris wheel and bumper cars. The park even has a maze to wander through. Barbeques and picnic areas are available for those who want to make a day of it. It has lakes where you can take a boat ride and a hill that offers panoramic views of this beautiful lush green park and the gigantic Dubai skyline. But as of 2017, infrastructure are old disused and it have construction work.

11:0–23:00·3 dirham

Aquaventure Waterpark

Aquaventure have a lot of water slides, including the extreme slides: Leap of feath and Poseidon's Revenge. It also includes Dolphin encounter, swimming with dolphins. The waterpark also contains the Dubai Balloon, which offers 10min balloon rides up to 300m high for AED 175 (adults) and AED 75 (children).

10:00–18:00 daily·320 dirham/adults 275 dirham/child under 1.2 m, 40 dirhams for locker, discounts via online booking

At.mosphere

Exclusive fine dining restaurant on Level 122 of Burj Khalifa.

Open now · closes 2 am tomorrow

Atlantis

Atlantis-themed but Arabian-styled resort on the artificial island of The Palm. Has a huge water park with plenty of thrilling water slides, an aquarium and a large shopping area with plenty of places to eat and drink.

Barasti

Built in three levels (each playing its own music), with lounging areas on the beach, lots of young and foreign people come here during the weekend. Very popular with expats.

Barrels Pub

It is a bar is a clean, quiet and bright venue with large variates of snacks options. Every wall is mounted with screen playing number of sports games. The interiors looks good with polished timber tables and benches all around and wall cladding.

Basta Art Cafe

Set in a lovely garden courtyard in a restored house. Great place to take a breather with a cold drink and write some postcards. The sandwiches-and-salads menu is aimed squarely at tourists, but if you are sick of kebabs, they will cater to your salmon-avocado wrap and mango smoothie cravings. The "Basta Special" drink of mint and lemon is also excellent.

Bollywood Café

Excellent DJ, Live music and Indian food. It is a Bollywood-themed glamorous bar and nightlife with elegant to casual laid backs and pleasant musical twists, mostly Indian music.

9.30pm-2am

Boulevard – Jumeirah Emirates Towers

Part of the Emirates Tower Hotel complex. The shops here match the hotel, very high class, plus a Starbucks. Lipton café has free Wi-Fi. Restaurants and bars all serve alcohol. Quite a popular nightlife spot, with bars and nightclubs and it is considered the most expensive mall in Dubai.

Sat–Thu 10:00–22:00, except Fri 12:00–22:00

Buddha Bar

Branch of the international Asian-themed bar/restaurant. Full of crowds.

BurJuman

A 4-floor shopping mall housing more than 300 stores. It is one of the oldest, and still one of the largest, malls in Dubai, but has become less popular.

Sat-Wed 10AM-10PM, Thu-Fri 10AM-11PM

Burj Khalifa

Khalifa Tower

At 828 m and 160 floors this is the world's tallest structure by a long shot, over 300 m taller than the previous contender in Taipei. The observation deck at the 124th floor is the second highest in the world after the Shanghai World Financial centre. Dominating the Dubai skyline, the tower houses a hotel and a Las Vegas-inspired fountain system. The visitors' entrance is at the lower ground floor of Dubai Mall. Although the tour is called At the Top, it isn't! At 452 m it's just over halfway up the tower itself. Console yourself with the knowledge that most of the rest of the tower consists of service areas and the view below looks suitably ant-like.

Tickets cost 199 dirham for a timed-entry ticket, usually later the same day, or 400 dirham if you do not want to wait. The lines for tickets are often very long and at peak times, they can sell out several days in advance. It is strongly recommended to book tickets online ahead of your visit. For 500 dirham you can book a "SKY" ticket that includes a trip to level 148 of the building (which is relatively empty and exclusive) for 30 minutes, along with sweets and drinks. From there, you descend to the main observatory on levels 125 and 124 to join the masses waiting to go back down. The SKY ticket also includes a brief tour of the building's private areas. If you go for 'sunrise+breakfast' option for 140 dirham you can visit floor 124 at 05:30 and after, with floor 125 opening at 08:30 - this is a great way to avoid the queues and see the city during both night and day

Burj al-Arab

Tower of the Arabs

This huge sail-shaped hotel completed in 1999 is a symbol of Dubai and its ascent in the world. The self-proclaimed world's first seven-star hotel (actually a five-star deluxe hotel) was the first icon of Dubai and still stands out on the skyline from its location on an artificial island 280 m from the beach. Entry to the hotel is restricted to hotel guests, those with a restaurant reservation (minimum spend 200AED) or a guided tour (starting from 250AED for a 60-90min tour). A smart casual dress code applies but is not strictly enforced. Make restaurant reservations in advance.

Overnight stays over US$1800 per night after taxes/fees

Chill Out

Have a delicious contemporary European food in ice lounge at a chilling temperature of -6 c. It is first of its kind in the Middle East. From tables to even crockery in which food is served, all made of ice.

Sat–Wed 10:00–23:00, Thu Fri 10:00–00:00·entrance fee: 80 dirhams/person

Chill Rooftop Lounge

Dance floor with excellent DJ. It is an expansive rooftop venue painted in pink surrounded with fake grass. An outdoor seating place with good food.

Open now · closes 2 am tomorrow

Chimes

Thai, Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian themed food, and the popular house speciality must be the pepper or chili crab. You can eat at the restaurant or order home delivery to most areas of new Dubai.

Cinecity - Al Ghurair Centre

formerly the Grand Cinemas

The largest cinema chain in the Middle East. It is a part of Novo Cinemas group. This 8-screen cinema complex including 14 anchor stores has 2 levels.

City Centre Deira

By far the most popular mall in Dubai. Debenhams, Virgin Megastore, Zara and other international high street brands. A multiplex cinema, and many restaurants and cafes. Also has a large "Arabian Treasures" souvenir and traditional textiles area. A new extension includes many more high-end boutiques and upmarket mall restaurants. A big Carrefour hypermarket sells just about everything and is nearly always very busy. There is a Sofitel hotel at one end of the centre, where there are bars and restaurants serving alcohol.

Sun–Wed 10AM–10PM, Thu–Sat 10–midnight

City Centre Mirdif

A large mall with more than 500 stores, over 80 restaurants and cafés and plenty of entertainment and recreation sites inside it.

Sun–Wed 10AM–10PM, Thu–Sat 10AM–midnight

Cityland Mall

Relatively small mall near Global Village. There tends to be significantly less people here that other malls so expect a more quiet shopping experience.

Computer Plaza @ Al-Ain Centre

A mall specializing in computers, laptops, computer parts and computer add-ons like monitors, VoIP phones, hard drives, etc. Prices aren't particularly low, even after haggling, and choices are limited (for example very few shops sell AMD hardware). There used to be an internet cafe here and it may return in 2014. Other malls in this area are also good for computers and computer equipment.

Sat–Thu 10AM–10PM, Fri 2PM–10PM

Creek Park

A great place to hang out in the evening when the park is visited by people of different nationalities, all looking for calm place to enjoy the time. It has all the facilities of a modern park and is one of the best parks in Dubai. The cable car is closed.

Sun–Wed 8AM–10PM, Thu–Sat 8AM–11PM·5 dirham