Travel

Dubai: Your Complete Travel Guide to this Land of Excess

If you’ve been dreaming of skiing and suntanning in the same day, drunk on $5k bottles of Cristal, Dubai is your opulent paradise.

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A Day in Burj Khalifa

Dubai: Your Complete Travel Guide to this Land of Excess

Burj Khalifa

You can’t claim to have visited Dubai if you haven’t been up to the tallest building of the world: Burj Khalifa.

Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper that stands erect in the middle of Dubai’s skyline. If you happen to come during the winter time (which is the best time to come in Dubai) you can witness the beautiful fireworks and light shows that take place during Christmas and New Year.

Mall of the Emirates provides a wonderful view of Burj Khalifa, but the best way to truly see this building is by going inside it. But acrophobic people be aware; there are over 180 floors in Burj Khalifa and the tour guide takes you all the way to the top-most floor.

Dubai: Your Complete Travel Guide to this Land of Excess

Burj Khalifa through Mall of the Emirates

Dubai: Your Complete Travel Guide to this Land of Excess

Mall of the Emirates

Dubai: Your Complete Travel Guide to this Land of Excess

Inside Mall of the Emirates

You can book your tickets to visit Burj Khalifa in the Mall of the Emirates, and they will provide you with a tour guide that will accompany you to the top floor in Burj Khalifa, while teaching you about the history of Dubai and how Burj Khalifa was built. Perhaps now you can also build on your geographical knowledge while simultaneously building on your wardrobe.

The lift that will carry you to the top-most floor is one of the fastest lifts in the world! It’s walls are studded with disc-shaped lights that constantly keep changing color while you go up. It feels like you’re travelling in a large disco ball. And rest assure, unless you didn’t just binge on too many Arabic sweets or got drunk on some exotic champagne, you won’t be feeling queasy on this ride.

Dubai: Your Complete Travel Guide to this Land of Excess

Observation Desk at Burj Khalifa

At the top floor, there are several little digital telescopes that not only allow you to take a closer look at the roads, but also allow you look at what Dubai looked like forty years ago! You can point your telescope in any direction and it will show you how Dubai looked like in the past in the direction that you are pointing your telescope in. There is a similar feature that allows you to take a look at Dubai and see how it might look like in the future. How unnecessarily brilliant this technology is.

There are many shops on the top floor where you can get souvenirs, books, ornaments and models of the Burj Khalifa. Really, there isn’t a single place in Dubai where you shouldn’t carry your wallet and your credit card.

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Avatar of Paakhi Bhatnagar

Paakhi lives in the United Arab Emirates and is an avid reader of historical fiction. She is a passionate feminist and blogs about politics and feminist issues. She likes to listen to music and document her life in a series of journals she will probably never show to anyone.

Reader Discussion: 56 Comments

  1. Avatar of Ariel Myers

    Ariel Myers

    Dubai is really awesome. Really rich county. you can tell just by the clean streets and high-end buildings. Such luxurious country.

  2. Avatar of Rubby Hankins

    Rubby Hankins

    Dubai is one of the best and most beautiful places in the world. It has world tallest building” Burj Khalifa” which has 163 Floors and you can look at the entire city, the best time is sunset its called Prime hour.

  3. Avatar of Geraldina Lee

    Geraldina Lee

    Dubai is the place where I enjoyed my best time with my friend last year. Their structural view and saw the sea-beach is just mindblowing. I am a great fan of Dubai.

  4. Avatar of Francis Walton

    Francis Walton

    I know Dubai is one of the best city to Travel, but still, I do not go there. But I hope to travel there with my friend as soon as possible. This article makes me more crazy to visit Dubai.

  5. Avatar of Cody Pierce

    Cody Pierce

    Thanks for the article. Dubai its a place of magic, a place for entertainment and adventure, a lot of activities for children and whole lot of fun to go with family and friends, desert safari is just amazing car ride; bounce is a must go and for food and shopping 🙂

  6. Avatar of Deborah Henry

    Deborah Henry

    It is a very well written blog and a whole lot of information put together in one place. After reading this it has eased many jitters I was having. I am definitely going to refer this to plan my upcoming trip to Dubai! Thanks a lot again!

  7. Avatar of Kimberly Thompson

    Kimberly Thompson

    Great guide! Wish it was published a month ago. Last month on a visit to Dubai, we went out to Babs Al Shams for cocktails, dinner and a beautiful sunset. It was a nice escape from the concrete jungle of Dubai and it was only 45 minutes away by private car. Next trip, we are staying out there for a few weeks. ?

  8. Avatar of Lin Del Rey

    Lin Del Rey

    Love the article! I too am a solo female traveler. I have a question not necessarily about safety or harassment but about regulations. I heard that you have to be a certain age to be able to stay in Dubai if you are alone. I’m 24 years old and would like to go to Dubai but am I allowed to enter and stay in Dubai if I don’t have anyone with me the whole time?

    • Avatar of Paakhi Bhatnagar

      Yes of course you are. There’s really no truth in that. I think Dubai is a very safe place to travel, especially solo. Tourism is one of their main sources of revenue and they take tourist safety really seriously.

  9. Avatar of Jae Medina

    Jae Medina

    Very good read with lots of insider info someone might not be able to find in a typical guidebook. Excellent tips! I will certainly be paying attention to these on my upcoming trip to Dubai ?

  10. Avatar of Kaitlyn Barrett

    Kaitlyn Barrett

    Great advice for having a beautiful trip to Dubai. As on coming month I am going for a trip to Dubai with my friends group. I hope your tips will be helping us to have memorable days out there.

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