Burj Khalifa
Credit: FevreDream/Getty
WHAT TO DO
With temperatures potentially in the 90s
and 100s throughout half the year, many of
Dubai’s highlights take place in climatized
conditions, starting with its shining mega
shopping malls that blow minds — and
wallets — on a daily basis. The Dubai Mall
is the largest mall in the world, covering 5.9
million square-feet of floor space with 1,300
retail outlets and 200 food and beverage
outlets. It’s a good thing it has the space,
welcoming 80 million shoppers every year.
Beyond the rows upon rows of Cartier,
Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, Roberto Cavalli,
and more, are a vast range of attractions
and activities, including an Olympic-size
ice rink, an aquarium and underwater zoo,
22-screen cinema, an interactive children’s
sized city, and even a 155-million-year-old
resident Diplodocus.
Just outside is The Burj Khalifa, seemingly
spearing the sky like a lightning bolt of glass
and reaching up to 2,716 feet and more than
160 stories. It also comes with the highest
outdoor observation deck in the world, giving
visitors a chance to see Dubai from a bird’s
eye view, or rather, above a bird’s eye view.
Just step into the longest elevator in the
world and launch away. Fitness fans might
consider a day at the Burj Club gym, which
comes with state-of-the-art equipment,
including a semi Olympic–size indoor lap
pool, and beautiful views of the fountains,
particularly while basking on one of the plush
outdoor sun beds.
It’s the Dubai Fountain below that forms
the trifecta of Dubai tourism, lighting up the
entire area every 30 minutes in the evening
with 900-foot high jets of water swaying,
twirling, and exploding in coordination with
an eclectic playlist that includes everyone
from Antonín Dvořák and Edith Piaf to Andrea
Bocelli and Michael Jackson, as well as many
selections of Arabic music.
Dubai is also home to one of the region’s
thriving art scenes, with the epicenter in Al
Quoz industrial area, about five miles south of
the city center, near Times Square shopping
center. The scene buzzes most along Al
Serkal Avenue, where exhibition spaces
have been carved out of the blue aluminum-
sided warehouses. Here you can find an
international coterie of galleries, showrooms,
studios, performance spaces, indie cinemas,
and a growing number of eateries.
Outside the city proper, miles upon miles of
sand welcome motorized or animal-powered
FLYWASHINGTON.COM 50 SPRING 2019