On our trip to Dubai, we spent the first day doing this action packed one day Dubai City Tour. Which included half a day of roaming around seeing some of the iconic landmarks of Dubai. And then stepping into the world’s largest mall – Dubai Mall around lunch time. And enjoying a series of things to do in Dubai Mall. Before viewing the iconic Dubai Fountains. And scaling the highest towers of the world – Burj Khalifa. All packed in one day. So, how did the day unfold for us? And if you are planning to do a one day Dubai City tour, what all attractions can you include in your day? Let me take you step by step through our day doing the Dubai City Tour. So that you can either take this guided tour like we did. Or, plan your own customised itinerary exploring Dubai in a day.
Table of Contents
Our Dubai City Tour Itinerary
Dubai Frame
The Dubai Frame is a big structure resembling a picture frame. It is situated in Zabeel Park, near the junction of Sheikh Rashid Road and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Road. It is a towering rectangular structure with a height of approximately 150 meters and a width of 93 meters. The Dubai Frame consists of two vertical towers connected by a sky bridge at the top.
The Dubai Frame serves as a symbol of Dubai’s past, present, and future. There’s a museum on the ground floor that showcases the history of Dubai. And an elevator that takes visitors to the top. Where there is a sky bridge. Walking on the sky bridge is an experience in itself. Besides, it also provides for a panoramic 360 degree views of the surroundings including the Dubai Creek, Diera, and the Palm Jumeirah. Along the way, visitors can engage in exhibits, multimedia displays, and immersive experiences that showcase Dubai’s vision for the future. Kids specially enjoy taking a walk on the Dubai Frame sky deck.
We only viewed the Dubai Frame from outside. And didn’t get a chance to stop at it. But, if you have more time at hand, I highly recommend experiencing it.
Heritage Village Dubai and Downtown Dubai
Our first true stop on our Dubai City Tour was the Heritage Village Dubai. It is a recreation of the old villages in this area. With sandstone like houses, carved doors, fishing boats, old time artefacts etc. The entry to Heritage Village Dubai is free. And it is a very photogenic spot.
On the other side of the road, there is a souk (local market) setup in the olden style. Featuring several souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants.
Walking through the souk, you will reach the waterbody from where you can catch glimpses of downtown Dubai. Overall we had a wonderful time exploring the Heritage Village Dubai.
Jumeirah Beach Dubai
Our next stop was Jumeirah Beach Dubai. Located near the Jumeirah area, this is one of the most stunning public beaches in Dubai. The water at Jumeirah beach is perfect for swimming and the sand is very fine and white. The beach is equipped with changing rooms, toilets and several restaurants in the vicinity. From the Jumeirah beach, you get a perfect view of the Arabian Gulf on one end and the Dubai Marina and city outline on the other. We spent some 30 minutes here. Since it was getting hot, we didn’t plan to stay longer at Jumeirah Beach. But I really yearned to return back here for a morning stroll or an evening picnic some other day.
Palm Jumeirah Locality Dubai
From Jumeirah Beach Dubai we went to Palm Jumeirah. Palm Jumeirah is one of a kind manmade island in Dubai. And one of the most iconic landmarks of Dubai. It houses several attractions like Atlantis Hotel – one of the oldest luxury hotels in Dubai. The Pointe which is a waterfront dining and entertainment destination located at the tip of Palm Jumeirah. Several pristine beaches where visitors can relax, swim, and soak up the sun. Like the beach at JBR, Club Vista Mare, and Riva Beach Clu. The whole area is dotted with several hotels and restaurants, beautiful residencies and sparkling clean lanes.
Palm Jumeirah Boardwalk inside Palm Jumeirah is a scenic pedestrian pathway that stretches along the crescent of Palm Jumeirah. It offers breathtaking views of the Arabian Gulf and the Dubai skyline, making it a popular spot for leisurely strolls, jogging, and cycling.
And last but not the least, the high Palm Jumeirah observation deck from where you can get an aerial view of the whole Palm Jumeirah area. You can easily spend half a day in this area if you would like to explore all the attractions here. However, since we had other plans for the rest of the day, we went straight to the Pointe. Admiring the iconic buildings on the way. And then sat there for sometime, relaxing to the azure blue waters of the sea and the view of Atlantis Hotel across the waters.
If you want to explore this whole area at your own pace, then Palm Monorail is a very nice option.Â
Atlantis Hotel Dubai
The Atlantis Hotel Dubai is one of the most iconic landmarks and one of the oldest luxury hotels in Dubai. You can get a good glimpse of the whole hotel from across the Pointe area in Palm Jumeirah. Along with a variety of room and suite options, several fine dine luxury restaurants and other hotel amenities, the Atlantis offers it’s own private beach to the in-house guests.
We had a view of the Atlantis Hotel from across the Pointe. And later drove right past it’s main entry as we exited the Palm Jumeirah area.
The Dubai Mall
After visiting the Palm Jumeirah, we proceeded to the Dubai Mall. It was almost lunch time when we reached here. In the Dubai Mall, we first collected our physical tickets to Burj Khalifa from lower ground floor. And proceeded for lunch at the food court on the same floor.
Post lunch we visited the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, the tickets to which we had already booked online.
And later explored around the Dubai Mall, window shopping and visiting some of the iconic places inside the Dubai Mall like –
The Waterfall inside the Dubai Mall.
China Town – which not only features the Chinese market selling Chinese goods but has Chinese restaurants and several instagram worthy spots for photoshoots. Dubai Ice Rink – an Ice skating rink right inside the Dubai Mall. And witnessed a real Dinosaur skeleton kept at displace inside the Dubai Mall.
Some other prominent places to visit inside Dubai Mall include KidZania – an interactive children’s edutainment center located on the second floor with kids cityscape and several learn while you play kind of activities. And VR Park – a virtual reality theme park located on the top level of Dubai Mall which has several virtual reality experiences.
Apart from these, there are several fine dine restaurants inside Dubai Mall. And one more food court on the second floor which has an outdoor sitting as well.
If you want to indulge in shopping then Dubai Mall has all brands from across the globe under one roof. It also has famous outlets where you can buy Dubai Chocolates, souvenirs and even Dubai gold.
Dubai Fountain
After exploring the Dubai Mall, we went to the Dubai Fountain. Which starts in the evening at 7:00pm. And then the display repeats with music and dancing fountain every 10 minutes.
Burj Khalifa Dubai
After witnessing the Dubai Fountain, we proceeded to Burj Khalifa. And went to the 124th observation deck. We were blown away by the mesmerising 360 degrees view of the city of Dubai from atop Burj Khalifa.
After spending time over the observation deck, we returned back to Dubai Mall. And headed back to our accommodation from there. This concluded our Dubai City Tour. I would call it a perfectly action packed day that we had. And a perfect start to our 6 days Dubai Trip itinerary.
What else can be included in a Dubai City Tour ?
Although the above list of places is quiet comprehensive, you can include a few more activities in your Dubai City Tour. Which we didn’t include on purpose. Since we were traveling with a 5 years old kid. And didn’t want to make the day way too hectic for her. Some of the activities that I would have loved to include in my Dubai City Tour included –
- A boat ride near Dubai Fountains along with dinner
- Exploring more places inside the Dubai Mall
- Dubai Miracle Garden – since it opens early in the morning
- A walk through the Dubai Marina
Other places to visit in Dubai
While the above places can be visited on a Dubai City Tour. But, there are so many other places to visit in Dubai. Which require much more time. And hence you can include them on other days of your Dubai Trip. Here’s our complete guide to visit Dubai. And here’s our 6 days Dubai trip itinerary. Some of the other places to visit in Dubai that we experienced and highly recommend include –
Legoland Dubai
A very popular destination for lego lovers as well as kids in the age range of 2-12 years. Our kids loved their day at Legoland Dubai the most. It requires one to two days to completely visit Legoland Dubai.
Dubai Parks and Resorts
Along with Legoland Dubai, the Dubai Parks and resorts has several other theme parks and water parks. To completely enjoy all of them, it will be good to stay in the vicinity or inside Dubai Parks and resorts itself. And dedicate 3-4 days for all attractions. You need a more than 6 days trip itinerary for the same.
Other famous attractions
Like Dubai Museum of Future, Dubai Frame, Wild Wadi Water park etc.
Click here to pre-book your tickets to Dubai Museum of Future. And book this ticket to Dubai Frame with deck access.For wild wadi waterpark you can book the entry ticket using this link.
A trip to Abu Dhabi
We did a day trip to Abu Dhabi from Dubai. And covered some of the most famous attractions of Abu Dhabi including Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, The Hindu Mandir, Emirates Palace and Abu Dhabi Mall. Although there are many other attractions in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain that you can explore if you visit Abu Dhabi for a few more days and reside there. Some of these would be public beaches of Abu Dhabi, Yas Island, Ferrari World, Dubai Safari World, Mangrove National Park etc.
Desert Safari
You can talk a half day desert safari tour from Dubai. A package tour of Desert Safari includes safari, camping in the desert, barbeque menu for dinner, some dance performances including belly dance, dune bashing in a 4X4 vehicle and much more.
Beaches of Dubai
There are several public beaches in Dubai that you can visit. You can picnic here or spend time swimming, trying water sports etc. Most of these beaches are equipped with facilities like changing rooms, washrooms and sun-beds.