Dubai Travel Guide

LEGO Water Park sits within Dubai Parks and Resorts in Jebel Ali, south Dubai, the Middle East's first LEGO-themed water park built especially for families and children. The park carries LEGO's bright colours and cartoon forms throughout: a lazy 'Build-a-Raft' river where you float on your own LEGO brick raft, a range of gentle and thrilling water slides, a splash castle and wave pool that recreate the LEGO world in water. A signature highlight is the water feature modelling Dubai landmarks built from real LEGO bricks at scale, plus a shallow splash zone designed for the youngest visitors. In the hot afternoon the fountains and sprays bring welcome cool, making it a top family escape from the heat; after dark the lights turn the park into a dreamy brick kingdom.

The Burj Al Arab is a sail-shaped luxury hotel on an artificial island off Dubai's Jumeirah coast, whose 321 m double-membrane 'sail' silhouette has symbolised Dubai since 1999. Suite-only and famed for its gold interior, underwater restaurant and helipad, it long billed itself as 'seven-star.' Set alone at sea and linked by a private causeway, it changes colour at night and reflects on the Arabian Gulf — a totem of photography and luxe travel. Non-guests can book its restaurants and lounges to glimpse the gilded interior, or view the 'sail' from the public beach and nearby Jumeirah Mosque.

The Burj Khalifa rises 828 m across 163 floors in downtown Dubai, UAE, the world's tallest building since 2009. Designed by SOM with a Y-shaped plan inspired by the desert flower Hymenocallis and a tapering spire, it defines the Dubai skyline. High-speed lifts reach the 124/125 and 148 floor observatories for sweeping views of the Persian Gulf, the Palm Islands and the desert; at its base, the Dubai Mall and the musical fountain put on nightly shows against the tower's lights. Both an engineering marvel and a symbol of the Emirates' skyward ambition, it is the definitive Dubai landmark.

Expo City Dubai is the legacy district of Expo 2020, transformed into a sustainable city and cultural destination in southern Dubai. Its iconic trio of theme pavilions — Terra (Sustainability), Alif (Mobility) and the Opportunity pavilion — together with the 138 m rotating Al Wasl Dome, form a futuristic landmark cluster. Where the world's pavilions once showcased creativity, the site now keeps core exhibits, green spaces, fountains and nightly light shows, serving as a venue for families, technology and arts, and a model of Dubai's post-oil urban planning. Visitors feel the cutting edge of design and sustainability thinking here.