The highlights of tourist attractions in Dubai include Dubai Museum, Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Mall, Wafi shopping center, Wild Wadi water park, as well a cruise on the Dubai river.
Dubai Museum is Dubai’s most important museum, located on the Al Fahidi castle, which was build in 1787, and it is believed to be the oldest building in the city.
The museum has been open to the public since 1971, and it showcases especially the traditional way of life in the Dubai Emirate.
Collections at the museum include ancient artifacts from African and Asian countries which were historical trading partners with Dubai.
The collections also include objects from the recent archaeological excavations in Dubai, where researchers have found ancient artifacts from as far back as 3000 BC.
Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Mall shopping centers are, on a city famous for shopping malls (Dubai even organizes the world-famous Shopping Festival, dubaishoppingfestival.com) widely considered among the best, in addition to the Wafi.
Of these, Mall of the Emirates (malloftheemirates.com) was the biggest shopping center in the Middle East before Dubai Mall was constructed, and consists, for example, 14 screen multiplex movie theater, a games arena, a play theater, and a total of of 223,000 square meters of shop space.
What has ascended Mall of the Emirates to world-fame, however, is its indoor downhill skiing slope, Ski Dubai, the only one of its kind in the Middle East.
Dubai Mall (www.thedubaimall.com) is located at the footsteps of Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, and it is a central part of this building complex.
The cost to build the shopping center, which has around 1,200 shops, was around 20 billion US dollars.
In addition to the shops, the shopping mall also has, for example, SEGA indoor amusement park, 120 different types of restaurants, Oasis Fountain indoor waterfall, and the “Dubai Ice Rink” for indoor ice-skating, as well as a 22-screen multiplex movie theater.
Wafi shopping center (www.wafi.com) is part of the Wafi City building complex, and it has been build in its entirety to resemble a style of the ancient Egypt, including a hotel, restaurant, housing, and a nightclub.
Wafi City’s most important tourist attraction, however, is its shopping mall, “Wafi Mall”. It was opened to public in 2001, and consists of over 200 shops and a theme park called “Encounter Zone”.
Within Wafi City, it pays to visit the purpose-build pyramids, which contain, among other things, several excellent restaurants, cafes, and spas.
Among tourist attractions in Dubai is also the Wild Wadi water park (www.wildwadi.com), located right next to the world-famous Burj Al Arab hotel, at the district of Jumeirah.
Wild Wadi contains, for example, a heated wave-pool, several water-slides, as well as two artificial surfing pools.
Water park’s main highlights include one of the world’s biggest water-slides and a magnificent 18-meter waterfall. You can shop at the two available gift shops, eat at one of the three restaurants, and use the parks kiosk for snacks and refreshing drinks.
A cruise on the Dubai river, on the other hand, is one of the best ways to see the most beautiful views to Dubai, and do a relaxing cruise through its central parts along a river, which has divided Dubai into two parts ever since the founding of the city.
The river flows naturally from the Persian Gulf all the way to 14 kilometers inland, to the Ras Al Khor wildlife reservation, The river also has a recent extension of about 10 km, called “Business Bay”, but most cruises will only tour the areas within central Dubai.
A popular way to take part at the cruise, one of the top tourist attractions in Dubai, is with the “Bateaux Dubai” cruise boat (www.jebelali-international.com/Properties/BateauxDubai/TheBoat/TheStory.aspx), which provides public sightseeing tours. The boat is anchored at the Bur Dubai side of the Dubai river, located next door to the embassy of Great Britain.