One Day in Downtown Dubai: A Practical Sightseeing Plan

Begin at Burj Khalifa. At 828 metres tall, the tower opened in 2010. If you want to go up, At The Top’s Level 124 and 125 experience offers panoramic views of Dubai. The entrance is on the Lower Ground Floor of The Dubai Mall, so you can continue into the mall afterwards without making a separate trip.

Allow about 1 hour and 30 minutes for an average At The Top visit. You can stay as long as you like on Levels 124 and 125, so leave some flexibility if you want more time at the viewpoints. The Burj Khalifa visit guide has more detail on tickets and getting there.

A Level 124 and 125 ticket is listed at AED 189. The listed operational hours are 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, with last entry at 8:15 PM, and tickets are valid only for the selected date and time. Check the official site before you go: use the official At The Top site for ticket details and timing.

After the tower, give The Dubai Mall its own block of time. The mall is served by the Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station on the Metro Red Line, and the At The Top entrance is on its Lower Ground Floor. For a closer look at planning your visit, see The Dubai Mall visitor guide.

Retailer hours are listed as 10:00 AM–11:00 PM Monday–Thursday and 10:00 AM–12:00 AM Friday–Sunday. Restaurants and food courts are listed as open 10:00 AM–12:00 AM Monday–Thursday and 10:00 AM–1:00 AM Friday–Sunday. Those schedules give you room to plan a meal during the day or later in the evening, depending on your route.

Keep the afternoon flexible rather than adding another far-flung stop. Museum of the Future is an option; use its visitor guide to plan a visit. If you would rather stay closer to the Downtown route, The Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa remain the central stops in this itinerary.

For an evening plan, look at Dubai Opera’s performance calendar and choose a show that fits your day. The venue opened in August 2016. Its official events page publishes performance dates, venues, categories and starting ticket prices; listings change, so check the official site before booking.

The box office lists walk-in hours as 11:00 AM–8:00 PM daily. Latecomers are not admitted to the auditorium after a performance has begun, so plan your arrival around the show’s start time.

If you prefer to keep moving outdoors, finish with a stroll around Downtown and the Dubai Fountain promenade. This keeps the last part of the day close to the Burj Khalifa and mall area without adding another distant destination.

Dubai Metro can take you to The Dubai Mall area: the mall is served by Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station, R25 on the Red Line. The line runs between Centrepoint (R11) and Expo 2020 (R76) / Life Pharmacy (R42).

You need a nol card or ticket to travel by Metro, and you tap in and out at station gates. A minimum AED 7.50 balance is required to use the Metro.

Standard nol Silver Card fares are AED 3 within one zone, AED 5 across two adjacent zones and AED 7.50 across more than two zones. Standard nol Red Ticket fares are AED 4, AED 6 and AED 8.50 for those same zone groupings. Your fare depends on the zones travelled.

RTA lists Metro station hours as 5:00 AM–12:00 AM Monday–Thursday, 5:00 AM–1:00 AM the following day Friday, 5:00 AM–12:00 AM Saturday and 8:00 AM–12:00 AM Sunday. Holiday and special-event timetables may differ. Consult RTA for Metro schedules and fares, and the relevant attraction or venue for its own hours and tickets.