Even in a city in which world record-breaking attractions are almost commonplace, the Burj Khalifa the Burj Khalifa grabs your attention and refuses to let go. Opened in early 2010, the Burj is far and away the world’s tallest building (at 828m, smashing the previous record of 509m held by Taipei 101 in Taiwan), rising imperiously out of the heart...

Touristy but fun, an evening dinner cruise up and down the Creek aboard a traditional Arabian dhow remains one of the most popular visitor attractions in the city, offering superlative night-time views over the old city. Alternatively, there are also dinner cruises available around Dubai Marina, although they’re perhaps not quite as memorable. Dinner cruises usually last a couple of...

Looking like some kind of oversized, upmarket Disneyland fantasy, the Madinat Jumeirah is one of Dubai’s most enjoyable pieces of outrageous make believe. This huge leisure complex is designed as a sort of self-contained Arabian city, with an endless sprawl of picturesque, vaguely Moroccan-looking buildings, topped with hundreds of pretty little wind towers and arranged around a series of canal-like...

Nature enthusiasts have pretty slim pickings in Dubai – which makes Ras al Khor (“Head of the Creek”) Wildlife Sanctuary as welcome as it is unexpected. Ras al Khor protects an extensive inland lagoon dotted with mangroves and surrounded by intertidal salt- and mud-flats – the one and only area of completely unspoilt nature this close to the city centre....