Layover in Dubai: what to see and do in 48 hours

Dubai is so conveniently located between Asia and Europe and Africa, that very likely it’s going to be your stopover on many routes. If you get a chance, choose a long stopover to have an opportunity to visit this one-of-a-kind city of contrasts. It’s such an expansive city with all types of activities to do and places to visit that a short stopover might now be enough, but if that’s all you got, let me help you to choose a few amazing activities to get a taste of Dubai during a 48-hours layover.

Use my favourite travel resources to plan your dream trips

Booking.com for searching best prices on accommodation.
Discover Cars is a great website as they search both local and international car hire services, so you can choose the best deal for yourself. Make sure though, that the company has a good reputation and reviews.
Get Your Guide is my place to go for searching and booking tours and excursions, especially when I travel solo.
World Nomads and EKTA travel insurance. I like them because they have quite extensive coverage of different activities.
Jack’s Flight Club is a service that can save you hundreds of dollars on flights, it works especially well in Europe.
Trivago where you can search and save on hotels.
- Go City is a perfect site for booking bucket list experiences and attractions all in one to avoid paying for multiple tickets. Easy and saves money. You can even save 50%
Trip Advisor– amazing for good quality recommendations.
Skyscanner is a perfect website for searching flight routes and comparing prices.

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Walk in Marina

A perfect spot for an evening walk, a drink at the beach or dinner overlooking the bay. It’s also a place to get a viewing ride in the Ain Dubai.

Visit Burj Khalifa

I’d recommend reserving a few hours for downtown Dubai surrounding Burj Khalifa. Being inside the tallest building in the world is quite an excitement. See this fun reel with a few snapshots of this impressive building.

Top tip: Book a ticket in advance (and add skip the line). While most people go there in the afternoon for sunset, it gets really crowded. I booked my ticket for midday for two reasons: it was cheaper and less crowded. I later saw endless queues to enter, while mine was way shorter. I don’t think it’s worth waiting there for an hour or longer just to catch the sunset (which is not even always impressive due to cloudy or unclear sky).

Walk around Burj Khalifa and catch the fountain show

The fountain show is frequent during the day, apparently is great at night too. I managed to catch it live a few times while walking around the area without paying for a ticket.

Visit the largest shopping mall in the world

It’s wouldn’t be Dubai without places that are the largest, dah! So it is not a surprise that the biggest mall is located just there. It’s really massive and crowded. If you are looking for shopping opportunities and luxury brands, that’s your place. You can also enter Burj Khalifa from inside the mall.

Catch a Van Gogh light show

While you are already inside Dubai Mall (possibly on a scorching afternoon), you might as well see a light show of Van Gogh paintings in Infinity de Lumieres . It’s truly an amazing and relaxing experience.

Visit Atlantis the Palm and its aquarium

If you are not staying in Atlantis the Palm , add a visit to your list. It’s not only quite pretty inside, but you may also visit there an aquarium. I am not so keen on animals in enclosures (especially big ones like sharks), but it could be a good opportunity to tell your kids about wildlife protection.

Spoil yourself in the Talise spa in Burj Al Arab

Staying in Burj Al Arab is rather pricey, but you can visit this iconic hotel when booking a spa treatment at Talise. This is the most beautiful spa I have ever seen. The decor, calmness and views are just cherry on top of the excellent spa treatment. It might sound boring, or simply just ‘normal’, but it was for me one of my favourite things to do in Dubai. I prefer this kind of activity in the evenings after 10 or so hours of walking, but if you are just off your long flight, surely this would help you recharge before sightseeing.

Have a brunch with a view

What’s the worst thing about Burj Khalifa when you are inside Burj Khalifa? You cannot see it. One of the things that I really recommend doing is having a meal at a distance so you can catch a perfect view of the Dubai skyline including Burj Khalifa. This photo was taken during brunch in Fi’lia restaurant has a beautiful terrace and lovely food (live music is a special treat) and you get such an unbeatable view.

Have dinner in a trendy place

You might have a difficult task choosing a place as Dubai is bursting with trendy places and amazing restaurants. One of my favourite late dinner places is Buddha Bar (near Marina) which serves great Asian food and has live shows for a few hours…and don’t even get me started on the cocktails!

Visit the Museum of Future

This new attraction in Dubai has been (I guess self) proclaimed as the most beautiful building in the world. It is quite impressive on the outside and has a few cool things to see inside, I honestly was a bit underwhelmed. I still recommend it though, to see it up close, but with the price of $40 to enter, booking in advance and crowded tour…I am not so sure if I would highly suggest you explore it inside.

If you have more time

Visit Old Souqs

There’s more than one souq in Dubai and it can be confusing. You may start at Deira Old Souq that gives some real taste of what a souq looks like. You can walk around a maze of streets with gold shops, fabrics and dresses or spices. It is an old, “raw” part. The other souq is Dubai Old Village or Al Seef Heritage Souq.

From Deira Old Souq (or vice versa), you need to cross the water and you can do it in two ways:

by taxi, which takes around 25 minutes and may cost 20-30 dirhams. I’ve been there a few times already and noticed that the taxi drivers that wait there are quite reluctant to take you, but instead you have other drivers that have private cars and no taximeter. Those give fixed price of 60 dirhams. It’s a perfect place to take advantage of tourists.
By water taxi– this is a very convenient option to cross the water. You can get your ticket from one of the stands near, it cost me 2 dirhams, but I am not sure if that’s a regular price as someone told me that for Eid they charge less. It only takes a few minutes and you are on the other side at the entrance to the souq. I took the water taxi from Deira Old Souq from stand 20, it runs every 10 minutes.

Walk in Al Seef

This is such a pleasant area with a waterside walk. It’s a perfect place for a long stroll with a view of boats.

View at the Palm

Just at the entrance to tge famous Palm, an artificial island, where the Atlantis hotel is (it’s the huge building at the very end), you can now get the view if the entire island from the top. It’s quite a nice activity. Just bare in mind that it’s outdoor, so it gets extremely hot in summer months. They have cheaper option called non-prime hours that allow you to go there during the day. Prime hours though, will give you beautiful sunset views with the Palm soaked in holden colours. I recommend booking the entry ticket in advance as the waiting lines at tge entrance can get very long, even more than an hour.

Top tip: If you are planning to see multiple attractions in Dubai during your stay, I’d suggest you get your all-inclusive pass, that will allow allow you to visit all the places cheaper, even 50% cheaper than buying them separately.

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Layover in Dubai: what to see and do in 48 hours.

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