No one visits Dubai for shopping alone. Among the best malls in Dubai, there are also theme parks, aquariums, art galleries, and even ski resorts that you can cover walking barefooted in your slippers without even getting tired. Having spent countless hours inside them on Tuesdays and Fridays when they are less crowded or overloaded with people respectively, here are the seven malls which I really recommend. They are not ordinary Dubai shopping malls as their uniqueness depends on what happens after you finish shopping.
1. The Dubai Mall
Dubai Mall is not a shopping mall; it is like a mini-city under a roof. It attracts about 80 million people every year, and after seeing the tunnel inside the aquarium, you will know why.
Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo has ten million litres of water and contains more than 140 different types of species, such as sand tiger sharks that glide past you freely when you walk through the tunnel at ground level. I would strongly recommend that you avoid paying the entry fees for the Underwater Zoo unless you have children who will be able to visit the touch tank because the free tunnel view is just as thrilling and you can eat for free at any of the 200-plus restaurants within the mall.
Location: Downtown Dubai, next to Burj Khalifa
Time: 10 AM–12 AM / 1 AM weekends
Free tunnel view, paid zoo from AED 135
Free Dubai Fountain shows every 30 min, 6–11 PM
Website: thedubaimall.com
2. Mall of the Emirates
The Mall of the Emirates is looked upon as the little brother of Dubai Mall, which is wrong as the former offers something that the latter does not offer; real snow. Ski Dubai exists within the complex and keeps its temperature constantly sub-zero even if it is boiling outside.
The five ski runs at Ski Dubai have a maximum length of 400 meters while the resident penguins form the main attraction for first-timers, rather than the skiing. Here is my recommendation: visit during a weekday early morning just when the center opens its doors. Snow will be fresh, there won’t be any queues for the chairlifts, and you won’t be bothered by school groups yet.
Location: Al Barsha 1, Sheikh Zayed Road (metro station built directly into the mall)
Ski Dubai hours: Mon–Thu 10 AM–11 PM, Fri 10 AM–12 AM, Sat–Sun 9 AM–12 AM
Snow Park tickets: From roughly AED 230
Ski Slope Pass: From around AED 305 for two hours
Website: malloftheemirates.com
3. Ibn Battuta Mall
This is the mall I take out-of-town guests to when they've already "done" Dubai Mall and want something they haven't seen on Instagram a hundred times. Ibn Battuta Mall is built as six themed courts China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia, and Andalusia tracing the journeys of the 14th-century explorer it's named after.
The Persia Court's central dome and brass chandelier are worth the trip by themselves, but the real draw for me is that this mall doesn't feel like a shopping trip at all; it feels like a walk through a very air-conditioned museum. If you only have twenty minutes, walk straight through Persia Court to Andalusia Court and back; that stretch has the best photo spots in the building.
Location: The Gardens, Sheikh Zayed Road, with its own Ibn Battuta Metro Station
Hours: Sun–Wed 10 AM–10 PM, Thu–Sat 10 AM–12 AM
Novo Cinemas: 21 screens including an IMAX theatre in China Court
Website: ibnbattutamall.com
4. City Walk
City Walk is the only place on the list which is not strictly speaking indoor, and that's the whole idea behind it. This is an outdoor retail street featuring wall murals, an arena and a bio-dome, and it is my personal recommendation if you are looking for some Dubai evening experience not to feel like being in shopping center but like being in neighborhood.
Green Planet is a 35-meter high man-made rain forest tree surrounded by a bio-dome with more than 3,000 animal and plant species. One of the few attractions in Dubai where animals actually roam freely around you instead of sitting in a cage or behind glass panels. Personal opinion? Schedule your visit for weekday morning. It will get crowded and hot quite quickly, and sloths and monkeys roaming freely will be much more active at this time.
Location: Al Safa Street/Al Wasl Road junction, 15–20 minutes' walk from Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall metro
Shop hours: 10 AM–11 PM (Mon–Fri), 10 AM–12 AM (Sat–Sun)
Coca-Cola Arena: 17,000-capacity venue for concerts and sports
The Green Planet: Open daily 10 AM–6 PM, tickets from roughly AED 99–175 depending on package
Website: citywalk.ae
5. Dubai Festival City Mall
Most visitors have never heard of IMAGINE, and that's genuinely strange because it's a Guinness World Record holder for the largest permanent projection screen and largest water screen in the world and it's free. This is my pick for anyone who's already seen the Dubai Fountain and wants the lesser-known version.
The performance includes lasers, fire, water jets and projection mapping on the façade of the InterContinental hotel building across from the bay. Themes vary from Stardancer to The Pirates' Tale, and the advice here is not to stand in the overcrowded railing area but have your dinner at the tables in the waterfront restaurants, offering you all the same experience and no crowds around the railing.
Location: Festival Bay, Dubai Festival City, near Dubai Festival City Mall
Mall hours: Mon–Thu 10 AM–10 PM, Fri–Sun 10 AM–12 AM
IMAGINE showtimes: Nightly from 7 PM, running every 30–90 minutes until 10 PM (weekdays) or 11 PM (weekends)
Cost: Free
Website: dubaifestivalcitymall.com
6. Dubai Hills Mall
Dubai Hills Mall is the newest addition on this list, and it's the one I recommend to anyone travelling with teenagers who've already declared the Dubai Fountain "boring." The Storm Coaster is built directly into the mall's structure.
Most visitors spend three to five hours here once they factor in the coaster queue and a movie. My genuine recommendation: ride the Storm Coaster first thing, since the line triples by mid-afternoon once school lets out and families arrive in bulk.
Location: Junction of Al Khail Road and Umm Suqeim Street
Storm Coaster: World's fastest indoor vertical-launch coaster, 50-metre drop, speeds up to 77 km/h, tickets from AED 65
Adventure Park: Climbing walls and trampolines, from AED 89
Roxy Cinemas: 15+ screens including the Roxy Xtreme, one of the largest screens in the region
Website: dubaihillsmall.ae
7. Nakheel Mall
Nakheel Mall can be found under The View from The Palm, which is an observation deck on the 52nd floor of The Palm Tower and measures 240 metres high. It provides the most stunning view of the Palm’s complete formation.
While it is possible to go into Nakheel Mall for free since there are over 300 retail stores that span five floors in Nakheel Mall, it has been listed here because of its observation deck. It is recommended that you plan ahead and reserve a spot in the sunset slot because it always gets booked up first when the weather is clear and the Palm’s entire formation shines brightly.
Location: Palm Jumeirah, connected to the Palm Jumeirah Monorail
Mall hours: 10 AM–10 PM daily
The View at The Palm: General admission from around AED 110
Best time to go up: Sunset, roughly 4:30–6:30 PM
If you only have one evening, IMAGINE at Dubai Festival City Mall is the most underrated thing to do in Dubai malls on this entire list, it's free, it's genuinely spectacular, and almost no first-time visitor knows to look for it. For everything else, work outward from Dubai Mall based on what your group actually wants: snow for thrill-seekers, Ibn Battuta for architecture lovers, and Nakheel Mall for the best sunset view in the city.
