Dubai With Kids
What Dubai with kids really looks like, from a family that plans these trips for a living.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is Dubai worth it with kids, or just a layover?
Worth it. Give it three days. The metro, the beaches and the indoor everything make it one of the easiest big cities to travel with kids.
How many days?
Three, four with a waterpark day. Longer if you are using it as a base to see Abu Dhabi too.
Do we need to book anything ahead?
The Burj Khalifa, book a sunset slot weeks out. Waterpark tickets online save money. Everything else you can play by ear.
Do we need a car?
No. The metro and cheap taxis cover it. A car only helps for the Abu Dhabi day, and even that has an easy bus.
When should we go?
November through March. The summer heat is rough with kids, so aim for the cooler months and you will be outside happily.
The Stopover That Deserves A Real Stop
Everybody treats Dubai as the place you change planes on the way to somewhere else. A night, a layover, back to the airport. I would give it more than that. Dubai is one of the easiest big cities in the world to travel with kids.
Everything works. The metro is spotless and driverless and the kids will want to sit at the very front. The beaches are warm and calm. The malls have aquariums and ski slopes inside them. It is hot for a lot of the year, so the city built itself around air conditioning and indoor fun, which happens to be perfect for families.
Getting Around
You do not need a car. The metro runs the length of the city along Sheikh Zayed Road, cheap and easy, and taxis are everywhere and inexpensive for the short hops the metro misses. Buy a Nol card at the airport and tap in and out. Summer is brutal outside, so plan the middle of the day indoors and save the outdoor things for early morning and after sunset.
Neighborhoods worth basing in
Downtown & Dubai Mall
The center of gravity for a first trip. The Burj Khalifa, the fountains, the aquarium and the big mall are all right here, and you can walk between most of it or hop one metro stop.
Dubai Marina & JBR
The waterfront strip, a beach on one side and a canal of tall towers on the other, with a walkable promenade and easy dinners. Good for families who want sand and a stroll at the end of the day.
Jumeirah & the Creek
Lower, calmer, close to the good public beaches and the old Dubai feel around the creek. A gentler base if the high rise thing is not for you.
Atlantis The Palm
The one the kids will beg for, a waterpark and an aquarium built into the hotel out on the Palm. It is a splurge and it earns it if a water park is the whole point of the trip.
Rove Downtown
Bright, modern and well priced for how central it is, a short walk to the mall and the fountains. The easy middle option I point most families to.
Premier Inn Dubai
Reliable, family friendly and cheap for the city, with the free breakfast and the space families need. Not glamorous, and it does the job well.
The Three I Build Every Dubai Trip Around
The Burj Khalifa and the Fountains
Go up the tallest building in the world in the late afternoon so the kids get the daylight, the sunset and the lights all in one ticket. Then come down for the fountain show at the base, which runs every half hour after dark and is free. Book the Burj ahead, the good time slots sell out.
The Dubai Aquarium and the Mall
The aquarium tank is the wall of the Dubai Mall, so you can look at the sharks without paying, then pay for the tunnel if the kids are hooked. The mall itself is a day, with an indoor ice rink and enough to eat to keep everyone going.
The Old Creek and a Water Taxi
Cross the creek on an abra, the little wooden water taxi, for one dirham a head, and land in the gold and spice souks on the other side. It is the oldest, cheapest and most memorable thing you will do in Dubai, and it shows the kids the city before the skyscrapers.
Family Time, Built In: Dubai With Kids
Dubai is built for kids without trying to be. The metro is a ride, the malls are indoor theme parks, the beaches are calm and warm, and there is a waterpark practically everywhere you look. The hardest part is pacing it so nobody melts down in the heat.
The harbor ferry to the beach
Sunday fish market
Paddle boats on the the creek
Planten un Blomen
the Dubai Aquarium plaza
PARK & DOWNTIME PICK
The beach at JBR or Kite Beach for the free, easy afternoons, with soft sand, calm water and space to run once the sun drops. The reset between the big indoor days.
Five Things To Eat In Dubai
Shawarma
Manoush
Machboos
Luqaimat
Karak chaiNicole’s Perspective
A trading port you can walk end to end
I taught social studies for eight years, and one of the things I loved was showing kids how a trading port turns into a city. Dubai is that story on fast forward. A hundred years ago it was pearl divers on the creek. Now it is the tallest building on earth, and you can stand at both ends of that story in a single afternoon.
I have planned and priced a lot of Middle East travel for families, and Dubai is the one I reach for first when someone wants an easy, safe, wildly fun introduction to that part of the world. It handles first time international travelers beautifully. When a family is nervous about going somewhere that feels far, this is where I start them.
The Day Trip: Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is about ninety minutes down the road and makes an easy day. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is one of the most beautiful buildings your kids will ever walk through, all white marble and reflecting pools, and it is free to visit if everyone dresses respectfully. Add the Louvre Abu Dhabi if you have art lovers, and be back in Dubai for dinner.
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
How Many Days
Three full days is the sweet spot for Dubai, four if you are adding a waterpark day. That is the city as a real stop, not a layover.
Day one, Downtown, the Burj Khalifa at sunset and the fountains. Day two, the creek and the souks in the morning, a beach afternoon at JBR.
Day three, a waterpark or the aquarium and the mall, whichever the kids voted for. Day four, the drive to Abu Dhabi and the Grand Mosque.
If all you have is a long layover, do the Burj Khalifa and the fountains and one abra ride across the creek, and call it a strong taste.
Dubai With Kids, Answered
Is Dubai worth it with kids, or just a layover?
Worth it. Give it three days. The metro, the beaches and the indoor everything make it one of the easiest big cities to travel with kids.
How many days?
Three, four with a waterpark day. Longer if you are using it as a base to see Abu Dhabi too.
Do we need to book anything ahead?
The Burj Khalifa, book a sunset slot weeks out. Waterpark tickets online save money. Everything else you can play by ear.
Do we need a car?
No. The metro and cheap taxis cover it. A car only helps for the Abu Dhabi day, and even that has an easy bus.
When should we go?
November through March. The summer heat is rough with kids, so aim for the cooler months and you will be outside happily.
Ready To Put Dubai On The Calendar
Send me your dates and your kids’ ages and I will tell you the three days that cover Dubai, and if Abu Dhabi is worth adding.
Keep exploring from Dubai
Nearby cities, the country, the whole region.
Click any card to open that page
Zoom out
All of the UAE
All of Asia