Dubai is a perfect place if you travel with active kids – I’m sure you won’t want to just stay on the beach all time when you have a family trip.
Check my list of activities which are the summary of my several trips to Dubai and that are approved by my own kid. This is the second part of my guide – don’t miss my first one!
Disclaimer: some of the visits were supported by Visit Dubai tourism board.
11. Lost Chambers Aquarium
Visiting Atlantis with toddlers is so much fun, they admire every detail of this Disneyland-like hotel. But there is more: Lost Chambers Aquarium! It is designed as if you visit Atlantis under the water surface, this lost island described by Plato, which is filled with exotic creatures and 65,000 marine animals.
This fantastic aquarium is free for the guests – but you can visit it even if you don’t stay in the hotel. The area with a cafe however is reserved mainly for the hotel guests.
12. At the Top observatory, Burj Khalifa
The most iconic view from Burj Khalifa is a total must visit when you’re in Dubai!
Don’t deprive your kids of visiting this gem: you can spend some time admiring the views especially if there is not too much sand in the air, visit the shop and make some fun pictures!
Burj Khalifa is the tallest man-built structure in the world: the observatory is located on the 122th level. Moreover, ‘Аt the Top‘ observation deck is located on the 148th out of 163 floors (555m high!).
13. Miracle Garden
I’ve never seen so many flowers in my life as I’ve seen in the Dubai Miracle Garden. Who could’ve guessed that such a magnificent oasis would be hiding in the middle of a desert?
I’m not surprised at all that it was granted two Guinness World Records – the scale of gardens is really spectacular. Uncounted number of flowers form both vertical and horizontal patterns include Giant Cats, an Emirates plane, heart-shaped arches, and a castle…
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Mickey and Minnie Mouse and other Walt Disney’s characters are among the most recent additions to the Garden as well.
14. Aquaventure
Aquaventure waterpark is a fantastic activity for a fun day for the family! It’s the largest waterpark in the world andis located at the Atlantis the Palm (yes, again – if you ask me, it’s the best hotel to stay if you visit with kids) and is free for the hotel guests, but there are crowds of visitors coming here who don’t stay in the hotel.
There are splash areas for little kids, interactive water zones, a lazy river, tiny and giant slides (such as Medusa’s Lair, Shockwave, Aquaconda, Slitherine and many more), restaurants, relaxation areas, food stalls, watersport activities and many more. It’s not cheap but it’s really good!
15. Al Seef village and Al Fahidi districts
Take your kids to explore the historical heritage of Dubai: it’s fully renovated (and many reconstructions are going around Al Fahidi village right now) and showcases how the idealised life here was not very long ago, in the last century before the oil industry kicked in.
For instance, the Al Fahidi neighbourhood dates back to the 1890s but it was destroyed in 1980s to clear up the space for modern buildings. Only later on, Rayner Otter, a British designer, came up with an idea to restore the district, campaigned it to then Prince (now King) Charles, and the renovation project started taking palace in 2005.
Mud houses, small museums such as Coin museum and Coffee museum, Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, The Arabic house restaurant and many other eating options, calm Dubai creek waterfront with traditional abra boats – come here to explore all of it!
These are also the markets, or souks, located en plein air but under high tents to protect you from the sun. Vendors are located both right and left of you, and you can just leisurely walk through the market looking around like in a museum even if you’re not interested in acquiring anything. If you decide to buy something, keep in mind that bargaining is a must!
We were lucky to attend a guided tour through Deira and Al Fahidi historical neighbourhoods organised for us by Visit Dubai a few years ago, and this time we returned here by ourselves. Dubai Museum located inside the Al Fahidi Fort, the oldest building in Dubai dated to the 18th century, is currently under renovation.
16. Kidzania
Kidzania located inside the Dubai Mall is a cool activity for curious and independent kids (you can visit it with a toddler but the best tickets are for 4yo children and above). It’s a large zone mimicking the Emirates flight landing at Kidzania city with shops, town hall and services where everything is for kids!
Your little one can try any profession here: a GP in a hospital, a policeman, a pilot, a dentist, a firefighter, a driver, a vet, an emergency service ambulance doctor, or simply to shop groceries etc receiving and spending virtual ‘money’ on his bank account. Lots of informative and entertaining activities will keep your little one busy for hours!
17. Dubai Safari Park
Dubai Safari Park opened in 2017 and since then has become a major eco friendly attraction of Dubai.
There are 6 areas to explore: African Village, Asian Village, Explorer Village, Arabian Desert, Kids Farm and Al Wadi.
We started with an African village, a wonderfully made space with artificial baobabs, elephants, lions, monkeys and some other animals. There is also a large aviary there and a few restaurants. The aviary looks very cool too, with birds flying and running around freely.
Buy a package with additional access to Explorer Safari tour: it’s a ride of approximately 35-45 min in a micro bus through the zones of Africa and Asia with a guide.
Also for an additional fee you can attend a feeding experience (buy it at the park entrance), and we went for a giraffe encounter! And finally, we went to the Kids’ farm, with a petting zoo inside.
18. OliOli Museum
OliOli museum for children is a perfect place to spend two – tree hours with your little ones. You’ve probably seen that we already visited the OliOli in Doha, and basically the Dubai one was the original museum, after a success of which a similar museum was built in Qatar too.
Here you can learn some simple scientific principles, play with water at the water station, draw some cars and fish, roll musical colorfull balls, build a car from Lego, and to have lots of fun! During our visit there was a temporary archaeological site where you can dig for fossils!
You can choose different entrance packages for 2 or 3 hours and decide whether you want to visit permanent galleries only or the temporary ones too. The cafe there is very cute, with dinosaur-shaped toasties and magical Ph-changing drinks on sale.
19. A ride along the Dubai fountains
Dubai dancing fountains are absolutely amazing – no surprise they are an absolute must for everyone visiting Dubai! They run for a few minutes every 30 min in the evening.
You can make your experience even more magical if you hire a traditional boat called abra to watch it from the water! Check the prices for the Dubai Fountain Lake Ride here.
20. Global village
Global village is kind of an EXPO park but built solely for the entertainment cause. It combines the rides of an amusement park, with restaurants and with pavilions (there are 30 of them) representing various countries of the world, all built in different styles and showcasing some of local goods, foods and even music!
For instance, we visited some of more ‘local’ pavilions such as Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Afghanistan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Egypt pavilions alongside Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand and Russia. There are also a few bigger areas covering larger territories such as the Americas, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia.
We acquired a ‘Global village passport’ upon entering the premises, and we stamped it in every pavilion we visited – just like you do at the EXPO!
There is also an area of the Floating market with a pond and a large dragon in it! We watched a show with lights, water and fire there. In 2025, Global village runs until 11 May.
Where to stay in Dubai
Another hotel I could review in Dubai is Grosvenor house in Dubai Marina. This Marriott property is located in two 45 story tall towers overlooking the Dubai Marina.
My husband loves this area of Dubai but this is our first time staying in the Marina. The location of the hotel might not be the best in the Marina however there are lots of restaurants everywhere for any taste, and Marina mall is about 20 min away. You can also walk all the way up to the Bluewaters island!
The breakfasts were absolutely fine, with a view over the Marina walk, and the kids club was pretty good. Besides that, you can find a few restaurants and a bar within the hotel premises. There is an outdoor pool and we were told you can also be brought to the territory of Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa, another Marriott hotel across the road, by buggy to enjoy some beach activities.
You can also check my guides about:
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Jordan
Oman
Qatar
Hope you liked my blog,
Yours,
Anna xxx
