Last updated: October 2026
Dubai sights to see: what the Binary team recommends
Binary runs passenger screens in Dubai taxis, and millions of passengers ride with them every month. The videos on those screens include a lot of footage of this city. This page is our team’s list of the places we recommend to anyone visiting Dubai. For each one we explain what it is and why we like it, then give you a line to say to your taxi driver.
We’ve left out prices and opening times because they change often. Check each place’s own website before you go.
Downtown Dubai and Sheikh Zayed Road
Burj Khalifa
At 828 metres, Burj Khalifa has been the tallest building in the world since it opened in 2010. You’ll see it from almost everywhere in the city, but it’s worth going up once. The observation decks on levels 124, 125 and 148 look over Downtown and out to the sea, and on a clear day you can see the desert inland. We’d book a slot shortly before sunset, so you see the city in daylight and then again with the lights on. Those slots are the busiest, so book a few days ahead if you can.
By taxi: ask for The Dubai Mall. The entrance to the observation decks is inside the mall.
The Dubai Fountain
The fountain is in the lake at the foot of Burj Khalifa. Jets of water rise and sway in time to music, lit from below, and each show lasts a few minutes. Most of the shows are in the evening. You can watch from the promenade around the lake or from the footbridge by Souk Al Bahar. Of everything on this list, the fountain is the easiest to fit into a short trip. Burj Khalifa is a few steps away, so you can do both in one evening.
By taxi: ask for The Dubai Mall or Souk Al Bahar.
Dubai Opera
Dubai Opera opened in 2016, a short walk from the fountain. The building is shaped like a dhow, the wooden trading boat that has sailed this coast for centuries. Its programme covers opera, ballet and classical concerts, along with musicals and family shows. If you’re staying more than a couple of nights, look at what’s on. An evening here makes a good break from sightseeing, and even without a ticket the building is worth a look on your way to or from the fountain.
By taxi: ask for Dubai Opera in Downtown Dubai.
Museum of the Future
The museum opened in 2022 on Sheikh Zayed Road, next to Emirates Towers. You can’t miss it. The building is a silver oval with a hole through the middle, wrapped in Arabic calligraphy, and the letters double as its windows. Inside, each floor is set in an imagined future. One recreates a space station in orbit, and young children have an area of their own. Entry is by timed ticket, so book before you go. We’d allow at least a couple of hours.
By taxi: ask for the Museum of the Future on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Dubai Frame
The Dubai Frame is what the name says: a picture frame about 150 metres tall in Zabeel Park. It opened in 2018. A lift takes you up to the bridge across the top, part of which has a glass floor. The point of the building is the view. On one side you look over older Dubai, around Deira and Karama. On the other side are the towers of Sheikh Zayed Road and Downtown. Before you go up, a gallery on the ground floor shows how the city looked before the towers.
By taxi: ask for the Dubai Frame in Zabeel Park.
Old Dubai and the Creek
Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood
Al Fahidi, on the Bur Dubai side of the Creek, is one of the oldest parts of the city. It was built more than a century ago and has since been restored. You walk through narrow lanes between sand-coloured houses, many with wind towers on the roof. These square towers catch the breeze and push it down into the rooms below, which is how people kept cool before air conditioning. Many of the courtyard houses are now small galleries and cafés. Go in the morning or late afternoon, because the lanes get hot at midday.
By taxi: ask for Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood in Bur Dubai.
Dubai Creek and the abra
The Creek is the inlet the city grew up around, with Bur Dubai on one bank and Deira on the other. Abras, small wooden boats with open benches, carry people across throughout the day. The ride is short, and it’s still everyday transport for people who work along the water. For a visitor it’s the best view of old Dubai, with trading dhows tied up along the Deira wharves and cargo stacked on their decks. If you only have one day for the older part of the city, we’d start here.
By taxi: ask for the Bur Dubai abra station.
The Gold Souk and the Spice Souk
Get off the abra on the Deira side and the Spice Souk is a short walk away. Its lanes are lined with open sacks of dried lemons, saffron, cardamom, frankincense and dried rose petals. The Gold Souk is close by, a covered street of jewellery shops with windows full of gold. You don’t have to buy anything to walk through. If you do want to buy, ask the shop to show you the weight of the piece and the making charge, which is added on top of the day’s gold price. Bargaining is normal in both souks.
By taxi: ask for the Gold Souk in Deira.
Al Seef
Al Seef runs along the Bur Dubai bank of the Creek, next to Al Fahidi, and opened in 2017. Part of it is built to look like the old town, with sand-coloured walls and wind towers. The rest is modern, with shops and cafés facing the water. It’s new rather than historic, and we’d still walk it, especially in the evening when it’s cooler and the Creek is busy with boats. There’s an abra stop here too, so it’s easy to cross to the souks on the other side.
By taxi: ask for Al Seef in Bur Dubai.
The coast
Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jumeirah is a man-made island shaped like a palm tree. It has a trunk, a row of fronds, and a curved breakwater called the crescent around the outside. Work began in 2001, and the island was built from sand dredged from the seabed. From street level it looks like any other neighbourhood, so you need height to see the shape. Go up to The View at The Palm, an observation deck near the top of The Palm Tower, or ride the monorail that runs along the trunk. The boardwalk on the crescent is a good place for a walk by the sea.
By taxi: ask for The View at The Palm, at Nakheel Mall.
Dubai Marina and JBR
Dubai Marina is a man-made canal lined with residential towers, with a promenade called Marina Walk running around the water. The Marina is at its best in the evening, when the air cools and the towers are lit. JBR is next door. It has a long public beach, with The Walk, a street of shops and cafés, just behind it. You can walk from one to the other. The Dubai Tram runs through both areas and connects to the Metro, which helps if you’re staying elsewhere in the city.
By taxi: ask for The Walk at JBR, or for Marina Walk.
Kite Beach and La Mer
These are both public beaches on the Jumeirah coast, and both work well for families. Kite Beach in Umm Suqeim is named after the kitesurfers who use it when the wind picks up. A running and cycling track runs alongside, and there are food stalls near the sand. You also get a clear view of the Burj Al Arab. La Mer, further up the coast in Jumeirah 1, has shops and cafés set back from the beach and play areas for children. From June to September the midday sun is fierce, so go early in the morning or near sunset.
By taxi: ask for Kite Beach in Umm Suqeim, or La Mer in Jumeirah 1.
In the cooler months
Dubai Miracle Garden
This flower garden in Al Barsha South is seasonal. It opens when the weather cools in the autumn and closes before the summer heat, so check its website for this season’s dates. Millions of flowers are planted into arches, tunnels and large sculptures. The best-known piece is a full-size passenger jet covered in flowers. It’s a good stop if you have children with you. Go in the late afternoon if you can, when the heat has eased.
By taxi: ask for Dubai Miracle Garden in Al Barsha South.
Global Village
Global Village, in Dubailand, is seasonal too. It usually opens in the autumn and runs until spring, and the dates are on its website. The park is a collection of outdoor pavilions, each one representing a different country or region, where traders sell food and handmade goods from home. There are also rides and an outdoor stage with live shows. Go in the evening, when it’s cooler and everything is lit up, and give it a few hours. It’s bigger than it looks from the entrance.
By taxi: ask for Global Village in Dubailand.
Outside the city
The desert and Hatta
The Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve covers about 225 square kilometres, roughly 5% of Dubai’s land. The reserve is protected, and Arabian oryx and gazelles live there. You visit with a licensed tour operator, usually for a drive through the dunes and a chance to see the wildlife. Not every desert trip goes into the reserve, so ask when you book.
Hatta is a different kind of day out. The town sits in the Hajar Mountains, a long drive from the city, and belongs to Dubai. People go to kayak on the lake behind Hatta Dam and to walk or cycle the mountain trails. There’s also a restored heritage village.
By taxi: most desert trips collect you from your hotel. Hatta is a long ride, so a tour or a hire car is usually more practical.
On Binary’s screens
If you’re reading this after a taxi ride, you may have seen some of these places already. The screen in the back of the taxi plays aerial video of Dubai and short video clips. Under Discover, passengers can start the DXB audio-guided tour. The screen also has music and podcasts, and passengers can read the news or play a short game. We wrote this page to go with that content, as a list of where to go once you’re out of the taxi.
