How to do Dubai with kids

Theme parks, water slides and more – find out what to do in Dubai with the family.

Superheroes, rollercoasters, massive malls – no, not Florida, Dubai. This Middle Eastern emirate is the new kid on the family block. It’s got a reputation for Michelin-star dining, designer shops and plush hotels, but the City of Gold’s a playground for kids, too. Take a look at the best family activities in Dubai below, and check out our best deals on Dubai city breaks, too.

Extreme thrills

Just like the rest of the UAE, Dubai doesn’t do things on a small scale – theme parks included. Take the Dubai Parks and Resorts, for instance. Just like the city it’s in, this place is on the humongous scale. In fact, it’s a three-in-one combo of LEGOLAND®, Bollywood and MOTIONGATE™ parks. The former features more than 60 million Lego bricks across rides, themed lands and models – perfect if you’re doing Dubai with a toddler in tow. Meanwhile, slightly older children will be in their element at the latter, where the rides and attractions are themed on films like the Hunger Games, Shrek and Madagascar. The theme park fun doesn’t stop there, either. Rollercoaster rovers can also look forward to the world’s largest indoor theme park, IMG Worlds of Adventure. Here, Marvel’s superheroes and Cartoon Network characters are brought to life through rides, restaurants and 5D shows.

Supersized tills

In Dubai, it’s a case of shopping, but not as you know it. The Dubai Mall’s children’s activities are off-the-scale, too. As well as over 1,000 shops, you can take your brood to an Olympic-sized ice skating rink, a shark-patrolled aquarium and a gigantic Diplodocus dinosaur skeleton. If you stop here for lunch, make sure to grab a table outside. That way, you can watch the Vegas-style fountains dance to music right in front of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. This place doesn’t have the monopoly on malls, though. You can tee off on a neon-lit crazy golf course at Wafi Mall, scale climbing walls at the Galleria Mall, or skim down the slopes and build snowmen at the Mall of the Emirates’ indoor ski and snow centre.

Natural chills

Cloud-tickling skyscrapers surrounded by burnt-orange sands – that’s the Dubai that’s splashed all over postcards. But, for a metropolis in the middle of a desert, it’s surprisingly green. The city’s going all-out to create unique experiences, which are great for shade-seeking families. Along the chic City Walk, you can dip into an indoor rainforest, home to toucans, porcupines and sloths. And, in true Dubai-style, the gardens here are one-of-a-kind, as well. You’ve got a huge glow-in-the-dark garden, made up of 10 million energy-saving bulbs. It’s joined on to a dinosaur park and an ice sculpture park, where you can escape the heat in temperatures of around -7°C. And, if you’re visiting in the cooler months – between October and April – there’s also the Miracle Garden. This place lives up to its name with millions of colourful flowers shaped into cartoon characters, animals and an Emirates plane.

Convinced? Browse our Dubai city breaks, find out the best places to stay in Dubai, or get your taste buds tingling with a look at the best budget and luxury Dubai brunches.

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Author: Annabel Langley

Last updated: 26.10.2018