Dubai’s extraordinary shopping mega-malls

One of the world’s largest malls, at the foot of the world’s tallest building – a veritable city within a city. The mall includes 1,300 shops, a vast Dubai Aquarium featuring an impressive underwater zoo, home to diverse marine life including sand tiger sharks, as well as an ice rink and cinema, SEGA Republic and VR Park – one of the world’s largest virtual reality entertainment venues, offering diverse and immersive VR experiences.

Next door is a modern souk and a lake with spectacular dancing fountains directly beneath the Burj Khalifa.

This themed shopping mall lies beyond Dubai Marina and is split into six separate courts that trace the travels of famous Arabic scholar-traveller Ibn Battuta. Look out for story boards throughout and other oddities such as replica ships and life-sized elephants. There’s an IMAX theatre too.

This labyrinthine mall holds around 1,000 outlets and is one of Dubai’s most popular. The top attraction is Ski Dubai, the famous indoor ski run and snow park. If you don’t fancy skiing, just grab a coffee and watch the surreal snowy scene through huge windows.

Yet another vast mall, this one is located just south of the airport and on a similar scale to Mall of the Emirates. In place of a ski run, there’s an aerial assault course and indoor skydiving centre, alongside a great ‘edutainment’ zone for kids.

Shaped like an Egyptian pyramid, and themed as such throughout, the highlight of this mall is the beautiful reconstructed Souk Khan Murjan, which lies beneath the modern mall. The souk is full of stained glass, decorative details and artisan wares. Stop for a Middle Eastern lunch in the attractive courtyard of the Khan Murjan restaurant.