Mall of the Emirates
Real ski runs and chair lifts inside a mall — while outside it is Dubai in full sun.
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Ski Dubai, the Middle East's first indoor ski resort and snow park, opened here in November 2005 and remains the reason to make the trip. The mall itself is large — 630-plus retail outlets, 250 flagship stores, 80 luxury stores — but the snow slope is the genuine oddity. A 500-seat community theatre and one of Dubai's largest indoor entertainment centers round out a full afternoon stop on Sheikh Zayed Road.
What to look for
- Ski Dubai's chair lifts and snow park, the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East
- Three-storey architecture combining Arabic and Mediterranean elements, each level connected directly to parking
- Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre, a 500-seat venue inside the mall
Take the Dubai Metro Red Line — a direct mall link has been running since September 2009.
Mall of the Emirates is one of 33 sights worth the detour in Dubai, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Dubai pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Dubai
- Burj KhalifaHalf a mile of reinforced concrete, straight up — the tallest structure on Earth since 2009.
- Burj al-ArabA hotel shaped like a dhow sail, planted on its own man-made island 280 meters off the beach.
- Dubai MallIn 2023 it drew a record 105 million visitors — up 19 percent year-on-year from the 88 million recorded the year before.
- 23 MarinaFifty-seven swimming pools stacked into one tower — and since 2026, visible war damage on the skyline.
- Palm JumeirahSand and stone stacked on the Persian Gulf to form a palm shape — only legible from the air, and reportedly still sinking 5 mm every year.
- Rose Tower (Rose Rayhaan by Rotana)A 333-metre hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road that actually outreaches the Burj Al Arab — and most people walk past it.