Dubai Marina is a city within the city: an entirely man-made canal district, carved from the desert and filled with water from the Gulf, now ringed by one of the densest clusters of skyscrapers on earth. It is the Dubai of postcards — towers reflected in still water, yachts moored below restaurant terraces — and it is one of the most enjoyable districts in the city to simply walk around.
What to do
The Marina Walk loops roughly seven kilometres around the water, lined with cafés and restaurants that fill up after sunset, when the towers light up and the temperature drops. Dubai Marina Mall sits at the centre of the district — smaller and calmer than the mega-malls, and good for an unhurried evening. From the pontoons you can join a dhow dinner cruise or charter a yacht out past Palm Jumeirah; from the southern end you walk straight onto JBR beach.
As a base
The Marina is one of the best places to stay in Dubai: dense with hotels at every price point, walkable in a way most of the city is not, and connected by Metro and tram. The trade-off is distance — Downtown and the airport are half an hour away by car, which is why many Marina visitors keep a rental car in the tower parking or use the tram for the neighbourhood and drive for everything else.
