Zabeel Park, Al Kifaf · Dubai

Dubai Frame

A 150-metre gilded rectangle standing in Zabeel Park, positioned so that the view north is the low-rise city of the 1970s and the view south is the skyline built since. The glass-floored bridge between the two towers is the bit everybody remembers, and the whole visit costs less than a mall lunch.

Why go

150 m tall, 93 m wide, with a glass-floored sky bridge between the towers
Old Dubai to the north, new Dubai to the south, from the same spot
Among the cheapest paid views in the city
Inside Zabeel Park, so the ticket buys an afternoon rather than an hour

The idea behind it

The Frame is the rare Dubai attraction whose concept does the work rather than its scale. Standing on the sky bridge you turn 180 degrees and travel fifty years: Deira, Karama and Bur Dubai on one side, low and sand-coloured, and Sheikh Zayed Road's glass wall on the other. It makes the pace of the city legible in a way that a taller tower does not.

A short gallery on the ground floor covers Dubai's history before you go up, and a projection room at the end imagines the city decades from now. Neither is long, and the building does not pretend they are the main event.

The glass floor

Panels in the centre of the 93-metre bridge turn opaque and then clear as you step on them. If heights bother you, the solid walkway along the edge gets you across without incident — nobody is forced onto the glass.

Dubai Frame, answered

Is Dubai Frame worth visiting if I am already doing Burj Khalifa?

They do different jobs. The Burj Khalifa shows you how big Dubai is; the Frame shows you how fast it changed. At around a quarter of the price, it is an easy addition rather than a competitor.

Is the glass floor safe for children?

Yes, and children are usually the ones queuing to jump on it. There is a solid path along the side for anyone who would rather not.