Dubai is one picture perfect place for sure, and I've put together a list of some of my favourite places where to take photos, so you can easily find them when needed. Keep on reading!
Dubai Miracle garden - this place is quite outside of the city, and I suggest taking a taxi there. Taxis are pretty cheap in Dubai (0.49 euro cents for a km) You can also take a bus from Mall of The Emirates. You can reach Mall of The Emirates by metro - super easy if you are staying somewhere near a metro station. Miracle Garden ticket costs 55 aed = 13 eur. My suggestion - go there when the garden opens (9am) to skip the crowds, as it gets pretty crowded easily. Keep in mind that the garden is closed during summer, it opens again in November.
2. The Pointe - Atlantis the Palm view This place was something new for me. This was my second time in Dubai, and the first time I didn't know this place existed. There are restaurants, shops at The Pointe, and there is this gorgeous beach (you cannot swim there as it is super shallow) with bean bag chairs for you to chill on. I guess this place is pretty new and not a lot of people know about it - there were very few people, even though the rest of Dubai is super crowded in November. We easily took the perfect shot for us and then we just sat in the sun enjoying the gorgeous view of the impressive Atlantis hotel. We reached this place by taxi. It was a bit of a struggle to get a taxi back to our hotel (because there are not very many taxis there) but after some waiting we managed to get one.
3. The wings of Mexico - there are these gorgeous gold wings located in Downtown Dubai. You can access them from Dubai Mall, but it is easier to access them from the opposite side where hotels like Vida Downtonw and Palace Downtown are located. You can type ‘Yeldizlar restaurant’ or ‘Loui’s Restaurant and Cafe’ in Google Maps or Waze - and you will find the wings easily. The best part of the day to take photos there is morning of course. Almost no people. There is usually a queue during the day and in the evening. This shot (below) was taken at around 8/9am.
4. Burj al Arab view - this bridge is located in the territory of a hotel called Mina a Salam. We went to the Shimmer on the beach club (it opens at 12pm and you don't need a reservation for the lounge area at the beach) to have some cocktails (you can access this bar by going through the hotel lobby - I also attached a photo from the beach bar) and later we just walked around. So worth it, as the hotel and its area is very, very pretty. We got there by taxi from Mall of the Emirates. We used metro a lot, as we were living close to a metro station (Stella di Mare Hotel, and DMCC station was just minutes away) Mall of the Emirates station was just 3 or 4 stations away from us, and from there you can easily take a taxi (there is a taxi station with lots of them)
5. La Mer beach - this beach and its surroundings are very stylish! Gives me LA vibes (although I haven't been to LA yet haha) Cool street art, healthy food, cafes with amazing interior. I guess that these wings in the photo below are one of the most popular ones in La Mer, but there are many more cool places to discover. So just walk around! The beach itself wasn’t one of my favourites, as it is pretty small and super crowded. We got there by taxi. But I know that some hotels have buses that can take you there.
6. JBR beach - if we are talking about beaches, my favourite one in all of Dubai is JBR beach. It is very wide, so even if there are many people, you can still easily find a place where no one will disturb you. And it is also very Instagrammable - you can take some nice shots there while sunbathing and swimming - the skyscrapers as a backdrop are amazing! And on the opposite side there is this new island called Bluewaters. It will be a home to the world’s tallest observation wheel. The wheel is already there, it is just not finished yet, but it still looks good in photos. Especially during sunset hours. You can access this beach from the DMCC metro station. It was super close to our hotel Stella di Mare.
7. At the Top Burj Khalifa - this is one of my favourite places ever. Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world and you can go up to its 124 floor. The view from there is AMAZING. You can see the city from above, but my favourite view was the one over Dubai Fountains - those blue pools just look soo good in photos (and also in real life) It costs 149 aed = 37 eur to go up. We went there at 2pm,. it was crowded, but we managed to take some amazing photos. Maybe it is less crowded in the am, but I have heard that it is pretty crowded almost all the time.
8. Dubai Mall and Dubai Fountains - this area is very beautiful from above, but it is just as beautiful from the ground. The Dubai Fountain show which happens every half an hour from 6pm is a must see! And you can also take some amazing photos there. Loved to make night shots in this area. This time we went to the opposite side of the Dubai Mall (the one I talked about in Wings of Mexico section) and it is less crowded than the mall side. Believe me - waaay less people there. Dubai Mall is impressive, you should visit it, but the people.. ohhh so many!
9. Dubai Marina - love this place! I fell in love during our first visit, and this time we stayed in this area, so we walked around a lot!. By the way - if you are looking for an amazing hotel with an amazing price - Stella di Mare Dubai is the one! It is located in Dubai Marina, just minutes away from JBR beach and this beautiful Dubai Marina area. I believe that this is one of the best places to stay in Dubai, if not the best one. You have everything - skyscrapers, city life and beach with white sand minutes away. Metro station is also very close, and it makes going around very cheap and easy. Location really matters to me. The hotel itself is really good, we stayed at the suite overlooking Dubai Marina (I attached a photo and you can click on it to see it more clearly) and we were super impressed! I woke up excited about this view every morning and went to sleep watching the city lights. Everything was amazing and I highly recommend this hotel. We will be back next time for sure as we enjoyed our stay so much! And as you can see - the suite and its view is very Instagrammable too :) Now back to Dubai Marina - it is beautiful during the day and even prettier during dark hours - lights everywhere! You can access Dubai Marina by metro - you need to hop off at the DAMAC properties station.
10. Public beach in the Umm Suqeim area - Burj al Arab view - this place is also one of my favourites. We watched the most beautiful sunset here. This beach is public, no entry fees. I don't think it is just as nice as JBR beach for sunbathing and swimming, but it is amazing for beautiful views of Burj al Arab and for sunset watching.
Thank you for reading! Hope you will find this information useful. And remember to not only take beautiful photos, but to also enjoy the moment - Dubai is truly magical!