Burj Khalifa on a Layover

On our way back to Dar, Evita and I spent another night in Dubai. While we were there, we went up the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures of it. We had just finished a 15-hour flight, which followed another 1-hour flight and a hectic airline transfer in the Houston airport. To add to that, I had been wearing my 25-pound baby for a couple of hours at that point. I knew I’d regret not snapping pictures of everything I saw, but at least I have a few to commemorate the trip…

 

 

 

If you’re headed there any time soon, I recommend purchasing tickets in advance, which is what I did here. I actually reserved my ticket for 11pm, but after wandering around the mall for a while and getting pretty tired I decided to ask if I could go up early, and they totally let me. 

 

If you want to see the Burj Khalifa on a layover, here are some other technical details:

-It took me about an hour from the time I landed to collect my visa and go through customs.

-A cab from the airport hotel to the Burj Khalifa cost around 40 dirhams (about $10), so I’m assuming it would be around the same price from the actual airport.

-The cab ride took about 15 minutes.

-I spent about an hour total at the Burj Khalifa. I don’t think this is possible without reservations, though, because there was a wait for people without them.

-Getting back through security and stuff at the Dubai airport is relatively easy, and I think as long as you’re back at the airport about 1.5 hours in advance (with no bags to check) you’ll be fine.

 

My layover in Dubai was around 17 hours, but I think if you have at least 5 you can probably make it there and back in time.