Dubai is a popular stop over airport for many people who are traveling long-haul throughout the World and especially for those who are looking to snag cheaper flights to some of the World’s hottest destinations. As far as layovers go, Dubai is one of the best that you can have and the airport is close enough to the action for you to be able to use your long layover time to see a bit of the city.

If you have a long layover in Dubai coming up then you need to be prepared with what you intend on doing, time is at a premium here and there is lots of options for you. Let’s take a look at some of the things that you can be doing during your layover.

Go Shopping and Skiing

Skiing, in Dubai? That’s right, the Emirates shopping mall houses one of the World’s largest indoor ski parks with real snow and an 80 foot mountain. For the proficient among you there is a black run and even some half-pipes and rails if snowboarding is your thing. You will want to make sure that you have plenty of time to spend at both the park and the shopping center so ensure that you have pre-arranged your airport transfer in Dubai in order to maximize whatever time that you have.

World’s Tallest Building

What better way to pass some of your time during your layover than visiting the World’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. This building is a true feat of human engineering and standing at over 800 meters, with over 163 floors, you can jump in one of the World’s fastest elevators and head straight to the top of the tallest sculpture in the World.

Go on Safari

Dubai is so close to the desert that you can take a safari tour directly from the airport and truly spend your layover in style. If you happen to be in town on a Friday then you may even get the chance to go and see a camel race, if not then you can still head out into the desert on a 4×4 and even stay the night in a bedouin tent if you have the time. These tours will take you from the airport and the private tours will tailor your trip so that you are back in tim for your flight.

City Tour

There are several hop-on, hop-off big bus city tours that leave from the airport with regularity and whether you have 6 hours or 16, you can head out into Dubai and get a taste of the city. These tours are very reasonably priced and offer the layover tourist the perfect chance to learn a little about Dubai before continuing their journey.

If you don’t fancy heading out into the city during your layover in Dubai then you can also take advantage of many of the airport’s comfortable lounges or sleeping options. There are some fine hotels in the airport as well as sleep cubes which you can rent by the hour, whatever your preference is, Dubai will provide for you.