From shaded heritage houses to concept stores tucked inside old Jumeirah villas, discover Dubai at its most curated and considered.
Summer has arrived, and with it comes a familiar shift in pace: life moves indoors, the streets grow quiet, and residents slip away to cooler climes. For those who stay, the summer months can be an excellent time to rediscover the city without the usual flocks of tourists and commuters. Galleries feel more spacious, malls less frenetic, and once-busy cafés take on a slower, more local rhythm. Whether you’re seeking culture, calm or just a well-designed space with strong coffee and excellent air-conditioning, here are some of the best places to visit in Dubai this summer.
Alserkal Avenue
A former industrial compound turned cultural district, Alserkal Avenue is a place that feels cool in both senses of the word. Along its winding, warehouse-lined alleyways, you’ll find independent galleries, arthouse cinema, locally roasted coffee, and concept spaces that defy easy categorisation. Some visit Alserkal to shop – whether for rare books, niche fragrances, or handmade jewellery – while others come to linger long over lunch or coffee. It’s one of the few places in Dubai where you can wander from venue to venue, not quite knowing what you’ll stumble upon next. While the avenues themselves are not air-conditioned, most spaces are either indoors or naturally shaded. Plan in advance to book season-specific shows or events, such as The Greatest Showman in The Junction, or a screening of Mickey 17 in Cinema Akil. For a summer afternoon that doesn’t involve a shopping mall, this is the place.
Al Shindagha Museum, Dubai Creek
On the Creek waterfront, Al Shindagha Museum is the place to visit for a slow, enriching summer afternoon. This beautifully restored museum is set within a series of heritage houses, each dedicated to different facets of Emirati life: not the glitter seen on postcards today, but the old way – when the air was cooled by wind towers, and spoken poetry filled the room instead of TikTok and television. Visitors can explore everything from traditional medicine to ancient navigation techniques, presented through various forms of media. A standout here is The Perfume House, which traces the role of scent in Emirati culture and its place along historic trade routes. While the summer brings the heat, it’s arguably the best time to visit – to experience firsthand how previous generations lived (and thrived) in the region without reaching for the AC.
Ski Dubai, Mall of the Emirates
Ski Dubai is one of those places that never quite stops feeling improbable: a full alpine-style slope, mid-mall, in the middle of the desert. Inside, it’s minus two degrees with real snow, working chairlifts, and a steady loop of skiers navigating the runs. Younger visitors can explore the Snow Park, complete with ice slides and toboggans, while more confident skiers can test the slope or sign up for a private lesson. For some Dubai residents, the experience is less of a novelty and more of a seasonal escape – an active way to swap 45°C for crisp icy air. It’s also a great destination for those wanting to practice before hitting the real slopes in the winter season. A trip to Ski Dubai would be incomplete without a marshmallow-topped hot chocolate from Avalanche Café, and if you’re lucky, you might just spot a huddle of Gentoo penguins waddling past.
Theatre of Digital Art (ToDA), Souk Madinat Jumeirah
Digital art gets the full cinematic treatment at Madinat Jumeirah’s Theatre of Digital Art (ToDA). Housed in a repurposed IMAX theatre, the walls, floors and ceilings come alive with sound and colour, celebrating both contemporary and classical works. Unlike a traditional gallery, there’s no single frame to stare at. Instead, entire rooms pulse with projections: Van Gogh’s sunflowers bloom in slow motion, Japanese ink paintings ripple to ambient soundscapes, and AI-generated dream worlds unfold in hypnotic loops. What sets ToDA apart from other digital spaces in Dubai is its focus on the old masters, showcasing work by Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Wassily Kandinsky and more.
Beyond visual art, ToDA has a busy schedule of events this summer, from restorative sound healing to live jazz performances. Upcoming highlights on the roster include “Dreams of Rumi” – an evening of Sufi music and poetry – and a film night scored by the UAE Philharmonic Orchestra. Something of a hidden gem, it’s visually arresting and utterly affecting.
Comptoir 102, Jumeirah
Much smaller in scale than the likes of Alserkal, Comptoir 102 is part concept store, part café. This sun-dappled space is tucked inside a 1970s villa just off Jumeirah Beach Road, and it’s absolutely worth a visit this summer. The boutique leans toward high-end minimalism: think French ceramics, organic skincare, woven throws, and sculptural jewellery curated with a bohemian eye. It’s the kind of place where the simplest wardrobe staples – a white linen shirt, a tote bag – are carefully considered and sustainably sourced.
As for the café, the coffee is excellent, but it’s the food that stands out. Designed with health-conscious foodies in mind, each plate is colourful and plant-based, with age-old techniques like pre-soaking and fermentation woven into every dish. A lifestyle destination unto itself, Comptoir 102 also hosts exhibitions and expert-led talks on wellness, nutrition and sustainable living.
Dubai Mall
Dubai Mall is such an expansive retail monolith that for many locals, its sheer scale can be intimidating. In the blazing summer months however, it becomes something of an indoor city in the best sense – a place to browse, dine and escape the heat without feeling confined. Beyond shopping, there’s an Olympic-sized ice rink, an indoor aquarium, and the digital art space Infinity des Lumières, where floor-to-ceiling projections bring everything from Gaudí’s architecture to Japanese brushwork to life. Even the cinema – a 26-screen multiplex – feels like a destination in its own right, with specialised screenings, plush seating and a full à la carte menu.
For a slower pace, the cafés along Fashion Avenue offer some of the best people-watching scenes in the city, with patisseries that rival the likes of Paris. The nearby Museum of the Future – with its looping calligraphy-carved steel façade and forward-looking exhibits – makes an easy and worthwhile addition to a day in Dubai Mall.
