Burj Khalifa Ticket with 1-Way Transfer

Getting there

The transfer collects you and drops you at Dubai Mall, because that is where the entrance sits — down inside the shopping centre rather than at the foot of the Burj Khalifa itself, which catches people out. Only the outward leg is included; getting back is your own arrangement, and taxis from the mall are plentiful.

Going up

The lift climbs 124 floors in about a minute and your ears will notice. Before that there is a short walk-through covering how the tower was built, which is more interesting than it sounds.

At the top

Levels 124 and 125 give you sealed glass and a terrace open to the air. Look straight down and the fountains are directly beneath you; look out and the desert begins not far past the last of the towers. Haze is the variable nobody warns you about — on a clear winter afternoon the view runs for miles, and in summer the city can vanish into white a few kilometres out.

Timing it

Sunset slots go first. Failing that, late afternoon lets you see the city in daylight and then lit, if you are willing to wait it out.