Dubai · With kids

Dubai with kids: things to do

By Ramya ChinnaduraiPublished 14 October 2026Updated 14 October 2026

Do not put the Museum of the Future on a 2026 family list. The official FAQ says it closed to visitors at the beginning of September 2026 for a full renewal and is set to reopen in the first quarter of 2027. Tickets for the renewed house are not on sale. The 77-metre building is still there. You cannot go in.

Dubai with children is then a metro-and-aquarium city day, or a separate LEGOLAND day for ages 2 to 12. Visit Dubai, RTA, Emaar and LEGOLAND pages were opened on 14 October 2026. Where two RTA pages disagreed on the free-child age, the cutoff is omitted.

Metro first: cabins, zones, no invented child fare

RTA's metro page puts women-and-children cabins on every train, beside Gold Class and general cabins. Use that cabin if you want space for a pushchair and a quieter ride. It is not a tourist extra. It is a marked carriage.

nol fares divide the city into 7 zones. A metro-to-bus transfer stays one journey if you check in again within 30 minutes. The journey can last 180 minutes with up to 3 transfers. Silver zone prices on that page were 3, 5 and 7.50 dirhams for one zone, two adjacent zones, or more than two. Gold is double. Those are adult products. This page does not invent a child zone fare.

RTA does confirm a free concession for young children on Metro, Tram and Bus without a nol card. Two official pages disagreed on whether that means under 5 or 5 and below. A cutoff here would be a guess. Buy a paying product for anyone who is clearly not in that band.

Unaccompanied rules are clearer: ages 8 to 11 need a parent-issued permit to ride alone, except on intercity buses. Ages 12 and over may travel unaccompanied. Under-8 wording conflicted between pages, so it is left out.

The aquarium under the mall, not a skyline circuit

The Silver Pass at Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo is the compact indoor plan: Aquarium Tunnel, Underwater Zoo, rainforest and Penguin Cove. Under 2s enter free. Under 15s need an adult aged 15 or over. That is a morning in Dubai Mall, not a prelude to a desert afternoon.

Eat, sit, leave. The mall is air-conditioned walking after the tunnel. It is not a second ticket.

If you wanted a science-fiction interior, that was the Museum of the Future. The FAQ is the reason it is missing from this shortlist. Reopening is listed as the first quarter of 2027. Until tickets exist, skip it.

LEGOLAND is a different day

LEGOLAND Dubai writes itself for children aged 2 to 12, with a Theme Park and a Water Park. Under 3s enter free if you bring identification. That age band is the decision. A 14-year-old will be bored. A 4-year-old will fill the day.

The resort is not a metro hop from the aquarium. Treat it as the outdoor (or water) day and put nothing else after it. Seasonal gate prices change. This page does not print a promotional "from" figure.

Heat decides the outdoor list

Visit Dubai's weather page is the seasonal split: from October until April, outdoor attractions take centre stage, with milder air and sunny days. Summer is the indoor, air-conditioned season. February's listed average is 22°C, which is why the separate Dubai in February page exists.

A first stay that holds together: one mall aquarium morning, one LEGOLAND day if you have a 2-to-12-year-old, and metro rides that stay inside the zones you actually paid for. Adding a third paid interior and a late desert booking is how the city fights a nap schedule.

If you want a cooler-month version of the same city, read the February page. The year-round rule is the same: do not plan the Museum of the Future until it sells a ticket again.

What a three-day stay can actually hold

Day one: metro in the women-and-children cabin to Dubai Mall, Silver Pass, lunch, out. Day two: LEGOLAND if the oldest child is 2 to 12. Day three: nothing paid unless someone still wants a tunnel. That third day is a pool, a walk, a nap. Visitors who add a desert evening after LEGOLAND lose the next morning.

Gold Class on the metro is double the Silver fare. It is not a family product. Red Ticket singles were 4, 6 and 8.50 dirhams on the nol page. Those add up faster than a stored Silver card if you ride more than twice. Count the hops.

The student nol concession (50 percent on Metro, Tram and Bus for enrolled students aged 5 to 23) is not a visitor child card. Do not ask a hotel desk to issue one. Buy the paying adult product for anyone who is clearly paying, and carry the young child without inventing an age cutoff the two RTA pages could not agree on.

Pushchairs on the metro are easier in the marked cabin than in a packed general car at 08:00. Mid-morning rides are kinder. The 180-minute journey window is long enough for mall plus a hop back. It is not long enough for mall plus LEGOLAND. Those are different days and different tickets.

See all family guides

All Dubai guides