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A Dubai Frame review

The Dubai Frame was not what I expected.

In the flurry of publicity when it opened, the media showed just what its name promised: a picture frame. That’s what I thought it was: a large picture frame, outsized, like everything in Dubai. It was two or three stories tall, I figured, perfect for taking a picture of the tall, glitzy Dubai skyline, framed within it.

The Dubai Frame. The tops of several palm trees at the bottom of the picture, with the frame behind them. The frame is gold with a filigreed design covering it.
The Dubai Frame. When I saw the photos, I thought it was just behind those palm trees and perhaps twice as tall as them…

(Disclosure: While I paid the full entrance fee for the Dubai Frame, this Dubai Frame review contains affiliate links, which means making purchases through them will earn me a small commission.)

I was wrong. I should have known. After all, everything in Dubai is wrapped in extremes: the biggest mall, the tallest building, artificial islands shaped like a palm tree, an indoor ski slope, a garden in the desert. That’s how they roll in Dubai.

The Dubai Frame

I decided to go to the Dubai Frame because I had most of the day free before an afternoon meeting, and I’d seen all the highlights of Dubai on previous trips: the Burj Khalifa (tallest building), the main malls, the old section of Dubai. I figured I had plenty of time to get to the Dubai Frame and snap a picture of the skyline.

For lots more things to do in Dubai, read this post: One Day in Dubai: what to do? 

Getting there

Another thing I’ve noticed about Dubai is that nothing is as near as it seems. Just try walking to the Burj Khalifa from the nearest metro station: you’re likely to reach your Fitbit step goal.

The same held true for the Dubai Frame. I suspect that most people get there by car or taxi. I took the metro to the nearest stop, Al Jafaliya station (The Dubai metro is wonderfully smooth, efficient and clean, by the way. Just be ready to walk once you disembark!).

The side of the frame looms, vertical in the picture. The top and part of the other side of the frame are visible behind. Part of a canvas parasol blocks the lower left of the picture, and the sky behind it is bright blue. The frame is gold with a filigreed design covering it. On the near side, filigree lines both sides of a glass strip: the elevator shaft.
Here’s a side view from right next to it.

Exiting the station, I could see the Dubai Frame in the distance. That was the point when I realized how big it was … and how far I would need to walk.

I couldn’t head toward it because of a large construction site in the way, something you see a lot of in Dubai. Instead, I continued down the main road in the direction the metro was headed, turning right when I reached Zabeel Park. Asking directions, I was instructed to walk around the perimeter of the park along the jogging track that circles it – entering the park costs only AED5 (about €1), but I have no idea if there is a way back out on the other side.

Have you booked a hotel room yet for your trip to Dubai? Use this link to book through booking.com.

How tall is the Dubai Frame?

As I neared it, the Dubai Frame’s height became increasingly clear. This thing is huge! I found out later that it’s 150 meters tall, which is about 45 to 50 floors.

From my height, taking the picture, the bottom of the frame is perhaps 4 times my height, so it is high on my right. Beyond that is the bottom few stories of one of the vertical sides of the frame.
This shot along the bottom of the frame gives you an idea of its size.

Looking at it – and it really does look just like a picture frame, with a beveled inner edge – I figured it must hold small offices on the vertical sections. Wouldn’t that be a great place for small businesses like private practice lawyers or artists?

I was wrong again. This structure is only a picture frame: no offices, no real useful purpose, except to be a tourist attraction and visible landmark. It is an attractive structure, though, with its gold embossed decorative facing.

PInnable image
Text: A Dubai Frame Review: How does it compare to the Burj Khalifa? (with Rachel's Ruminations logo). Image: black and white version of the side view of the Dubai Frame.

Dubai Frame inside

For the price of admission, visitors inside the Dubai Frame experience “the past, present and future of Dubai.”

What does that mean? First, after paying the fee, I went up a one-story escalator to a very small exhibit on Dubai’s past (no photos allowed). This consisted of a mock-up of an old-style market street, much like you can also find in the Dubai Museum in the old section of the city. Projections showed a hint of how the city began to grow. It was all pretty long on atmosphere but short on information.

But never mind. The point of the exercise is going to the top of the Frame, and that was the next stop.

With a few other visitors (My husband went separately on a Saturday and it was extremely crowded. I was there on a Thursday and it was no problem at all.), I zipped up 150 meters fast enough for my ears to pop. The elevator has one glass wall, so it might be a problem if you are afraid of heights.

Emerging from the elevator took us into a large room 93 meters long, but only perhaps about 15 meters across. A strip of colorfully changing lighting along the length of the hall’s ceiling brightened the place, and both sides, lined with windows, allowed wide views over Dubai.

A long room, with a scattering of people. The walls on either side lean outwards at the top, with big, white columns that also lean outwards, tilted left or right. The floor is dark, except for the greenish-gray glass panels down the center. The ceiling looks like it has a strip of tiling down the center, but the tiles are lit up in blues and pinks, and the whole thing is wavy, rather than flat.
The hall inside the Dubai Frame. Notice the gray glass panels in the floor.

Past and present

On one side, the view is low-rise, overlooking the relatively older part of the city called Deira: the past. On the other side, I could see the shiny, chic skyscrapers people have come to associate with Dubai. Judging from the sheer number of cranes and construction sites, this view is going to grow and change rapidly.

This is a predominantly light brown view, with neat blocks of low-rise apartments and straight streets dividing them. While the buildings are light brown, the sky is grey and the view gets pretty fuzzy in the distance from the pollution/dust in the air.
The view toward the older side of Dubai city

While all the visitors busily snapped pictures, it struck me that one detail has been overlooked. We could see out the windows on both sides, but because of the angle of the glass (the room is wider at the ceiling than the floor), combined with those bright lights down the length of the hall, I could not take a single picture without visible glare. Perhaps a better photographer could manage it, but not me.

A highway extends from bottom left to middle right, with only a few low buildings and building sites in the foreground, along with a very neat circle within a highway exit, planted with something in the shape of a man's head, presumably a sheik. In the background are a range of tall buildings, skyscrapers, a bit fuzzy because of the smog/dust. The sky beyond them is a pale blue.
The view out toward the newer side of Dubai. The tallest building you can see in the distance is the Burj Khalifa. (photo courtesy of Albert Smith, my husband, who is indeed a better photographer than I am)

The real excitement of being in this hall, though, involved the floors. When I entered, it looked to me like the floor has a strip of large grey panels down the center. Watch out if you step on them, though. The grey immediately clears, and you can see straight down 150 meters. If you suffer from vertigo or a fear of heights (as I do), stay well away from these center panels.

It didn’t help that an employee warned that we were welcome to walk on them but not to jump. What will happen if people jump? Could they break?

I simply could not get myself to step on them without feeling that I was somehow risking my life.

The caption pretty much describes what you see. The fountains are in the shape of an arch and the water is bright bluish-green. The greenery is in very neat patches, with grey or reddish pavement everywhere else.
This photo, taken by my husband who has no fear of heights, looks almost straight down through one of the glass panels. You can see one of the frame’s vertical sides on the left, and the fountains and flowerbeds below. If you look closely, you can make out palm trees and cars.

Dubai’s Future

At the other end of the hall, I entered another elevator to descend back to ground level. There, a brief “immersive” video – projected around curved walls and floor – depicts Dubai’s future (no photos allowed). It’s a bright and eco-friendly future, in this vision. People get around in fast, efficient public trains, electric vehicles and personal aircraft. The air is clean and the roads uncrowded. The walkways are lined with windmills and solar parks edge the city. Robots serve and drones deliver packages. Advanced health care can grow back severed limbs.

I greatly enjoyed this futuristic view, but it got me wondering. This is a city where most people drive from place to place and the general dust level in the air is too high to use solar panels. An indoor ski slope is maintained even in the summers when the temperature can top 50 degrees Celsius. It seems to me that a very big change in attitude would be necessary to turn this into an eco-friendly city.

The Dubai Frame or Burj Khalifa? A comparison

Last time I was in Dubai I went up to see the view from the Burj Khalifa. You can see my article about it here. Here’s a simple comparison of the two:

 HeightEntrance fee
The Dubai Frame150 metersAED50 (about €12/$14)
The Burj Khalifa828 meters (555 meters at observation deck)Starts at AED149 (about €32/$35) to the 125th floor or AED378 (about €93/$103) to the 148th floor

The Burj Khalifa provides much more of a “wow” moment at seeing the view. A side benefit is that, because there are outside observation decks, you can take a better picture of that amazing view. On the other hand, the prices are much higher. The Dubai Frame’s tickets are cheaper, and it has a great, if somewhat distant, view of the Dubai skyscrapers on Sheik Zayed Road.

A random woman I chatted with on the way out of the Dubai Frame told me that local families are more likely to visit it, simply because it’s cheaper. On a day out with children, especially on a weekend when Zabeel Park is busy, the two – the Dubai Frame and Zabeel Park – would make a great combination.

My Dubai Frame review

If money is no object, go to the Burj Khalifa: choose the 148th floor version. However, if money is an issue, you could end up kicking yourself for spending that kind of money for what is, after all, just a view. In that case, stick with the Dubai Frame. The same goes if you’re traveling with children and you’re watching your budget: definitely choose the Dubai Frame.

The Dubai Frame is fun to visit, in any case, especially the thrill of those glass panels in the floor and zooming up in a glass-sided elevator.

Visitors Information: Dubai Frame, Zabeel Park gate #4, Al Jafaliya metro stop. Open daily 9am-9pm, but it may close early if all tickets have been sold.

Book a combination of tickets and a transfer from your hotel, so you’re sure to get in (and won’t have to walk far like I did!).

Have you visited the Dubai Frame or the Burj Khalifa? If not, which would you choose if you went to Dubai? Add a comment below! And please share this post on whatever social media you frequent!

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about Rachel

Hi, I’m Rachel!

Rachel’s Ruminations is a travel blog focused on independent travel with an emphasis on cultural and historical sites/sights. I also occasionally write about life as an expatriate. I hope you enjoy what I post here; feel free to leave comments!  Read more…
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This structure looks like an amazing place to visit. We had no idea that the Dubai Frame existed, but now we want to see it for ourselves. Thanks for sharing.

Well I have long wanted to visit Dubai and you’ve just provided me another reason for my list of Why Dubai?

I was in Dubai 2 years ago, saw the Burj Kalifa but the Frame was not yet there. Or I would have paid to go to the top! It’s more affordable! Except I am afraid of heights.

I always think I’m not afraid of heights til I get up somewhere really high and find myself saying, “And I thought this was a good idea because—why?” I’d probably have to be on my 3rd trip to Dubai before I’d visit the Frame if the Burj Khalifa were an option. OTOH, when I was in Singapore, I balked at the cost to take the elevator to the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, so maybe I’d be too, um, frugal.

I’ve never before heard the the Dubai Frame. Though I enjoyed discovering it with you, I think given some extra time on my next visit I’ll opt to spend all my extra euros on afternoon tea at the Burj Al Arab.

I’m so amazing that Dubai is still fully into construction mode! I was there in 2008 and was amazed at that time, how one could not take a photo of the skyline without a myriad of cranes everywhere to be seen! So, no, I’ve not yet seen the Dubai Frame. Thx for the great post! And the Burj Kalifa was just being built at the time of my last visit. So I saw the outside structure, but it was not ready to accept visitors. Would love to revisit Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, which I liked even more.

The Dubai Frame sounds just weird. We will be stopping in Dubai for a couple of nights on the way to Egypt later in the year. Perhaps we will have time to see it.

I haven’t been to Dubai yet. But I would love to visit the Dubai Frame and Burj Khalifa.
#TravelPhotoThursday

Yet another over the top Dubai landmark. They really do indulge their imaginations and I’d love to see it all someday.

It certainly looks over the top. Would like to see it in real life. Should be good as a photo frame.

I have not heard about the Dubai Frame but it makes me wander how they come up with ideas for attractions. This seems very unique (at least I have not heard of something similar). I wasn’t expecting it to be an “observatory” or viewpoint. That surprised me! #TPThursday

i love Dubai city thank you for sharing these amazing moments with us

Your blog is too good…

I love this can I work here please

Absolutely love Dubai tours! What’s the top excursion you’d recommend from your experience? Share your favorite!