Ithara.ae's Top 5 Family-Friendly Christmas Activities in Dubai & Abu Dhabi
Every parent in the UAE knows the December moment. School's out, the grandparents may or may not be flying in, and you've got about three weeks of "what are we doing today?" ahead of you. Before you dive into the list of Christmas gifts Dubai kids have been dropping hints about since October, it's worth planning a few days out together. Honestly, those are usually what everyone remembers in January, not the presents.
Here are the five we'd put on the family calendar, from easy evenings to proper adventures.
Quick guide:
Easiest evening: Madinat Jumeirah Christmas Market
Best for crafty kids: Winter City at Expo City
Worth the drive to Abu Dhabi: Yas Winter Fest
Best "wow" moment: a sunrise balloon flight
Best for teens who are too cool for Santa: dune buggies
Madinat Jumeirah Christmas Market
Free to enter, close to most of Dubai, and pretty much guaranteed to work. Last year's edition had a North Pole style train ride and a snow-fight zone, which is a genuinely surreal thing to watch your kids do in the UAE. It opened from 3 pm on weekdays and from noon at the weekend.
Tip: go on a weekday afternoon. Weekend evenings get busy, and small legs don't love queues.
Winter City at Expo City Dubai
This one is ticketed (from AED 50 for adults last year), but it's built for families, with arts and crafts zones and themed workshops for children around Al Wasl Plaza. If your kids are the type who need to make something rather than just look at it, this is the one.
Yas Winter Fest, Abu Dhabi
The big one in the capital. Last season it ran at Yas Gateway Park from 13 December to 11 January, with ice skating, a giant Christmas tree, a winter market and carnival rides, and Santa dropping by through the month. Tickets started from AED 25.
Our verdict: worth the drive from Dubai if you make a day of it. Combine it with something else on Yas Island and nobody falls asleep in the car until the way home.
A sunrise hot air balloon flight over the desert
Here's the one they'll tell their friends about. Family balloon flights take off over the Dubai desert in the cooler months (roughly September to May), last 45 to 60 minutes, include pickup in Dubai, and are built for two adults with one or two kids.
The honest downside: you'll be up well before the sun. So will the kids, which might be the hardest part of the whole day. It's still one of the best experience gifts for families we know, especially as a "from Santa" surprise.
Tip: these need booking about a week ahead and depend on the weather, so don't plan it for the last day of the holidays.
A family dune buggy adventure
For families with older kids, or teenagers who've officially outgrown everything. You get a powerful four-seater buggy, a guide, sandboarding, and the drive time can be shared, so everyone with a licence gets a turn behind the wheel (and everyone else gets to scream). It's about an hour from Dubai in the Sharjah desert, with optional pickup.
Tip: check the minimum age with the provider before booking if your youngest is still small.
Turning a day out into a gift
A lot of families we talk to now do one "big" present per family instead of a pile of small ones, and an experience fits that perfectly. You give the voucher at Christmas and the excitement keeps going until the day itself.
If you go down that route with Ithara.ae, customers' Trustpilot reviews (4.6 from 61 reviews) mostly mention:
Easy to buy, easy to redeem
Quick, helpful customer service
Plenty of choice for different ages
Twelve months to book, with free exchange if plans change
As one Google reviewer put it: "There were many options listed suited for the different age groups, for him, for her, for families etc."
The bit that matters
Your kids won't remember which year they got which toy. They will remember the morning the balloon took off, or the day Dad got stuck in the sand (it happens, there are guides for a reason). Plan a few of those this December.
