Burj Khalifa Levels 124 & 125 Tickets with 3-Course Meal Dubai

Levels 124 and 125: the Burj Khalifa observation decks

The main observation decks of the Burj Khalifa sit at 452 and 456 metres, inside the tallest building on Earth at 828 metres. Level 125 is a tall, glass-wrapped hall with floor-to-ceiling windows on every side, while Level 124 has an outdoor terrace where you can feel the warm air and photograph the city without reflections. Digital telescopes let you zoom in on districts and compare day and night views of the same place.

From up here Downtown Dubai becomes a map: Business Bay and the Dubai Water Canal to the south, the older districts around Dubai Creek to the north, and the sea glittering to the west. On clear mornings and in the winter months you can even see the line of the desert. Most visitors spend 45 minutes to an hour on the two levels, which leaves plenty of time before your meal.

The high-speed elevator and the construction exhibition

Part of the fun is the ride itself. The double-deck elevators climb at around 10 metres per second, reaching the observation floors in about a minute while the ears adjust and screens count the levels. Children usually rate it as the best moment of the day. Before going up you walk through displays that set the scene, from the design inspired by a desert flower to the way the spire was raised.

On the way back down, the construction exhibition at ground level shows how the tower rose from the sand in the late 2000s and opened in January 2010. Short films let engineers, architects and landscape designers explain the foundations, the concrete pumped higher than ever before and the cleaning of the glass facade. Give it 10 to 15 minutes; it makes the views you have just seen far more meaningful.

A 3-course meal facing the Dubai Fountain

After the decks you head to an open-air restaurant on the 3rd floor of the Burj Khalifa, set on a terrace that looks across the lake to the fountain and back up the full height of the tower. The meal is a 3-course menu: starter, main course and dessert. If your observation deck slot is between 12:00 and 14:00 you have lunch afterwards; if it is in the evening, from about 18:30, you have dinner.

Dinner is the most popular choice for Burj Khalifa tickets with dinner, because the evening fountain shows begin every 30 minutes from 18:00 and play right in front of the terrace, with the tower lit above you. Lunch is quieter and cooler-feeling in the winter sun. Drinks with the meal are not included and can be ordered at the table. Infants under 3 enter the decks free of charge but do not receive a meal.

Downtown Dubai: tickets, opening hours and how to get there

Our time slots for this package run from 12:00 to 20:00, and the time you book is the time you go up to the decks, with the meal following. The best time to visit the Burj Khalifa for this combination is an early evening slot: you see the city in daylight, the sunset from the terrace and the lights coming on, then sit down for dinner with the fountain in full swing.

How to get to the Burj Khalifa: take the Red Line to Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall metro station and allow up to 20 minutes on foot through the air-conditioned walkway, or ask a taxi for the Dubai Mall entrance closest to the observation deck. The meeting point is on the lower ground floor, next to the main observation deck entrance. Before or after, the Dubai Mall aquarium, the Souk Al Bahar and the boulevard around the lake are all a short walk away.