Zabeel Park

Located at the Creek end of Sheikh Zayed Road, the sprawling highway-straddling Zabeel Park must be sat on millions of dirhams-worth of land. Fortunately they’ve put it to good use. There’s a large lake – where you can hire a boat for Dhs40 for 20 minutes – an amphitheatre, a 4.3km jogging track, an impressively manicured cricket pitch and an adventure playground – sadly, just for kids.

The park is well laid out, with large patches of grass and equally impressively (and importantly covered) eating and cooking areas. Best of all, if you time your arrival at sunset, you can catch the Gulf’s massive sun slowly arcing behind the Emirates Towers. On the downside, you’re never far from the gentle din of traffic and irate beeping horns thanks to the motorway that bisects the park, but it is possible to miss the worst of it. Look out for the children’s Entertainment Zone, opening soon.