20,000 steps inside Dubai Mall, and I still couldn't cover all of it

By Shylaja Varma

A visit to Dubai is incomplete without spending at least half a day at Dubai Mall, the city's mammoth luxury shopping destination that brings the richest of the rich to swipe their cards. From Hermes to Prada to Gucci to Cartier to Rolex, I came across many more luxury brands that the Zara-on-sale me had not heard of.

I had a couple of hours free in Dubai before flying back to Bengaluru after a work event in the glitzy desert city. Having been to the mall during my last visit, I knew I would be able to walk around only a fraction of the mall that is some 13 million square feet. The establishment is often criticised as the ultimate symbol of overconsumption for Emiratis as well as the millions of expats in modern-day Dubai.

And thus, I was certain to walk out of Dubai Mall feeling poorer than ever.

Is Dubai Mall designed to make you get lost?

I decided to grab a coffee before starting my Dubai Mall walk and entered the first coffee shop I saw. Home Bakery. The cheerful cafe boy greeted me and recommended that I try their Pumpkin Latte instead of the Tiramisu Latte if I was looking for something moderately sweet. As we got chatting while the barista made my beverage, he introduced himself as Vishnu from Kerala. When I told him I was going back to Bengaluru that evening, he name-dropped a few Bengaluru restaurants that I equally love.

Anyway, coffee to go, sneakers and my tote on shoulder, I started scanning the storefronts.

Mission Coffee

Since it was still the holiday season, slow Christmas songs played across the mall. As you walk, every few hundred metres, perfume kiosks appear, with salesmen spraying fragrances on testing strips and waving them at you. Is this what gives the signature 'Dubai Mall scent' that is impossible to ignore from the moment you step inside the mall? Well, some Googling led me to Reddit subs where people asked the same question. One Redditor said that Emaar, the developer of Dubai Mall, has a proprietary scent it uses for all its buildings.

When I realised I was nowhere close to the store I wanted to visit, I approached an “in-mall chauffeur.” In an instant, the elderly man driving the buggy realised I was lost. He said he’d drop me at my destination even though, as per the rules, visitors are supposed to formally book the complimentary service. I breezed past luxury stores, soaking in the scents, the music and the overall vibe of the mall. My delightful ride was short-lived. The kind man brought the buggy to a stop in front of a store. I got off, thanking him profusely.

Karak. Don’t say karak chai, because this is Dubai

The peculiar thing I found about Dubai Mall is that the information screens are placed far enough away to make you walk and walk and walk. After nearly two hours of walking and exploring stores and floors of the mall, I was hungry. I decided to try the smashed paratha burger at Klay by Karak House. At one point in 2025, my Instagram was flooded with Reels of Klay by Karak's paratha smash burgers, and had wanted to try one during my Dubai visit.

It took me about 30 minutes of walking to locate Klay by Karak House, tucked inside a section of Dubai Mall called The District. I picked a butter chicken paratha bun and a karak (don’t say karak chai or karak tea if you want to blend in. In Dubai, everyone simply says karak). While the viral paratha bun did not live up to the hype for me, I loved the karak which was creamy and was generously flavoured with cardamom.

Getting out of Dubai Mall is the real challenge

Dubai Mall is less of a mall and more of a tribute to the city's obsession with wealth, glitz and opulence.

A jewellery storefront at Gold Souk, Dubai.

A jewellery storefront at Gold Souk, Dubai.

It was early evening by the time I quickly wrapped my lunch, and it was time for me to leave the mall and head to the airport. What I did not realise then was that it would take my sore feet nearly an hour to find one of the mall's many exits, at which my cab driver would pick me up. After exactly nine back-and-forth calls on Botim (the UAE's answer to WhatsApp), I managed to get out of Dubai Mall and make my way to the airport.

While being stuck in the infamous weekday evening traffic of Dubai, I checked my watch and saw that I had clocked in 20,000-plus steps, thanks to a half-day inside Dubai Mall. Dubai Mall is less of a mall and more of a tribute to the city's obsession with wealth, glitz and opulence.