When flying into Dubai I really didn’t know what to expect. It would be my first time visiting the UAE and I had so many thoughts running through my head. Would I have to dye my hair dark, would I have to cover my body head to toe? Everything you worry about when visiting a new country with different customs to Australia. However I can tell you that you don’t need to worry about any of that. I never once felt uncomfortable over there whereby Dubai is such a multi cultural city, where the people were so friendly and went out of their way if you asked for help. I enjoyed everything we did in Dubai in the short 3 days we had there. In this blog i will write about what we did and what we would recommend to anyone visiting.
Accomadation.
There are many different areas to stay in Dubai. Public transport is easy to get around so we wanted to stay somewhere close to the metro rail stop. We stayed at the Cosmopolitan hotel in Al Barsha 1. Al Barsha is a great choice for travelers interested in shopping, clothes shopping, luxury brand shopping and it is a 25 minute drive from the airport. Cosmopolitan was a great hotel, the staff were very helpful with any questions and the metro station was only a two minute walk. The hotel comes with a gym, a sauna, a shisha lounge and a rooftop pool. I will link a Booking.com link below
1) Dubai Mall
You will need all day to explore this Mall. Dubai Mall is the largest mall in the UAE and the third largest in the world. Not only does it have your designer shops like Chanel and Cartier but also over 120 restaurants and cafes serving different cuisines. Its also equipped with an ice skating ring, water fountains, kids playgrounds and a underwater zoo and aquarium. The Mall of Emirates is another mall we visited. There was a Ski Park inside where you can go skiing, tobogganing, watch the penguins and play with the snow. The Dubai mall was our favourite and you could also eat lunch outside at many of the restaurants overlooking the Burj Khalifa.
2) Burj Khalifa
Located outside the Dubai Mall is where you will be able to view the tallest structure in the world, the Burj Khalifa. Going all the way up to 125th floor is a must for all those wanting to tick this off their bucket list or watch the sun set over the city from the observation deck in the sky. You will have to book to go up to the Observation Deck online and make sure you do it in advance because it sells out quickly. Outside the restaurants of Souk Al Bahar you can watch the water fountain show in front of the Burj Khalifa. Its starts at 6pm and run every half an hour until 11pm. Secure your good viewing spot to take a photo because this also can get very crowded.
3) Dubai Miracle Garden
If you love flowers and bright colours you will absolutely be in flower heaven. The garden has over 109 million flowers planted making it the world’s largest natural flower garden. This place attracts tourists accross the globe so I would recommend going early when it opens at 9am to beat the crowd and the sun. One of its main attractions is an actual Emirates A380 jumbo jet covered with 500,000 fresh flowers and living plants. This is by far a cool feature of the garden and makes for a great photo. Unfortunatly you cannot go inside the airplane which would have been exciting.
There is no public transport to the garden so taxi is the best way to get there. Also Uber is in Dubai however they only offer Uber black and Uber XL services so Taxi’s are a cheaper option. Next door to the Miracle Garden was the Butterfly Garden. I can’t tell you about it because we didn’t go but I’m sure it would be just as good.
4) Visit Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Mosque
Abu Dhabi is 1.5 hours south of Dubai. There are many companies that do day tours there, taking you to the mosque and also Farari World. We decided to catch a local bus to Abu Dhabi and to feel like a local. We then caught a taxi outside where the bus dropped us off to the mosque. A simple and far cheaper way to get there and after a big day it was good to sleep on the bus on the way back to Dubai. The Sheikh Zayed Mosque was one of the most beautiful mosques I had ever seen. Reflective pools surround the mosque, amplifying its beauty. The striking white and gold colours shining in the sun are transformed at night by a unique lightning system which reflects the phases of the moon. At entry all women are given these silk robes to wear which I think makes for amazing photos with in the mosque.
5) Platinum Heritages Desert Camel Safari
I definatly recommend doing a camel ride desert safari. We were recommend the Platinum Heritage company because they offered a far better service than some of the other companies and they did not disappoint us. Our driver picked us up from our hotel around 3:30pm. We then drove 40 minutes to the desert. From here you are personally fitted a Keffiyeh which is your traditional Arabic headscarf. We then got given our water bottles and we hopped onto our camels. We rode our camel through the desert for about 25 minutes. By the end be prepare to have a soar behind! We then were given non alcoholic champagne and sat on cushions and watched a Falcon show.
We then hopped into our 1940’s open Jeep to a traditional Arabic camp ground in the middle of the desert to have dinner. Here we were greeted with traditional Arabian coffee and were showed how traditional food is cooked. We sat on the floor with our group and enjoyed different juices, teas, coffee and we even tried camels milk. Our entree we were served flat bread with hummus, mince balls and curry puffs.
For dinner we were served camel meat, traditional cooked chicken, lamb and different rice dishes. We tried everything and it was all amazing. The rest of the night was followed by traditional dancing, singing and smoking shishas. We returned back to our hotel by around 10:30pm.
Theres are plenty more actives and things to see in Dubai. If we had more time or if we went back I would see the below list
- Dubai Marina
- Burj Al Arab
- Jumeirah Beach
- Ski Dubai located in the Mall of Emirates
- Wild Wadi Water Park
