Hi all.
Me and wife are olanning a three days and two nights trip to Dubai. I am a bit confused about the expenses as the activities are a bit pricy on tripadvisor.com.au where as they are cheap on groupon (dubai). We don't want to spend too much in dubai. Can any one help us plan this trip or give some suggestions or share yoyr experience.
Yes i am going to a different country after that.
In "old" Dubai - Deira (built in the 70's/80's)
The Gold Souk is incredible - go at night..
The Spice Souk is interesting - go at dusk before the gold Souk.
Cruise down the creek on an Abra was just OK, but pretty cheap.. noisy and smelly from the exposed engine…
The fort was actually pretty interesting.
In newer Dubai -
Unfortunately due to illness we had to cancel the Burj Khalifa - you need to book this in advance if you're keen to go up.
The Light Show at Dubai Mall fountains is apparently well worth seeing.. we missed it travelling with a baby.
Just seeing the Dubai Mall Aquarium from the Mall was good enough, not convinced that paying to get closer is worth it.
We had High Tea at the Burj Al Arab.. ridiculously expensive, but memorable.
Souk Madinat was artificial…nice restaurants though.
Alcohol- is kinda hard to find outside your Hotel.
Drinks out on the Bar360 at Jumeirah Beach Hotel was fun and one of the cheaper things to do..
Aussie Bar down at the Marina (Far end of the current development) was OK.
There's a Bar overlooking the Indoor Ski Slope at Mall of the Emirates.
From Dubai we travelled on to Oman for the (superior) Desert and Mountain experiences there as well as some real history as opposed to Dubai's largely artificial "History" - Dubai being merely a speck on the map fishing village before the 1960's.
Clicked on topic to snidely remark on who the hell goes to Dubai as a destination instead of a stopover, and your post now makes me want to visit :)
@Wampus:
Pretty lucky to have good friends living over there to be our guides (and know where the bars were!)
If you take anything from my post, it should be "go to Dubai as your stopover to your actual destination, Oman".
That was a fantastic experience.
Real history, real culture shock (outside of the cities), yet safe and welcoming (similarly "relaxed" dress standards for women as Dubai - perhaps marginally more strict), English signage everywhere (even in the little tinpot towns off the highway) and most locals could speak enough English to get by.
Not cheap though, roughly the same as travelling here apart from Fuel costs.
@scubacoles: I thought I'd update you as your comment has actually taken root and flowered somewhat - was discussing Oman as a destination based on your comments with my other half and we are seriously looking at it as our next holiday. Funny how a random comment can do that… thanks :)
I went to dubai on the way home from europe - you can get basically to all the tourist sights on the metro and it's easy to use. I stayed in a hotel on sheikh zayed road as it was central and close to a metro stop - anywhere near a metro is fine though. I'd recommend a city tour but you can do this yourself on the metro if you have done some research and know what you want to see/experience. The dessert safari is really good though, if you have time i'd recommend. They pick you up mid afternoon and take you driving out to the dessert, 4WD over the sand dunes, and then a dinner and show.
take you driving out to the dessert, 4WD over the sand dunes, and then a dinner and show
Dessert before dinner? I have to visit Dubai!
Lol.
Hahahaha i knew i would get it wrong!
Life is short, eat dessert first.
My Mum always said, "Dessert has 2 S' cause you always go back for seconds"
Great information. Thank you!
Do you know what the best source to book some of the activities including desert safari? I am veru confused as groupon.com.ae is cheaper because it will cost riyal whereas tripadvisor.com.au is offering same trips which are expensive and in aussie dollors.
I think i used arabian adventures, got picked up in a 4WD so only maybe 5 other people to pick up, and it was a group of 5 so didn't take long.
The groupon ones are cheap! It looks like they pick you up in a bus and you don't get in a 4WD until much later, so would be a long ride picking up other passengers. Still the same experience in the desert though, so up to you.
Also agree - if you like cool buildings then book ahead to go to the observation deck of the burj khalifa tower. You can get the metro there, it's attached to dubai mall i think. You have to book a time and date beforehand though.
"Show"? Dancing Sheikhs - Sheikhing it ??
I would highly recommend a day trip to Abu Dhabi the grand Mosque is something quite amazing. Go to the falcon hospital as well and a traditional Friday brunch at one of the big hotels.
The activities are expensive yes but it's a pretty unique city given about 15 years ago it was desert.
I'd be booking activities through your hotel. That way you know everything will be legit.
Have you got a budget /price in mind ?
Would recommend going to the Jumeirah Mosque which was spectacular. Contrary to the comment above, I didn't enjoy the desert safari - was nice to walk around in a desert but everything else was a tourist trap.
Make sure you plan ahead if you're going to be travelling around the city by car; poor road infrastructure + overabundance of cars results in traffic congestion 24/7. The last thing you want is to end a long day being stuck in a taxi past midnight, knowing it'll take a few hrs to get to your hotel which is only a few kms away.
Stayed in Dubai along the JBR walk - think George Street / The Rocks in Sydney. Such a great location but not cheap as the Hotels are all high end. Had a Metro station not far, but we cabbed it everywhere as the cabs were relatively inexpensive. I haven't been in years, so I don't know if Uber has made it's way there but that is also an option.
The problem with cabs is traffic… It can literally take 60 minutes to go 1Km!
We had 12 hrs stopover at Abu Dhabi, hired a car at the airport and went to Dubai. Went to ibnebatuta mall, Dubai mall( snapped burj Khalifa in the background)and did the global village and drove back to the AUH airport in the night.
hired car at the airport? was it expensive? and you managed it within 12 hours(1 hour for checkout/check in + 3 hours for to and fro dubai = 4 hours gone there)
i prebooked a compact car thru travelocity etc. think it's hard to find a car on the spot… hence pre-booked. Think was around AUD50 for the day.
Just rent a slave from the sub continent while you're there to take you round and do everything for you, it will give you the true 'local's experience'.
Hijacking this thread, sorry OP, can you guys suggest what area/s to stay in around Dubai? I'm struggling to decide between Downtown and Marina…or Old Creek side?
1) Find a hotel near a metro stop (the roads are mayhem from mid-day to 10pm)
2) Dubai is moreso about shopping than anything else.
3) I hope you're going somewhere else, not just spending 13 hours in a place to go to Dubai for 2 nights before flying back again?