Dubai – a city of modernity, thrills and extravagance.

While we use our Instragram to give you snapshots of our travels and tips, we’ll be finishing each destination’s series with a summary post on here to make it easier for you to plan yours. 

What I did

Dubai is the city of endless skyscrapers, but dotted in between these there are some sights to see. Here’s a quick summary of where I went, including some places I didn’t include on our Instagram.

• Dubai Miracle Garden – a perfectly curated garden with insane floral sculptures, this is every Instagrammer’s dream. It is a little out of the city (I got a taxi there) and you’ll have to check their website to see if it’s open as this is a seasonal attraction. Comes with an entry fee and the Dubai Butterfly Garden is right next to it (I gave that a pass).

• Dubai Marina – stroll around for some amazing views of the skyscrapers.

• Abra Boat Tour – time this right and you can sail around the island during the day, witness sunset on the water, and return to the marina at night. This was my favourite activity of my trip. There are many options for boats in Dubai, from hiring your own private luxury yacht to going for a traditional abra boat, and I went for the latter.

• Jumeirah Mosque Dubai – this is the closest you will come to heritage sites. Built in the 1970s, the mosque is the only one which has a structured programme for members of the public to visit and tour. Arrive by 9.45am Saturday to Thursday if you want the tour, for which there is a small fee. Alternately, if you just go to pray like I did, you can see inside a very beautiful and serene mosque (pictured below is the interior of the women’s section).

• Explore Dubai Mall and See Burj Khalifa – you can easily spend a whole day at Dubai Mall, or maybe even days. Just outside is the Burj Khalifa, and the spectacular Dubai Fountain show that happens every day 6pm – 12am, every time thirty minutes.

  

• Burj Al Arab – this is probably the most typical Dubai tourist photo you can get, so of course I had to pay a visit. The Burj itself sits on a separate private island and makes for a great backdrop.

• Old Dubai and on to the Gold Souk – The Gold Souk is really something to see. It’s located in Old Dubai, and the surrounding area is a far cry from the rest of the city’s modernity. It all somewhat reminded me Pakistan, and walking around you will see many more traditional shops and migrants here.

• Lounging on Beaches – I was staying in the Jumeirah Beach Residence area, which is ideal for getting to the beach. Beaches in Dubai are not stunning, natural landscapes with rocky cliffs surrounding you and gorgeous, tropical trees swaying in the breeze. They’re what’s to be expected of a city, but they are very clean and good for a quick beach escape. Pictures above.

What I Didn’t Do

• Desert Venture – this is super popular with tourists, and there are packages available including dinner. I was supposed to do this but ended up not having enough time, so will be leaving it for a future trip.
• Swimming With Dolphins At Atlantis – again, I left this for a future trip.
• Day trip to Abu Dhabi
• Go up the Burj Khalifa – if viewing platforms are your thing, this is the world’s tallest building (currently).
• Waterpark and Theme Park – from what I’ve heard, there’s a great waterpark to enjoy and a recently opened Bollywood theme park (construction was on-going when I visited).
• Skydiving – I will most likely never do this (my greatest fear is heights!), but my husband did this a few years ago. All skydiving in Dubai is run by Skydive Dubai and you can do it at one of two locations: over the desert, or the Dubai skyline. Make sure to book early via their website as places for this can get filled up fast, and for women you can request a female instructor if preferred. My husband chose the skyline and while I have to admit the photos look fantastic, something tells me I won’t be jumping out of a plane any time soon!

Where I stayed

Jumeirah Beach Residence – specifically at Movenpick Hotel. I was happy with the service and the location was great, being on the main strip close to the beach and with lots of shops and restaurants around.

Where I ate

There are a multitude of places to eat in Dubai and with everything being halal it means choices are unlimited. While usually I would share places halal-seeking travellers can eat at, given there is so much choice in Dubai I’ll leave it to you to decide. Some of the places that I ate at:

• P.F. Chang’s, although they are also open in London. I loved the sushi here.
• Shakeshack – it’s halal, so of course I had to give this a try! However burgers at Salt were great too and as Salt is right on the beach, it’s a nice spot to hang out in for lunch.
• The Cheesecake Factory – just go and see the menu for yourself!
• IHOP – I found this place awful. I felt the food tasted very bland and almost rubbery, which was strange as it was quite a popular eatery.
• Cafe Bateel – this is the cafe that I still dream about. Their food was just exquisite and it is a very elegant place. They also have a vast selection of dates, some covered in beautiful chocolate, which make for wonderful gifts.

Shopping

There’s a lot of shopping places in Dubai – the city is known for its insane malls (featuring in-door shark tanks and more…), but such places don’t hold a lot of appeal to me as there are already so many international brands in London. I much prefer going to more traditional places, finding things that you can’t get in the UK. I ended up buying a lot of Pakistani outfits (you do have to go out of your way to get to these shops though!), a diamond ring from the Gold souk, and Levi’s jeans from the outlet mall.

The outlet mall is again a bit out of the way, but many hotels provide free shuttles there or you can take a taxi. I thought the outlet mall was reasonable, although some things were similar to UK prices so be careful.

Go Here For

Fun, food and sun. Given there are not a huge amount of things to see, it’s all about things to do. Or alternately, just do nothing at all and enjoy the beach and good weather.

Getting Around

Getting around Dubai can be a bit tricky at times with heavy traffic. The Dubai metro is fantastic (very clean and with air conditioning – a blessing if you’re used to the London underground), but there is only currently one line which means that it gets very busy and not all areas of the city are covered. The tube also has some women-only carriages. If you’re going around, it’s always best to avoid rush hour.

I didn’t rent a car but there are many options for this and the roads seem quite easy to navigate (if busy) with people following traffic rules. Taxis are plentiful with Uber also available.

The Final View

Dubai is great for enjoying the sun in a glitzy, lively city, but I can only really see myself returning for a stopover.

While I was keen to get it ticked off my list, I’ve been to much more memorable places and am unlikely to consider a return even for a resort-only holiday, as I feel there’s other places that offer resort surroundings in much more natural, beautiful environments.

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