GO AHEAD, TAP THAT CLASS
GO AHEAD, TAP THAT CLASS
Why Dubai? Let’s go to Dubai. Are you sure we should go to Dubai? After some deliberations, we pulled the trigger on the trip to Dubai! We chose Dubai as a vacation destination for a couple of reasons – it’s in a part of the world we had not been to, a culture we had not experienced, and the warm weather (we needed to get out of the Bold North)! YOLO.
Past travel experiences have instilled in us the importance of making the most out of a trip – we wanted to take advantage of everything Dubai had to offer. Generally, we plan with the assumption that we won’t be back to a particular destination (there are so many places to go!), but are budget conscious as well.
When people think of Dubai, extravagant (expensive) hotels come to mind. With four travelers space and location were important characteristics of the hotel we chose. The Marriott Dubai Harbour Inn and Suites met both requirements. It was right on the Dubai Marina and offered lots of restaurants and a grocery store within walking distance. The view from our room was amazing! Our suite was 1100 square feet and had two bedrooms, two and half baths, a full kitchen, living and dining room. It did have a washer/dryer combo, but somehow we could not get it to work quite right! (Four hours later, my jeans still weren’t dry!) Having the space to relax and air drop photos to each other at the end of the day made this an ideal choice for our group.
Prior to the trip, we did a lot of research about activities to do & sights to see in Dubai. Then we created a loose itinerary for the trip. Booking things ahead of time is nice for a couple reasons: #1 – you have a confirmed date/time for an activity & #2 – you pay for it when you book it, one less thing to spend money on while you are there! Some of the things we wanted to do, like go to the top of the Burj Khalifa, can only be booked 30 days ahead of time. Since we wanted to go to the top on a certain day, we booked it prior to our departure.
Dubai Big Bus tickets were purchased before we left (10% discount for purchasing ahead of time online). Since there was a bus stop within a block of our hotel, we bought the 5 day ticket so that we could use the Big Bus as a mode of transportation, not just as a tour! We rode the bus our first day there. It helped us get a lay of the land, we learned all sorts of facts about Dubai (it has audio & they give you ear buds) and riding on the upper deck, in the sunshine, was great!
On other trips, we have gone on some one day group excursions and also private excursions; taking excursions have been an efficient way to see “must see, can’t miss” sights & also have an expert telling you facts you may not otherwise learn. We had used the company “Viator” in the past with good experiences but for this trip decided to try a new company, “With Locals” www.withlocals.com. We would highly recommend using With Locals. Not only are there set trips to book, but you can also request completely customized trips. You pick your guide (they have a video vignette on the website) so you know exactly who you will be meeting up with. The company is based out of Amsterdam – when you book, a down payment is paid online in Euros. At the tour, you pay the remainder to the guide directly in local currency.
We wanted to do a food tour & chose Vibha since she was born & raised in Dubai. We met up with her at the metro station. We walked to four different locations and split a couple different foods at each. Camel and dates (we had both on the tour) are really the only foods native to UAE and the other foods are influenced by the region and the ex-pats that make up the country. It was great to walk around & hear about Dubai from a local. The food tour was highly worth it! Vibha was a wealth of knowledge!
On the food tour, Vibha also took us through the spice souk & textile souk. The souks were a highlight! The sights, sounds, and people made this a great experience. Taking the abra (water taxi) across the creek is a must do! Having Vibha there, giving us bartering tips, was helpful. We also used With Locals to take a day trip to Abu Dhabi (with Vibha as our guide). It allowed us to visit a bunch of attractions and get in and out quickly since everything was pre-arranged and we had a driver. The first two stops were Ferrari World (think indoor amusement park and mall) and the Formula One Race Track for photo ops & did not require a lot of time. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is well worth the stop and was not as daunting as the Louvre in Paris (3 hours there was plenty of time to see everything)! The final stop was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It was huge and beautiful! The trip included lunch, too! Seriously, With Locals is where it’s at!
When people think of Dubai, extravagant (expensive) hotels come to mind. With four travelers space and location were important characteristics of the hotel we chose. The Marriott Dubai Harbour Inn and Suites met both requirements. It was right on the Dubai Marina and offered lots of restaurants and a grocery store within walking distance. The view from our room was amazing! Our suite was 1100 square feet and had two bedrooms, two and half baths, a full kitchen, living and dining room. It did have a washer/dryer combo, but somehow we could not get it to work quite right! (Four hours later, my jeans still weren’t dry!) Having the space to relax and air drop photos to each other at the end of the day made this an ideal choice for our group.
Prior to the trip, we did a lot of research about activities to do & sights to see in Dubai. Then we created a loose itinerary for the trip. Booking things ahead of time is nice for a couple reasons: #1 – you have a confirmed date/time for an activity & #2 – you pay for it when you book it, one less thing to spend money on while you are there! Some of the things we wanted to do, like go to the top of the Burj Khalifa, can only be booked 30 days ahead of time. Since we wanted to go to the top on a certain day, we booked it prior to our departure.
Dubai Big Bus tickets were purchased before we left (10% discount for purchasing ahead of time online). Since there was a bus stop within a block of our hotel, we bought the 5 day ticket so that we could use the Big Bus as a mode of transportation, not just as a tour! We rode the bus our first day there. It helped us get a lay of the land, we learned all sorts of facts about Dubai (it has audio & they give you ear buds) and riding on the upper deck, in the sunshine, was great!
We spent some time at the shopping malls (they are a big deal in Dubai). They are similar to malls here, but much, much bigger (one of them even has a ski hill and penguin experience). We enjoyed the food from the food court a couple times (hands down some of the best Indian food). The Dubai Mall also has a fountain show (similar to the Bellagio in Las Vegas).
Some of our favorites were:
A trip to the desert isn’t complete without going to the actual desert! We organized a Sunset Dune Dinner Safari thru Arabian Adventures in a private vehicle and it was amazing! Our guide/driver, Artif, picked us up at our hotel. Our drive to the entry point took us past the camel race track. There were some camels in training out & Artif drove us through for a up close view of them! The tour takes place in a nature preserve – after a rollercoaster like drive thru the sand dunes (it really is rollercoaster like!), we went to a “camp” for a traditional meal, camel rides, sand boarding, henna tattoos, and a belly dancer show (random). We’d highly recommend it!
We were really unsure of what to expect of travelling to a Muslim country. Hearing the call for prayer 6 times per day was quite interesting! Traveling around Dubai & seeing the tallest building in the world next to a mosque is an interesting juxtaposition. When people ask us if we would recommend a trip to Dubai, the answer is an astounding “yes”! Expanding our horizons with a trip to a destination that is truly like nowhere else we’ve ever been was incredible!
Sisters, besties, and favorite travel buddies
