No nos in dubai?

Cyrus

myself and my girlfriend are travelling to dubai next week and want to make sure we dont cause any trouble out there

reading the lonley planets guide it reckons shorts for a guy are a no no and i can only imagine what girls are supposed to wear.

Can anyone who has been give some advice on whats okay and what isnt and also whats the bartering protocols

gonker

anything is ok. once you are not parading down the road in a bikini. I wore short skirts and vest tops and had no problems. Hubby wore shorts and the only prob he had was not getting into the burj al arab because he was inapropriately dressed ie trousers and shirt. Use your common sense. If you think you would get strange looks wearing it over here dont wear it over there. They are a lot more liberal than other countries over there.
Bartering everywhere. Friends bartered a ring from a lot (cant remember how much it was) to 9k worth a fortune over here. Spices, silks, clothes we bartered for everything. I wouldnt try it in Debenhams or Ikea but try it in other shops lol.

Cyrus

thanks for the advice

Dellas

Yeah I was there back in March. you dont need to cover up but dont go to the other extreme either. The Emirates Mall is good which is next to the Ski center. Also if you fancy a nice lunch without spending a fortune head to the shopping malls where they have food courts and you can eat Thai,Chinese, Iranian, European food for around €10-€15 .

The waterpark Wild Wadi is also a great day out. Have a wander around Mina As Alaam which is a luxury hotel complex with a Souk. Its next to the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach and is worth a visit just to see it. You can get great pics of the Burj Al Arab there too.

The Gold and Spice souks are a must. On your return check in 4 hours before departure if you want to shop as the shopping in Dubai Airport is great and you need a few hours to get round everything.

Darren

I wouldn't worry. I was in Dubai with a girlfriend (now very ex) back in the mid 90s and it was strict back then. She wore some shorts around the shops and got a lot of attention. I went there with family this year and pretty much all western behaviour (bar drunken baffoonery) is run of the mill.

Miss Fluff

All I'll say is that you have to remember it's a Muslim country and as such just bear that in mind and respect their customs. The UAE is far more liberal than a lot of the other Gulf Countries, Dubai as an Emirate is a lot more liberal than neighbouring Sharjah say and some of the others.

It's really pretty much up to your own discretion. It's inadvisable to go swanning around in a bikini in public places for example. If shopping, longish shorts and a tshirt is fine although having lived in the Middle East I'd always recommend bringing a cardie or light pashmina to cover the shoulders.

You will be treated with a lot more respect for respecting their customs if that makes sense. I saw some (and how can I put this diplomatically :rolleyes: Footballers Wives/Lager Swilling brigade whilst there) who showed a blatant diregard for this by swanning around with next to nothing on and it's just asking for trouble to be honest.

The Gold Souk is pretty frenetic, would recommend covering up pretty much if taking a stroll through there (and please do, it's old Dubai and one of the few places left that is representative of the Dubai that once was).

Bartering is welcomed and make sure to accept their offer of mint tea etc and enjoy it!

Happy Hols

If you have any more questions PM me if you like

breadmonkey

Dellas wrote:

On your return check in 4 hours before departure if you want to shop as the shopping in Dubai Airport is great and you need a few hours to get round everything.

How can you do that? Every flight I've ever been on only started checking in 2/3max hours before takeoff.

jonny68

Having been to Dubai myself a few times and going back this year i can safely say it's ok to wear shorts around obviously if your going out for a meal then you need to dress a bit..as for women well use common sense don't go around wearing next to nothing if you do the worst that can happen is that people will stare a lot which im sure wouldn't be nice for most,great city one of the best:cool:

Dellas

breadmonkey wrote:

How can you do that? Every flight I've ever been on only started checking in 2/3max hours before takeoff.

I always check in for a long haul flight 3 hours before . I checked in in Dubai 4 hours before and had no problem at all but maybe thats because Dubai so advanced. Mind you saying that I flew last month from Dublin to Zurich and had a connection the next day. Dublin said they couldnt check the bags through but when I got to Zurich I went to the check in desks and they checked me in for the next day so I was at the desk 11 hours before !!!!

Dublin is one of the only airports that have this maximum check in rules they just dont bother to open the desks until 2 or 3 hours prior to a flight.

gonker

Oh yes I forgot about Dubai Airport. There was a bottle of Smirnoff there I was sorely tempted to buy, it was about 4 foot tall and only cost about 30 euros but we couldnt think how we could get it home. We were sure someone would break it or "lose" it.

sharkman

@ Jonny68 , whats the name of your mates bar over there , Myself and the wife are off next Tuesday , Might bump into Cyrus .