Dubai holiday

Cam24

Hi,

I am looking for any information people can give me on visiting Dubai.
I am going there the end of March for 9-10 days with 2 other girls. We are all in our mid 20s so we haven't a huge amount of money to spend but we want to do as much as possible.
Anyone got any recommendations on things to do/places to see?
Should we book these things before we go or will we be ok leaving it until we get over there?

We are a bit concerned about the dress code. I have heard some people say that there is very strict dress code or all but then others say it is not as strict for westerners. Can you wear what you would normally wear in the sun?

Also how safe is the city?
Anyone know what the nightlife is like? Is there certain places you can and can't drink alcohol?
As I've said any information or recommendations is gratefully appreciated!

lisasimpson

night life is good but pricey. you can drink away on a night out but remember ye need to get home

do ye know anyone over there. borrow the entertainer off them ye will save a fortune with it

veetwin

Dress code is fairly relaxed in most areas where tourists frequent which is pretty much most of the city. Many westerners forget that despite appearances it is still a middle eastern Muslim country and should be respected as such. Public drunkeness and displays of affection will land you in trouble very quickly. That said it is one of the safest cities in the world with near zero crime rates.

It's a while since I was there but nearly all bars are attached to hotels. None are particularly cheap but all good quality. You can arrange for an afternoon dune bashing in a 4x4 followed by a traditional Arabian dinner in the desert. There is loads of shopping but again none particularly cheap. Gold was good value in the gold Souk. I was in Abu Dhabi recently and have so say I would go back there over Dubai which is overcrowded with tourists and become the Las Vegas of the region. Abu Dhabi is more authentically middle eastern.

Either way it's an experience!

i can honestly say that 9 to 10 days in my opinion would be more than enough time to spend in dubai.

personally i dont think there is much to do at all.
as mentioned above, there is the dune bashing/show in the desert, which is quite good.

the old creek part of dubai is the nicest area i think. it has all the old souks there, and you can take a boat-taxi across the creek also.
it is more traditional than up town though, and you really shouldnt wear revealing clothes here at all. you will get stares and maybe worse from the men AND the women down here. and they can on occasion call the police if they feel you are not dressed respectfully.

there are loads of restaraunt-boats down on the river, as soon as they move away from the quay you can order alcohol.

the mosque in Abu Dhabi is fabulous, its the only mosque you are allowed enter. Abu Dhabi in my opinion is a fair nicer city than dubai.

the Burj Khalibre ( probably spelt wrong) is the tallest building in the world and you can go up to the viewing tower here, but to be fair all you're looking at is desert, and a few buildings and building sites in the middle of the desert!
there is a fountain just outside here, outside two shopping centres ( cant remember the names ) they have a show here in the evening to music. very impressive.

yes, there is huge shopping centres here, so if shopping is your thing then you may enjoy this, its very expensive though and all our local high street shops are more expensive then at home.

all bars/discos are in hotels and you cant just stroll down the road to the nearest pub, have a look in, few drinks etc.

Cam24

lisasimpson wrote: »

night life is good but pricey. you can drink away on a night out but remember ye need to get home

do ye know anyone over there. borrow the entertainer off them ye will save a fortune with it

Yes we are going to meet up with a friend over there. She's only there a few months so she's not too familiar with the city just yet. What is the entertainer??

Cam24

veetwin wrote: »

Dress code is fairly relaxed in most areas where tourists frequent which is pretty much most of the city. Many westerners forget that despite appearances it is still a middle eastern Muslim country and should be respected as such. Public drunkeness and displays of affection will land you in trouble very quickly. That said it is one of the safest cities in the world with near zero crime rates.

It's a while since I was there but nearly all bars are attached to hotels. None are particularly cheap but all good quality. You can arrange for an afternoon dune bashing in a 4x4 followed by a traditional Arabian dinner in the desert. There is loads of shopping but again none particularly cheap. Gold was good value in the gold Souk. I was in Abu Dhabi recently and have so say I would go back there over Dubai which is overcrowded with tourists and become the Las Vegas of the region. Abu Dhabi is more authentically middle eastern.

Either way it's an experience!

That's great, thanks! How far away is Abu Dhabi from Dubai? Can you get there by bus/train?

Cam24

bubblypop wrote: »

i can honestly say that 9 to 10 days in my opinion would be more than enough time to spend in dubai.

personally i dont think there is much to do at all.
as mentioned above, there is the dune bashing/show in the desert, which is quite good.

the old creek part of dubai is the nicest area i think. it has all the old souks there, and you can take a boat-taxi across the creek also.
it is more traditional than up town though, and you really shouldnt wear revealing clothes here at all. you will get stares and maybe worse from the men AND the women down here. and they can on occasion call the police if they feel you are not dressed respectfully.

there are loads of restaraunt-boats down on the river, as soon as they move away from the quay you can order alcohol.

the mosque in Abu Dhabi is fabulous, its the only mosque you are allowed enter. Abu Dhabi in my opinion is a fair nicer city than dubai.

the Burj Khalibre ( probably spelt wrong) is the tallest building in the world and you can go up to the viewing tower here, but to be fair all you're looking at is desert, and a few buildings and building sites in the middle of the desert!
there is a fountain just outside here, outside two shopping centres ( cant remember the names ) they have a show here in the evening to music. very impressive.

yes, there is huge shopping centres here, so if shopping is your thing then you may enjoy this, its very expensive though and all our local high street shops are more expensive then at home.

all bars/discos are in hotels and you cant just stroll down the road to the nearest pub, have a look in, few drinks etc.

Thanks for your help!

veetwin

Cam24 wrote: »

That's great, thanks! How far away is Abu Dhabi from Dubai? Can you get there by bus/train?

Yes, very easy to travel between the two cities by bus. Distance between the 2 cities is about 150km or 2 hours.

If you are going to Abu Dhabi you could check out Yas Marina on the way where the Grand Prix is held. I haven't been there (yet) but it is apparently very impressive and there is even an opportunity to rent a race car and drive the circuit if that's your thing!

Cam24

veetwin wrote: »

Yes, very easy to travel between the two cities by bus. Distance between the 2 cities is about 150km or 2 hours.

If you are going to Abu Dhabi you could check out Yas Marina on the way where the Grand Prix is held. I haven't been there (yet) but it is apparently very impressive and there is even an opportunity to rent a race car and drive the circuit if that's your thing!

That sounds really good, will definitely try and get there!

lisasimpson

Cam24 wrote: »

Yes we are going to meet up with a friend over there. She's only there a few months so she's not too familiar with the city just yet. What is the entertainer??

.

the entertainer is like an argos catalogue full of coupons ie 2 for 1 eating out, entry into places etc. once ye are finished with it leave it with your friend that's living there as she could get loads of use out of it afterwards.

sillysocks

I've been to Dubai 3 times and really like it there. Last time was about 5 years ago so some of my info might be out of date but hopefully it will help a bit.

Normally on Tuesdays and Wednesdays different bars have 'ladies night' where women get free drinks , either unlimited or a few vouchers. Here's a tripadvisor thread on it. Might help you have a few cheap nights out.

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-g295424-i872-k5991576-Ladies_night_help-Dubai_Emirate_of_Dubai.html

Dubai isn't like 'normal' cities in that there's no real city centre as such, you kind of always need to know where you want to go and just hop in a taxi direct to the place. There's no city centre to just stroll around like Grafton St or whatever. The metro is open since I was there last so not sure if that's a handier method of transprot for tourists now but your friend will probably know that anyway.

The Mall of the Emirates has the indoor skiing which looked great although I didn't actually do it. There's a restaurant upstairs (think it might be a TGIs or something similiar) where you can watch the people skiing as you eat. Very surreal when you're there in the summer as I was and its 50 degrees out but people are in snowsuits skiing!
Same goes for the ice bar. There's one in the Times Square Mall. Good for the novelty but you wouldn't' stay there all day or anything.

As for dress code I think you just have to be a little bit aware and because you're asking the question and thinking abut it I suspect you'll be fine. Like you wouldn't go to a shopping centre in hot pants and a boob tube (well I wouldn't anyway!), but you could go in a skirt and a top. You don't have to be covered head to toe. As someone said if you're going to more traditional areas or mosques you'll have to cover up more, but in the main shopping centres, pubs etc pretty much anything goes but I would still be a little bit aware of where you are. From what I remember anything goes at the beaches/pools.

There's one or two private beaches down at Jumeriah which are gorgoues. You have to pay to use them but I think it was only a few euro a day, you get sunbeds and think there was drinks stations etc there too (not for alcohol but just soft drinks, water etc).

Cam24

lisasimpson wrote: »

.

the entertainer is like an argos catalogue full of coupons ie 2 for 1 eating out, entry into places etc. once ye are finished with it leave it with your friend that's living there as she could get loads of use out of it afterwards.

That would be really handy to have. Do you know where you can buy these? Can you buy them before you go or do you have to buy it over there?

Cam24

sillysocks wrote: »

I've been to Dubai 3 times and really like it there. Last time was about 5 years ago so some of my info might be out of date but hopefully it will help a bit.

Normally on Tuesdays and Wednesdays different bars have 'ladies night' where women get free drinks , either unlimited or a few vouchers. Here's a tripadvisor thread on it. Might help you have a few cheap nights out.

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-g295424-i872-k5991576-Ladies_night_help-Dubai_Emirate_of_Dubai.html

Dubai isn't like 'normal' cities in that there's no real city centre as such, you kind of always need to know where you want to go and just hop in a taxi direct to the place. There's no city centre to just stroll around like Grafton St or whatever. The metro is open since I was there last so not sure if that's a handier method of transprot for tourists now but your friend will probably know that anyway.

The Mall of the Emirates has the indoor skiing which looked great although I didn't actually do it. There's a restaurant upstairs (think it might be a TGIs or something similiar) where you can watch the people skiing as you eat. Very surreal when you're there in the summer as I was and its 50 degrees out but people are in snowsuits skiing!
Same goes for the ice bar. There's one in the Times Square Mall. Good for the novelty but you wouldn't' stay there all day or anything.

As for dress code I think you just have to be a little bit aware and because you're asking the question and thinking abut it I suspect you'll be fine. Like you wouldn't go to a shopping centre in hot pants and a boob tube (well I wouldn't anyway!), but you could go in a skirt and a top. You don't have to be covered head to toe. As someone said if you're going to more traditional areas or mosques you'll have to cover up more, but in the main shopping centres, pubs etc pretty much anything goes but I would still be a little bit aware of where you are. From what I remember anything goes at the beaches/pools.

There's one or two private beaches down at Jumeriah which are gorgoues. You have to pay to use them but I think it was only a few euro a day, you get sunbeds and think there was drinks stations etc there too (not for alcohol but just soft drinks, water etc).

That's a great help, thank you!