Dubai 🇦🇪

+Abu Dhabi | March 2024.

Some Notes:

• Dubai gets HOT. So, do not recommend a trip during their summer months (June – August); it would be unbearable and too hot to do a lot of activities. The weather was perfect during our trip in March.

• UAE is obviously an islamic country, so ladies need to dress accordingly. Can still wear shorts, strapless tops, etc., but I wouldn’t wear anything too revealing, especially outside of the main tourist areas.

• This was a family trip (with my siblings and my parents), so our itinerary vibe may be different from what you’re planning. But this list has a lot of different attractions and restaurants to look through, so hopefully these recommendations still can help.

• Our trip was a rather short trip, only 4 full days. But I recommend a longer trip. You could easily spend over a week in Dubai and still have each day full.

• Here’s a link to my google doc that has all the information in this post (minus the pictures), which may be easier to reference.

• Also huge shoutout to my sister-in-law, Taylor for contributing greatly to the planning of this trip.

ATTRACTIONS/ACTIVITIES

• Burj Khalifa “At the Top” Observation Deck

  • Recommend booking tickets in advance.

  • We did the At the Top Lounge option, which takes you all the way up to the 154th floor and provides drinks and small. snacks. Very cool experience, with obviously great views.

Burj Khalifa is the building to the left

on the 148th floor

• Global Village

  • Like an amusement park but more — has rides, performances food kiosks which represent different countries and cuisines around the world.

• Miracle Garden

  • Absolutely stunning grounds with countless beautiful floral arrangements. There are different shops to buy clothing items, food, drinks, etc. There was also a live jazz performance when we were there.

  • Highly recommend. My parents loved this place.

• Museum of the Future 

• West Beach at Palm Jumeirah

  • Nice beach, with a multiple beachfront restaurants with cabanas you can rent. There was also a beach volleyball set up.

• Desert Tour + Al Khama Camp — highly recommend

  • Our hired driver arranged the booking for us (his info is listed below under the “Transportation” heading), but I’m sure there are online booking options.

• Desert Tour: can do ATV, camel riding, dune bashing, dune boarding

• Al Khama Camp: you get to experience a cultural show in the desert + dinner buffet of local foods

photo from the tour service

dune boarding

Al Khama Camp 

• Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

  • It’s 1.5-2 hr drive from Dubai, but so worth the drive. The mosque is absolutely beautiful.

  • Women have to be fully covered, including hair. There’s several stores at which you can purchase an abaya and headscarf at the mosque grounds.

  • At the shopping center on site, there are some restaurants and places to for clothing, jewelry, souvenirs, and such.

• Shopping

• Dubai Mall: largest mall in the world 

• Spice Souk Market

• Gold souk 

  • I thoroughly enjoyed the gold souk, got so many good pieces. It’s not “cheap”, but fair prices.

  • By law, they cannot sell fake gold, so you can shop confidently when it comes to jewelry items. They do however sell fake luxury items, but those items are rather obvious.

  • There was also some fragrance shops nearby, where I got some great perfumes and perfume oils.

• Textile souk 

• Souk Al Bahar: across from Dubai Mall (more like a boutique mall)

• Souk Madinat Jumeirah

Gold Souk

gold souk

textile souk

textile souk

• Aura Sky Infinity Pool 

• Canal Dinner Cruise                           

• Jumeirah Beach

• Jumeirah Mosque 

• Ski Dubai (Snow park in Dubai Mall)

• Sky Views: swing over the side of a giant building.

• The View Palm Jumeirah

• Hot air balloon ride at sunrise 

DINING

bolded the ones we actually visited

• Hakkasan at Atlantis — Cantonese food

  • Michelin star-rated, delicious food. Great for a celebration or last dinner.

• En Fuego: Latin American food with performances/ entertainment.

• Ibn Albahr — Lebanese seafood

• Ting Irie — Jamaican

• Sushi Samba — Japanese & Latin American sushi

• Zest - Italian

• Black Flamingo — colorful, very Miami-esque

• Masti Dubai — Indian fusion

• Penthouse — Sushi bar lounge that is known to be one of the best views on the Palm

• Al Khayma — traditional Emirati food

• Jun’s — Michelin guide restaurant

• BiCE Mare — Italian

• Above Eleven Dubai —Peruvian-Asian fusion

  • delicious food + drinks, open late.

• Cucina in the Marriott hotel 

• Lamoroso

• Maiden

• Enish — Nigerian food, also good for night outing

• Time Out Market  — elevated food hall

  • Great range of cuisine options, highly recommend

  • Also sometimes have live entertainment

About Eleven restaurant

About Eleven

ACCOMODATION 

We chose the Avani Hotel, which we absolutely loved.

• Great location, with beautiful view. And we loved that it had multiple suite options for the rooms. 

• Amazing buffet breakfast, with so many options. Extremely kind and helpful staff. 24-hour front desk.

view from my balcony

TRANSPORTATION

• Taxi – priciest

• Careem app (very similar to Uber)

• Uber (was a hit or miss)

• Hiring a driver

• The driver we used for the desert tour and Abu Dhabi was Sajid. You can contact him on WhatsApp: +971 58 162 9410

OUR ITINERARY 

This was our plan, but we deviated from this based on time, jetlag and weather.

Wed 03/06

• Souks (gold, spice, +/- textile)

• Dubai Mall

• Lunch suggestion: Time Out Market 

• Burj Khalifa “At the Top” Observation Deck for sunset

• Dinner spot near hotel 

Thur 03/07

• The View Palm Jumeirah

• Morning at the beach: West Beach at Palm Jumeirah 

• We did Senor Pico beach club

• Desert Safari tour +  Al Khama Camp — pick up at 2:30 PM w/ dinner provided

Fri 03/08

• Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi — pick up at 8 AM 

• Lunch at Cucina 

• Miracle Garden

• Global Village

• Late night drinks and eats at Above Eleven Dubai

Sat 03/09

• Aura Skypool 

• Textile Souk

• Jumeirah Mosque + Museum of the Future

• Last dinner at Hakkasan at Atlantis