Dubai
Discover Dubai
Dubai (Arabic: دبي Dubayy) is a cosmopolitan metropolis and global city on the Arabian Peninsula. The city is one of the ten most popular tourist destinations in the world. The city is also considered one of the most modern and progressive cities in the Middle East – certainly in the Arab world – and is also sometimes nicknamed as "City of Gold" due to historically being a hub for gold trade as well as the rapid transformation from a desert into a luxurious city. Dubai is characterized by a vast landscape of desert which transforms into a futuristic style of skyscrapers along the coastline. The city offers both insights into the old merchant and pearl diving history of the Arabs in Deira and Bur Dubai and the new modern skyscraper business and bustling life in Jumeirah and Jebel Ali. Dubai is sometimes mistakenly thought of as a country, but it is actually one of the emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. It is the financial centre of the United Arab Emirates.
What to Experience in Dubai
Sunrise shot of Downtown Dubai and Burj Khalifa.
city during day
Burj Al Arab
tag me Instagram: @waelhneinii
Sheikh Zayed Rd
Taken on a plane…
an aerial view of the burj al arab in the middle of the ocean
Atlantis, the Palm.
silhouette of city buildings during sunset
high rise buildings near sea during daytime
Famous Beaches
Dubai
Taste of Dubai...
Shawarma is the most available food item on almost all streets (and cheap) in Dubai. It is the Arabic equivalent of the burger. It is meat that has been cooked on a skewer and then cut into thin strips and placed into a kuhbus (pita) bread with vegetables and dressing. There is the plain-jane variety and the more exotic Lebanese and Iranian varieties. The shawarma sold by Indian restaurants are arguably the cheapest. Another local snack is fala-fil (felafel, falafel), which is as cheap as shawar
A Rich Past
Explore the historical roots that shaped Dubai into what it is today.
Dubai began as a small fishing village on the coast of the eastern Arabian Peninsula. At the beginning, the town made its income as a small pearl diving town. However, as expanding trade boomed across the gulf, it became a trading hub between Iran and India and gained a lot of notoriety for its imported goods from the East. In fact, the currency of Dubai used to be the Indian rupee historically. Dubai was also used as a smuggling town to smuggle gold from Africa and elsewhere and import it to India, this made Dubai a well-known point in the map for various traders. When oil companies looked for oil around the Trucial States, Dubai was shown to not have any significant oil reserves compared to Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum, then the leader and Sheikh of Dubai, continued on the booming...
Climate
The city of Dubai is situated on a coastal strip bordered by desert and gets very hot in the summer. It is dry on the hottest days and humid during the cooler days in the summer. Cooler, more pleasant weather lasts from the end of September to the beginning of May (although pleasant is relative, with daily temperatures from October to January and March to May still being 20–25 °C (68–77 °F), but be prepared for cold night temperatures. In winter the temperature at night is usually from 10 to 16 °C (50 to 61 °F). From May to September, the sun is intense and in August temperatures can touch 54
Essential Information
Getting There
Multiple OptionsSee the Get in section for the United Arab Emirates for visa and customs regulations. Dubai is a five-hour flight from Europe and three hours from most parts of the Middle East, the Near East, and the Indian subcontinent. Dubai's main airport is the Dubai International Airport (DXB). Its eventual replacement, Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC ), is open to passenger flights and serves several destinations. You can also enter Dubai by using Sharjah International Airport (SHJ) in the neighbori...
Getting Around & Staying
Getting Around
Dubai's public transport system is one the best in the Middle East, especially after the launch of the metro, but most visitors end up taking taxis quite often. Using the public transport is a viable option during the winter months, as long as you avoid the rush hour on the red metro line. In the summer, due to the intense heat, taking a taxi is more practical, even if it's just to get to the nearest metro station. The timetables of the public transport are integrated into Google Maps. In the ap
Where to Stay
Take care, on booking.com all dorms in Dubai are named as private rooms like "entire holiday home", "entire apartment" or "room with shared bathroom". This seems to be the case due to local laws. So check twice, if you want a private room to not end up with a dorm. Due to substantial increase in hotel rooms, only during Islamic holidays do prices rise substantially. The cheapest places, mainly catering to small-scale businessmen, can be found in near the souks of Deira. In Dubai you find a youth
Money & Budget
Dubai is practically synonymous with shopping and could be called "Do buy". Low tariffs and a huge amount of cargo passing through its port ensure that practically anything is available at fairly competitive rates, although the appreciation of the Dirham and the plentiful supply of shoppers means that Dubai is no longer a bargain basement shopping city. You'll also find products in Western chain s
Language & Talk
Arabic is the official language, but as foreigners outnumber Emiratis by almost 4 to 1 in Dubai, English serves as the lingua franca. All signs are bilingual in Arabic and English and speaking Urdu, Hindi, or Tagalog will get you further than Arabic given that most retail and service staff are expatriates from Pakistan, India, and the Philippines. See the Get in section for the United Arab Emirate
Safety Information
Safety Overview
Dubai is a very safe city. Call 999 if you need police attention. Driving and pedestrian safety has also been an issue given the different nationalities that share the road. Do not jaywalk or cross where there are no clear pedestrian markings. Speeding is common here, and the odds of you being hit by a car are quite high unless you follow the rules. Avoid driving on the extreme left lane of highways to avoid being "flashed" and being forced to move a lane over. Road rage is also starting to become an issue given the increase in traffic jams and poor driving courtesy. Rude hand gestures (the "f
Nearby Destinations
Glimpses of Dubai
Sunrise shot of Downtown Dubai and Burj Khalifa.
city during day
Burj Al Arab
tag me Instagram: @waelhneinii
Sheikh Zayed Rd
Taken on a plane…
an aerial view of the burj al arab in the middle of the ocean
Atlantis, the Palm.
silhouette of city buildings during sunset
high rise buildings near sea during daytime
Sunrise shot of Downtown Dubai and Burj Khalifa.
city during day
Burj Al Arab