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	Burj Al Arab Hotel	Dubai Public Beach	Dubai Public Beach
	Boat Pier, Dubai Creek	View from Dubai Creek	Boats on Dubai Creek
	Dubai Creek	Dubai Creek	Dubai Creek
	Ski Dubai in Mall of the Emirates	Gold Souk	Mercato Mall

Things to see and do in Dubai

Dubai Big Bus Tour - Because we were just in Dubai for a short time we decided to see as much in a short space of time by doing the Big Bus tour. It costs 150 dirhams each* and there are 2 separate tours, the red city tour and the blue beach tour. Tickets are valid for 24 hours from the time you start using it. Unfortunately we didn't time the tours very well, because we we decided to go to the souks and then on a creek cruise, but just as we were approaching the souks at 2.30pm the tour guide informed us that all souks were closed between 2.30pm and 4.30pm!! If we'd known that before we'd have changed our plans and would have got off the bus at the Dubai Museum. We were still able to do the cruise (one of the highlights of Dubai for us) but it would have helped if we'd been advised in advance. Visit The Big Bus Company's website.

The beach tour goes along the road back from the beach so you don't actually see a lot of the beach. There are some more nice shopping centres along that road, including the impressive Mercato Mall. The bus turns down the opening to the 7* Burj Al Arab Hotel and although it's not officially a stop, they let you get off the bus to take photos. This seemed to be the only opportunity to actually get on to the beach from the tour.

Mall of the Emirates - An incredible shopping mall, huge, modern, spotlessly clean with some very nice shops including lots of designer shops. Our favourite shop in the Mall was a gorgeous furniture and home goods shop called 'The One' - a bit like a bigger and more upmarket version of The Pier in the UK. The most amazing thing about this mall is the ski slope! There are actual ski lifts and slides like helter skelters which looked a lot of fun. You can rent skis, snowboards and snowjackets but you have to bring your own hat and gloves. Entry is 120 dirhams*. Visit the Mall of the Emirates website.

If we'd been in Dubai for longer, we'd have done a desert safari. This half day tour consists of dune bashing in a 4x4 followed by a bbq in the desert, often also including a camel ride and belly dancing performance. The tour constantly gets good reviews and is a good respite from the city. More information on this tour here. If you book a tour with Off-Road Adventures we'd appreciate if you'd tell them you heard about them at TravelJimmy.com - thanks!

Wild Wadi Water Park is another big attraction in Dubai, a huge water park with 23 water rides. Visit their website here.

Transport in Dubai

Dubai is expanding at such a rate, the roads are suffering. We found almost permanent traffic jams throughout the busiest areas and huge queues for taxis at rush hour. Taxis are cheap, however, which is just as well because Dubai isn't a place where you can easily walk. You'll find that you have to take taxis most of the time.

Taxis from the airport cost approximately 50 dirhams to the centre*. Visit this website for more information about Dubai Airport.

Generally we weren't really impressed with Dubai. We'd expected it to have more of a middle eastern feel to it, more of a buzz, but it left us a bit flat. There's no denying the beach is beautiful and if you are a shopaholic you'll love those malls, but we were ready to leave after 3 days and although it helped us avoid jet lag on our Far East trip, we have no real desire to return. It just seemed to be high building after high building, shopping centre after shopping centre, and so very money orientated.

Some useful sites about Dubai:

Time Out Dubai - Lots of useful information about Dubai here including a comprehensive 'what's on'

Dubai.com - More information on Dubai, including news, accommodation, shopping and restaurants

Trip Advisor - Reviews from other travellers and a useful forum

Hotels in Dubai - Book hotels in Dubai, read travellers reviews of those hotels and earn rewards worth 5% of your booking to use against other reservations.

*Note: Prices quoted above for tours, etc were accurate in 2006.