A weekend in Dubai...

September 24, 2014 7:33 PM

I'll be in Dubai October 23 and 24. What should I do? Where should I eat? Specifically, I enjoyed this Ask, but I am not sure that being an American female traveling solo changes anything. (And I look the part too!) I'm there for work, and could have some evenings during the week free, so any suggestions in that direction would also be great.
posted by susiswimmer to Travel & Transportation (4 answers total)

Hey there- I posted in that thread and I was an American woman who traveled alone to Dubai in March. I was also there for work, so most of my days were full, but I had evenings and one weekend day. I had a great time doing a desert 4x4 and camel ride. On the same day, I went indoor skiing at the mall. Outside of that, just seeing the malls is an experience, it was fun to see Burj Al Arab (I got a reservation to go to the bar one night), and I did go to gold souk. I don't totally recommend going to the souk though. I didn't feel like I was in danger, but I didn't know where to go to get a good deal and bargaining was not effective for me. So, I got nothing.

Enjoy your trip and feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
posted by superfille at 7:39 PM on September 24, 2014

I don't live in Dubai but I live in the neighbouring Emirate. I'd recommend doing a desert safari - they are a touristy thing to do, but everyone I know who has gone (including me) has loved it. It's something you have to do at least once! If you are staying in a hotel, they will be able to arrange it for you. There are half-day safaris that go out in the evening.

Go to the top of the Burj Khalifa (buy a ticket in advance as they can sell out) and go to a mall or two. The malls in Dubai are something else. I would check out the Dubai mall because it's massive and there's a lot to see, including the fountains inside and outside of the mall, and also because it's next to the Burj Khalifa so you'd already be there.

Taxis are cheap, every kind of ethnic cuisine you can think of is available, and the weather will be a little cooler at the end of October - you'll have a great time! If you have any UAE queries, feel free to MeMail me.
posted by gursky at 5:16 AM on September 25, 2014

The beach can be nice also. We were staying with friends and walked to the nearest beach that was also near a sky-diving school. Watching them dive over the ocean at sunset was neat.

Also recommend the desert 4x4 trip. Yes it was touristy but fun. We also had dinner at a place in the big mall, but sitting outside facing the fountains. Think the Bellagio fountain show turned up to 11.

There are several all day tours you can arrange to take you through older regions of the city, your hotel might have suggestions.
posted by beowulf573 at 7:09 AM on September 25, 2014

Where to eat: Special Ostadi for Persian Food, Karachi Darbar (the big one with the orange and green neon sign, near Zabeel Park) for Pakistani/Indian food, Al Mallah in Satwa for Arabic food.

Mike at Special Ostadi is a real character and the place is near the creek, which is nice for a stroll, feels like the setting of a spy movie......

If you're interested in art, see if there's any art stuff going on at Al Serkal or DIFC

Al Serkal

DIFC

Feel free to memail me....................
posted by ambient2 at 11:05 PM on October 8, 2014