Dubai is one such city from my recent travel where I felt that every bit of infrastructure was put together with one sole purpose – Tourism!
As you drive through the new part of the city what you see are tall artistic buildings reflecting the bright sunlight off them.
Perfect place for family trips, especially with kids. There is a whole lot of fun and adventure stuff for people of all ages. Ideal time to visit Dubai would be between November to February. The beautiful weather will let you stay outdoors as much as you want to. The summers tend to get extremely hot so you might want to research if you want to plan after March.
As you drive through the new part of the city what you see are tall artistic buildings reflecting the bright sunlight off them.
Perfect place for family trips, especially with kids. There is a whole lot of fun and adventure stuff for people of all ages. Ideal time to visit Dubai would be between November to February. The beautiful weather will let you stay outdoors as much as you want to. The summers tend to get extremely hot so you might want to research if you want to plan after March.
Here is a quick read of my top
favorites.
Dubai Parks:
A must do if you are travelling with a kid as I did. My
personal favorite was Legoland and Motion Gate.
Make sure this is a one-day plan when you put your itinerary
together. Legoland is a sure shot hit with the kids . There are various lego
themed rides and play areas where kids can get creative with legos.
Motion gate on the other hand will bring all your favorite
movie characters to life – from walking through the Smurf village to going on a
ride with Shrek and Fiona to posing with Po and the Madagascar gang, it is a
fun place and a full day of fun!
There are a lot of food courts and coffee places inside the parks,
so you don’t have to move out for food. Not a lot of options for kids
though, so plan your entire day accordingly if you are going with younger kids.
Dubai Dolphinarium:
Another hit with kids and adults alike. This is a 40-minute
show with both Seal show and dolphin show.
Try to advance book seats in the splash zone to have a
better experience. The seats are regular seating and VIP seating. The seats in
the center of the splash zone is the VIP seating. Get your seats pre-booked to
avoid the long queues at the entrance.
There are 2 very good websites that I used to pre-book my
tickets to all the parks and shows.
Klook www.klook.com/
Headout www.headout.com/
You get an extensive list of all the attractions in the
place along with options to pre-book your tickets.
Green Planet Dubai:
The four storied building with the Amazon forest growing inside
it, is truly a very innovative way to let people get close to some exotic animals
and birds.
You will take about an hour inside Green Planet and the tour
inside has been put together keeping the various layers of the Amazon rain forest in mind.
As you walk through each layer of the forest you will see the relevant species
varying from insects to reptiles to birds and monkeys. It is a complete zoo
experience redefined!
The Burj Khalifa:
Did you know that the initial name was Burj Dubai but was
later renamed as Burj Khalifa in honor of ruler of Abu Dhabi - Khalifa bin Zayed Al
Nahyan. Abu Dhabi lent money to Dubai when they were not able to proceed with
the construction of The Burj. Hence the name Burj Khalifa
Having heard a lot from friends about the trip to the top of
the Burj, I decided to go on the view from the top tour. Be prepared to stand in a long
queue leading up to the lift that takes you up to 248Th floor. This
is the highest level on The Burj where tourists are allowed for the view from the top. Minimum time in
the queue is about 45 mins !
Personally, I loved the experience in the lift from ground
to 248Th floor than the actual view from the top. The super fast lift
takes you up in exactly 60 seconds and you can feel your ears pop when you are
in the lift.
Once you enter the lift it turns into a mini theater as the
walls of the lift are screens which shows a quick 1-minute video about the Burj.
Pretty impressive!
The Desert Safari:
Last but not the least – my favorite experience out of my
entire trip, the desert safari.
With the increasing popularity of this, there are quite a
lot of operators in the market who arrange the Safari. Make sure you do your
research before you narrow down who you wish to go with. While it is super fun,
it requires immense skill and experience to drive on the sand dunes. Hence read
up well, and research on the operators before booking.
Again, try pre-booking the Safari as good operators tend to
get sold out real fast during holiday seasons. Must do on your list…
There is so much for everyone in Dubai and these are my personal
favorites as I was travelling with my 7-year-old. For all the adventure lovers
there is a whole lot of stuff in Atlantis. The aquaventure water park has some
adrenalin pumping signature rides which should give the thrills you are looking
for.
It really is amazing to see a desert transformed into a high-tech commercial city. You will see old Dubai bustling with life even at 10 PM, with
its local eating joints and grocery stores crowded. Pretty much everyone out in
the streets, 80% of them being local Indians!
While the new Dubai is a stark contrast with the huge sky scrappers
and posh locale where you see the super-rich Arab women walking around in their Niqab with glittery Gucci shoes and stylish Michael Kors bag!
Truly a city of contrasts!
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