Our expression for that city since we got there was “Dubai is Dubai”. As soon as we landed on the airport, new things started: the great service, how fast our visa was available.

We were greeted with arms wide open, soon we had our Dubai Card, to use in public transportation. The tour around that city was terrific, we’ll tell you everything. Here we go.

Dubai Frame and Park Zabeel

In the first day, as we always do, we went walking through the city, and right next to our Airbnb, we saw this huge golden portal or frame of the city. Whomever wishes to have a panoramic view can go up the building for just 52 Dirhans (53 reais). Tip: go up in a non-foggy day, to have a better view of the city. In the late afternoon with sunset, the golden shines even more intensely. It’s very beautiful. And during the nighttime the variation of lights makes the building very colorful.

Beside it, there is Zabeel Park. The entrance fee is only 5 Dirhans and it has a green area, palms and trees, where you can have a great picnic, or a barbecue too, and it also has a lot of courts to practice sports. It’s great to take children, once it’s connected to an amusement park. It also has free wi-fi.

Bus and Subway Stops

As the city is too large, it’s very cheap to move about it by bus or subway. At the exit of the airport, there are stores that sell tickets cards connected with buses, trains, subways and boats.

Red Card – It’s recommended for whomever uses it little, it recharges only 10 routes and costs 2AED (2 reais, then you need to recharge the value of the range). It can be bought at any ticket vending machine.

Silver Card – It’s recommended for tourists, costs 25AED (25 reais), 6AED for the card and 19AED for credit to be used. It’s good for 2 years and may be recharged at any moment, at ticket vending machines.

Gold Card – It’s like silver card, but it costs double 50AED (50 reais), so do the ranges. It’s possible to use the Gold Class wagon (VIP, Dubai things).

For each kind of card, there are special discounts. The city is divided into zones, and it’s charged according to the zones used. In average, from one zone to another, it costs 4AED (4 reais), and for more zones, it’s a little more expensive.

The bus stops are all acclimatized, and closed to protect people from the dust, which may be intense in some days, and also from intense sun. During the night, you must press a button inside the cabin for the driver to know how many people are waiting for the bus there.

The Dubai Mall

It’s just the biggest mall in the world! So much that, at the entrance, at an information desk, they offer you to download the app that has the map of the mall. Dubai is Dubai!

Inside Dubai Mall, in addition to the thousands brand shops, the most famous ones all around the world. There are also some attractions to visit, such as: Aquárium Dubai, UnderZoo, the access to Burj Khalifa, and the access to The Fountain (dancing fountains), an inline skating rink, movie theaters and much more. You really get lost inside it, it’s crazy! We don’t have to mention that it’s the right place for whomever loves shopping.

Another nice point is the mega food court, seriously! I’ve never seen so many options for food in one single place. You won’t be hungry at all.

The access to it is easy and fast, it’s in downtown and the subway has a stop and a direct access to the mall. Of course, you can go there by car, bus or on foot. It’s up to you, we used the subway a lot. It’s a place that you can’t help visiting, after all, you will be in the biggest mall in the world, right!

Burj Khalifa And The Fountain

We visited the 125th floor of that building, and we had the opportunity to see how expanded the city will be and how beautiful it is from those 360° that can be seen above. That building is so firm that we didn’t feel it moving at all, reminding whomever visits it that it is accessed by the mall, with a gallery of pictures showing the steps of the construction work.

There are two options: 150 reais until the 125th floor, or 500 reais until the 164th one, possibly being cheaper with city sightseeing combo, for the tours, we used this last option. And in the base of Burj, there’s a spectacle of dancing waters and its amazing lights, that start every day from 7pm to 10pm, with a five-minute show every 30 minutes, always

Jumeirah And City Walk

Jumeirah means glowing ember. That’s what the local residents used to say when they went to the beach. That street has innumerous beaches to visit, museums, cruise ship terminals, hundreds of pubs, restaurants, malls. We visited Mercato Mall, which has Italian style, and the beaches of La Mer North and South, which are close to each other and are amazing, because there is everything that you need in some steps. Equipment for water sports, such as stand up, jet ski and paddle boats are also rented, because the waters are really peaceful. If you don’t like salt water, you can enjoy an aquatic park located beside the beach.

Still after the beach, we walked in the late afternoon around City Walk, a pedestrian mall full of options to every age, such as ice cream parlors, coffee shops, candy stores and some fountains. In the evening, it has an amazing lighting and it’s possible to see the proud Burj Khalifa from there.

Bus Tour Around The City

We bought a combo for the 2-day tour in Dubai and the 1-day tour in Abu Dhabi, to have the best commuting around the city and find the best visiting points. It was cool that some very interesting gateways and tours were included.

Dubai is gigantic, with so many options, so we suggest you to take a tour like that, so that you can choose places to enjoy for more time afterwards.

As we stayed next to the red line, we visited the places nearby first, stopping at the markets in the old city. Souk Textile resell lots of clothes, turbans, cashmeres, while Souk Gold sells precious stones, necklaces, watches, rings, earing, bracelets and everything made of gooold!!! At last, Souk Spice sell seasonings, teas and spices. Between Souk Textile and Spice, there is a canal that can be crossed by a boat for only 1 Dirham (1 real) each person.

From there, we also took Dowhn Cruize, by a very big boat that drops by the canal during an hour, with a great description of the main buildings and local history, where Old City and New City are shown.

We took 2-night tours, that were part of the package, and it’s amazing to see how much the city changes during the night, every building has a life on their own in a spectacle of vibrant lights and colors.

Global Village

In Global Village Dubai, you can find everything that an amusement park can offer to you, such as shows, amusement parks, live spectacles with cars, motorcycles, tracking, fire, and much more. There are also thousands of options for shopping and meals, which show a little bit about the culture of each continent, and you can taste a little bit of everything existent in the world.

We got there by the bus of City Tour, but that’s worth remembering that the gates of the park just open from 4pm on. Arrive right away to enjoy everything calmly in that park, and program at least 4 hours to visit it. In the evening, between 7 and 8pm, there’s a terrific 15-20-minute fire show, it’s worthwhile to check it out. The entrance fee is 15 reais.

Abu Dhabi

We took a tour around the city and we visited some of the most important touristic attractions, such as Louvre museum. Yes, that’s it! There’s a museum there, named like the one in Paris. It’s very beautiful. One curiosity: that’s built between the sand and the sea. Other touristic attractions, such as Heritage Village, where the entrance is free and you will know the lifestyle of the people who lived there some time ago. We also visited the market of fruits, right close to the port of the city, that was where we learned about and tried innumerous types of dates with chocolate and almonds.

The place also sells seasonings and delicacies used all around the world. And after a tour around the mall of the city for lunch, we visited the most expected one: the big mosque. That’s the third biggest one in the world and one of the most beautiful ones we have already seen, and the entrance is free. It’s only necessary to follow the rules of Islamism, about how to dress and behave inside a mosque. It’s all made of white marble, with some golden details. When you visit it, take a look at the pillar with flowered details, with an amazing finishing! And the 03 crystal lusters have a breathtaking beauty.

Palm Cruise  

Dubai is also known for its gigantic palm, and as it was our mandatory visit, we made it the grand finale! It’s not possible to get into the considered leaves of the palms, unless you are a resident, but in the main trunk, it’s possible to be visited, but only by taxi or tour bus. We stopped in front of the ultra-luxurious hotel Atlantis, and the other stop was in the place where it’s possible to take a boat tour, named palm cruise, where they take 1-hour tour around the half-moon shaped leaves of the palm until hotel Atlantis. That tour was certainly touching.

Where To Stay In Dubai

We chose to stay in Airbnb, and we found a great location in the district Burjman, where we stayed right next to malls, restaurants and subway and we had total attention from our host.

Here is our Airbnb link, where you can have a discount too!

https://abnb.me/e/goNilApbcU

Means Of Transportation

The city has the best and most complete means of transportation that we have already used, with affordable prices, and also very comfortable.

Among the most used ones, there are: subway, train, bus and boat. All the prices are according to the zone, which starts from 4AED to 8AED (4 to 6 reais), per range.

It’s important to be aware that, in Dubai, there are a lot of exclusive wagons to women and children (where men can’t access, they can even pay a fine), also wagons to Gold Class, more comfortable, but they get to the same place (Dubai things, right). But it’s ok, it has identification lanes in the entrance of the wagons, as you can see below.

Safety Of The City

We thought it’s very safe during the time we stayed there, we saw monitoring cameras everywhere we went. We walked a lot through all over the city and it was very peaceful, the people are super friendly and helpful.

Travel Insurance

For you to travel in peace, it’s important to have a travel insurance which keeps you safe and has a comprehensive coverage. We always ensure with April Brasil Seguro Viagem, which covers all around the world. It has an app that is easy to access, for you not to keep all that paperwork when you need to use it, the best part, you can access it from everywhere in the world with service in Portuguese.

So, don’t waste time and hire something safe, and we have a discount coupon, we’ll leave the link below too! Run and use it.

DISCOUNT COUPON: #COUTRIPS10

https://www.aprilbrasil.com.br/coutrips

Kind of Currency

The local currency of the Arab Emirates is Dirham, and the exchange in dollar for April/2019 is $1.00 to 3.67 Dirhans. We recommend to exchange the currency in a safe place such as an airport or at Exchange, a bank in the city. It’s always good to have the local currency.

Expenses in Dubai

Our expenses in currency (REAIS) during 9 days for the couple were the following:

Feeding: R$450.00 (market, snacks and drinks)

Tours: R$1,300.00 (general tours)

Transportation: R$910.00 (flight, bus, subway)

Lodging: R$520.00 (airbnb)

Dubai is Dubai! During every day we spent there, we always discovered a new place to visit, and we concluded that 15 days are necessary to see everything calmly. According to what we knew, we thought, like lots of people, that it would be such an expensive place to visit, but we got very surprised, because there are places with super affordable prices and usually ones that don’t need to be paid. Of course, luxury is by your side all the time, options are not what’s lacking.