Key areas
Divided by Khor Dubai, the Dubai Creek, Dubai is actually two towns merged into one. Deira is on the north side and to the south is Bur Dubai.
Dubai Marina City is set to be another jetsetters’ stomping ground, built around an artificial harbour.
The coast around Dubai has miles of beaches; most are private to the five-star hotels that have colonised them. The best of the ‘free sand’ is the park at Jumeirah Beach or the unspoilt Kite Beach off Jumeirah Beach Road, which boasts a large stretch of sand with uninterrupted views. Jumeirah is also the best area for hotels and restaurants, and is the place to go for entertainment, along with Sheikh Zayed Road.
Getting around
Dubai has been growing faster than roads can be named. There are plans to build the Gulf’s first urban railway network here. The addresses of hotels and shopping malls aren’t really numbered, but taxis will get you where you need to go without them. A trip from the airport to the city centre costs about £3; from the city centre to Jumeirah costs about £5, and from Duabi to Abu Dhabi costs around £28. As mentioned before, the buses are best avoided as they’re unreliable and uncomfortable. Abras are small motorboat ‘taxis’ that will take you across the Creek from early morning until about midnight. They cost just 50fils (about 7p).
Shopping
It is no understatement that Dubai is heaven for shoppers. With malls and high-end boutiques galore, people from all over the Middle East come here to do their shopping. Without duty and taxes, it is worth it to come to Dubai just to shop. Every March, the heavily promoted Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF, website: www. mydsf.com) lures shoppers in droves. The best malls include the new and unbelievably extensive Ibn Batutta with six different malls rolled into one huge development near Dubai Media City, The Emirates Boulevard at Emirates Towers, City Centre in Deira and BuJuman in Bur Dubai, which has a Saks 5th Avenue among a whole host of top designer names. The Mall of the Emirates, set to be the largest mall in the world, is currently being built. It will house a Harvey Nichols and the first indoor ski slope in the Middle East.
For rock-bottom bargains, go to the Karama district. You can get excellent copies of designer handbags, wallets, sunglasses, and belts (just name your logo, its all here: Prada, Gucci, Hermes et al). Sometimes the better imitations are kept in a ‘secret room’, where a whisper will invite you in to browse. In the Dubai souk and along Al-Fahidi Street in Bur Dubai are plenty of fabric shops where you can pick the silks and other textiles you prefer and have them tailored on the spot to any design you have in mind—or the picture in your hand! The prices are lower than low.
Gifts to buy
This ‘City of Gold’ boasts a huge Gold Souk and the Gold and Diamond Park in Deira—a giant treasure chest of both traditional and modern designs. The artisans create different hues of gold by altering the composition of alloys—pink, yellow and gold—and can turn them into your own custom designs. The best thing is the prices. You can pick up a bling-tastic diamond ring for less than a quarter of the price you’d pay in Europe.
Carpets, with a certificate of authenticity granted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, can be bought at a fraction of what they cost back home, as can luxurious silks and pashminas. Remember to bargain hard.
Arabian souvenirs can be kitschy but cute. Pick up a few camel lighters as gifts— pump the hump and fire comes out of its mouth! Coffee pots, woollen camel bags, carved wooden ashtrays, shishas (water pipes), mosque alarm clocks and Bedouin jewellery are everywhere. Roam the souks and see what you can find.
Food specialities include the sweet and sticky Lebanese sweets, made with rich honey and pistachio nuts. Dates, too, are a must to take home, and saffron is quite cheap, especially if you visit the Spice Souk in Deira.
Things to do
The Dubai Museum is the perfect introduction to Emirati culture and history, with a good audiovisual presentation that won’t put you to sleep. For the spiritually curious, Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding (Tel: 344 7755) will get you access and organise a tour inside Jumeirah Mosque (non-Muslims are not permitted to enter mosques in the UAE).
Depending on what time of year you are visiting the ‘City of Festivals’, your options will be endless. Sports fans may enjoy the Dubai Tennis Open (website: www. dubaitennischampionships.com) or the Dubai Rugby Sevens (website: www. dubairugby75.com).
Go for a walk around the older parts of the Bur Dubai and Deira—the Bastakia quarter is one of Dubai’s oldest neighbourhoods. The way things look now, by your next visit modernity and its mirrored skyscrapers may just have stolen the show.
Excursions
Desert trips are organised in half or full days and as overnight safaris. They are a must-do. The following companies offer various activities: Desert Rangers Tours & Adventure Sports (Tel: 340 2408) for camel trekking and dune dinners.
Voyagers Xtreme (Tel: 345 4504) offer custom desert safaris with a four-person minimum.
Alpha Tours (Al Hai Building, Port Saed Road, Tel: 294 9888, website: www.alphatoursdubai.com) if you want to try night safaris and sand-surfing.
For scuba diving there are Al Boom Diving (Tel: 342 2993), Scuba International: Heritage & Diving Village (Tel: 393 7557, email: scubaint@emirates.net.ae) and Scuba Arabia (DIMC) (Le Meridien Mina Seyahi, Tel: 399 2278, email: diveimc@emirates.net).
City tours are available from The Big Bus Company (Tel: 324 4187, website: www. bigbustours.com) and The Wonder Bus (Tel: 359 5656) which uses a luxurious amphibious bus.
Fishing trips can be booked at the Dubai International Marine Club (Tel: 289 4858, website: www.dimc-uae.com).
Tourist traps
For those bargain hunters unaccustomed to haggling, it can be exhausting—but never give up. The sellers at all the souks expect it and a good way to learn is to watch the tourist next door who knows the ropes. There is an art to buying carpets, gold and all things local, and patience and an understanding of the tricks of the trade will help you not to get taken in. Watch closely and proceed, without insulting anyone by going too low. As mentioned before, a good benchmark is to go in at half the price and barter until you get to a reasonable figure.
Convention centres
The main convention centre in Dubai is the Dubai World Trade Centre, where over 50 exhibitions are held annually (Tel: 306 033, website: www.dwtc.com). Conference hotels include The Grand Hyatt Dubai, Hotel Intercontinental, Sheraton Dubai and Taj Palace Hotel Dubai.