Dubai

In May 2015, I was lucky enough to win a place on a trip that took me to see how Dubai had changed and what it had to offer now as a tourist destination. WOW it had changed! During this trip I did the following trips and tours: Caught the lift to level 124 of the tallest building in the world - Burj Khalifa. Everything seems very small from up there and you can now go up to the 148th floor too. Bookings are essential for this as it's a popular place to visit. You can also dine and have drinks up here too. I took part in a city tour, taking in a crossing of the creek on an Abra boat to visit the spice market and gold souk. Desert Safari and sunset barbecue - a roller coaster ride over the dunes in a 4WD and then on to a Bedouin camp for barbecue and some dancing. We took helicopters from the Atlantis helipad - seeing the Palm from the sky as well as seeing how the seeing how the coastline has changed and came level with Burj Khalifa! Aquaventure waterpark and Lost Chambers aquarium at Atlantis was great fun for the afternoon. We concluded our stay with an amazing evening on Dubai Creek on Bateaux Dubai - a fabulous four course gourmet meal, freshly prepared on board (unlike any other of the boats on the creek). This really was a highlight of the trip as we watched sunset over the creek.

In March 2023 I returned again - as a tourist this time, for some well-earned Winter Sunshine. It really didn’t disappoint. I stayed in the city, and on the beach this time. We visited the gold souk for a little purchase and had a wander through the spice souk again to the river. This area remains untouched apart from the huge expansion of hotels and amazing shopping centres. I visited Dubai Mall which is next to Burj Khalifa and ate in the Time Out Market which is communal dining with lots of different food choices and a great bar area. Visiting the Madinat was nice and relaxing – again lots of food choices and great views too. Seeing Dubai Marina area was fabulous - with drinks in rooftop bars, wonderful food and entertainment and staying at the edge of the Palm for a relaxing beach stay too. We also popped over to the new Bluewaters “island” where another fabulous shopping centre greeted us as well as waterfront dining looking back over to the Jumeirah Beach area.

There is so much to see and do now in Dubai and its certainly evolved since my first visit there – a great stopover destination, or a main holiday, with some amazing resort style hotels too.

Let me know how I can help with your adventure...