We visited Dubai for couple of days in July on the way to India. We took Emirates flight, enjoyed the food in flight and overall experience with Emirates. Dubai Airport is huge, very clean and beautiful. Since we have US Visa (any kind is fine), we could take On-Arrival Transit Visa in the airport. There are directions in the Airport to immigration area and once we go there, we need to go to Marhaba counters and fill in the Visa application, pay the Visa fees, collect the documents and go to immigration lines and wait until an immigration officer talks to you. They would ask general questions about our length of stay, purpose of visit etc. From Airport, we took a cab to our hotel - "JW Marriot Marquis" close to Burj Kalifa and enjoyed our stay there. The hotel rooms had very beautiful views of Dubai, spacious & modern, complimentary breakfast and lounge access.
First & foremost, July is the worst season to visit Dubai. It was unbearably hot, and we couldn't stand outside even for 5 mins. You are fine as long as you are indoors. Best season to visit Dubai is during winter months from November to March.
Whatsapp calls do not work in Dubai. You'll get a temporary physical SIM card in Dubai Airport during immigration, and you can use it in one of your phones in Dubai. People in Dubai use some other apps similar to whatsapp and you can also use that to call your cab driver if you arrange for an all-day cab. If you are a T-Mobile user, you will have mobile data everywhere. You can check if your network allows international features.
Dubai City is very clean & modern with lot of skyscrapers and there are some local areas which are very crowded and very much like Indian Streets.
There are taxis available everywhere or you could use Uber. You will see lot of drivers who can speak Hindi as well. If you want an all-day cab, you could talk to one of these taxi drivers and they can arrange someone or give you contacts.
Some of the places we visited in Dubai:
Burj Khalifa, Dubai Fountain and Dubai Mall are all at the same place and so it makes sense to visit them together.
- Dubai Fountain - Beautiful Fountain shows & Burj Khalifa light shows with shows every half hour in the evenings after 6pm. It's difficult to get a good viewing spot if you are late. Loved the different light shows on Burj Khalifa.
- Burj Khalifa - There are tours available to visit the top floors with good observation decks. You can purchase ticket online for the timeslot you prefer. We took an evening tour and were able to get a view of Dubai fountains from the top as well.
- Dubai Mall - Huge mall with lot of popular brands from all over the world. Since Dubai is tax free, it encourages folks to buy expensive things. There's a famous waterfall inside this mall. Don't forget to take a picture there.
- Future Museum - Shape of the building is unique and worth a picture. Take general admission tickets and not the very expensive ones as it's not worth it. If you don't have much time, you can skip it as well.
- Gold Souk - I was planning to buy lot of gold jewelry as gold is cheaper in Dubai but the designs are either too simple or too elaborate and did not match my taste. I did not buy anything except for a simple gold chain for my son in Malabar Jewellers. You can see Malabar Jewellers, Joy Alukas and so many other stores that you see in India. Anvar Jewellers in Gold Souk does not have any making charges. If you want to buy simple gold chains or bangles, check it out. When you buy some jewelry here, the stores give you a tax refund form which you need to show in the Airport to get a refund.
- Burj Al Arab - Supposedly a 7-star hotel and we just saw from outside and took few pics
- Jumeirah Beach - Very beautiful beach with white sand and blue waters. Burj Al Arab is on this beach
- Dubai Frame, Atlantis, The palm, Dubai Mosque, Kings Palace - We just drove around these as we did not have much time.
- Dubai Miracle Garden was not open when we visited but I think it's a must see for flower lovers.
- I suggest doing the Dubai Safari tours so you can get a feel of the dessert.
- If you have more time, you can visit one of the many adventure parks or ski resorts. Our cab driver suggested we visit some other places like Glow Garden, Butterfly Garden, Dubai Marina etc. but we didn't have time and the weather was too hot.
There are so many food options for all cuisines in Dubai. If you are an Indian, there are lot of Indian restaurants as well.
If you are planning to buy any gifts from Dubai, you could get Alladin Lamps in pretty colors, Camel souvenirs, Burj Kalifa figures, Wide variety of Dates with Nuts in Airports or any souvenir stores.
