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Things To Do |
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 Dubai is both a dynamic international
business centre and a well laid-back tourist escape; a
city where the sophistication of the 21st century walks
hand in hand with the simplicity of a bygone
era.
Modern day Dubai is a happening
place. There are a host of things that you can do while
in Dubai.
- Dubai International Art Centre
Open hrs:
8.30am-7pm, Sun-Wed and 8.30am-4pm on Thurs & Sat.
Closed on Fridays
Located off the beach road in
Jumeirah, opp. McDonald's on the Beach Road.Tel:
3444398
- Green Art Gallery
Open hrs: 9am-1.30pm
and 4.30pm-8.30pm. Closed Fridays.
It is located in
a villa behind the Dubai Zoo. Features contemporary
artists work. Tel: 3449888,
- Hunar Gallery
Open hrs: 9.30am-1pm and
4.30pm-7.30pm. Closed Fridays
Located in a villa in
Rashidiya. Features original oil paintings,
reproductions, water colours by resident Dubai
artists, mixed media bronze, bronze sculptures, clay
wall tiles and a beautiful collection of belgium
glassware. Tel: 2862224
- Majlis Gallery
Open hrs: 9.30am-1.30pm
and 4pm-7.30 pm. Closed Fridays
Located in the old
Bastikiya area, near the Dubai Museum. Features
paintings in oil and water colours and pottery and
jewellery.Tel: 3536233
- The Courtyard
Open hrs: 10am-8pm. Closed
Fridays.
Located in the Al Quoz area, just after
interchange No. 3 on the Sheikh Zayed Road. Features
paintings of several artists ranging from traditional
miniatures to nature, still life and contemporary
work. Tel: 3475050, 2282888,
Camel Racing
On Thursdays
and Fridays, from 8am to 2pm, during the months of
October - April, Camel Racing is a major sport in Dubai.
The track is located on the outskirts of the city at Nad
Al Sheba (behind the Metropolitan
Hotel).
Desert Safaris
 No visit to
Dubai would be complete without a trip into the desert.
Such excursions, which are best organized as part of a
group tour, offer a taste of the true heartland of
Arabia.
The majesty and tranquility of the desert
can be experienced in a choice of exciting half-day,
full-day and overnight safaris. These action-packed
trips cover varied terrain ranging from desert to
mountain and take in remote camel and goat farms and
isolated villages. Highlights of a safari in Dubai may
include the following:
- Dune Driving
Driving in sand
is an adventure in itself, combining the excitement of
a roller coaster ride with the challenge of remaining
mobile on the shifting surface, courses in sand
driving vehicles provided along with expert
instruction.
- Camel riding
The Camel, a
symbol of Arabia, is also a major tourist attraction.
Camel rides from part of some tours and desert
safaris. Tour operators and hotels can also arrange
camel rides separately.
- Exploring the wadis
A
popular pastime with both residents and visitors is
known as wadi-bashing exploring the wadis or dry beds
of streams that flow after the winter rains from the
Hajr mountains. Many wadis offer scenes of unexpected
beauty: attractive rock pools, some with water
year-round, surrounded by greenery. Four-wheel-drive
vehicles are required and are available for hire with
or without drivers. As with desert driving, it is
recommended that novices do not try their hands at
wadi-bashing without expert supervision.
- Sand-skiing
Those with a
taste for speed and enthusiasm for an unusual sport
will enjoy sand-skiing down the dunes of Dubai
deserts. Special skis are used and high dunes in the
interior of the desert are chosen as slopes.
Sand-skiing can be arranged on request or as a part of
a full-day or half-day safari.
- Desert feasts
Particularly
popular are safaris that culminate in spectacular
desert sunset views followed by a traditional Arabian
barbecue under the stars. These can be tailored to
meet every taste from a romantic and peaceful
experience to elaborate fun-pack evenings complete
with music, belly-dancing, the smoking of hubble-bubble pipes and often a display of
falconry. Dubai by Air
Visitors with
a head for heights and a weakness for the dramatic, can
enjoy the excitement of a helicopter tour over the city.
Alternatively, visitors can enjoy city or desert tours
in a fixed-wing aircraft.
You may contact :
Desert Air, Tel: 2994411, who provide City Tours
By Air, starting at Dhs 250 per prson, per 45 min
trip.
Dubai by Sea
A fascinating way to
see Dubai is by sea. You sail along the Arabian Gulf and
admire the coastline and palaces, hotels and beaches.
You may contact : Danat Dubai Cruises,
Tel: 3511117, who provide Dubai Tours By Sea.
Dubai
Shopping :
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Shopping Mall |
Location |
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Abraj Center |
Near Dubai Creek Road in Deira Souk |
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Al Bustan Centre |
Al Nahda Road near Al Ahli Club |
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Al Ghurair City |
End of Al Riqqa Street in Deira |
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Al Khaleej Centre |
Bur Dubai opp. Spinneys Supermarket |
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Al Mamzar Shopping Centre |
Opp. Dubai General Police HQ |
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Al Manal Centre |
Near Al Nasr Square |
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Al Mulla Plaza |
Dubai-Sharjah road |
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Al Rais Centre |
Located opp. the Ramada Hotel in Bur Dubai. |
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Arabian Ranches |
Arabian Ranches |
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Beach Centre |
Jumeirah Beach Road |
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Burj Dubai Downtown |
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BurJuman Centre |
Bur Dubai, at the intersection of the Trade
Center Road & Khalid Bin Waleed Street |
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Deira City Centre |
Opp. Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club |
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Dragonmart |
Off the Hatta/Oman road |
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Dubai Outlet Mall |
Dubai, Al Ain Road in Dubailand (Route 66) |
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Dune Centre |
Al Diyafah Street; popularly called the ’pink
building’ |
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Emaar Towers |
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Emirates Hills |
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Emirates Towers Boulevard |
Emirates Towers, Sheikh Zayed Road |
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Festival Waterfront Centre
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Dubai Festival City |
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Hamarain Centre |
Adjoining to JW Marriott Hotel, Deira |
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Holiday Centre |
Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel, Sheikh Zayed
Road |
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Ibn Battuta Mall |
Between Interchange 5 & Interchange 6 on Sheikh
Zayed Road |
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Jumeirah Centre |
Jumeirah Beach road |
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Jumeirah Plaza |
Jumeirah Beach Road |
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Lamcy Plaza |
Next to the American Hospital, near the Zabeel
Road/Karama area |
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Magrudys Shopping Mall |
Jumeirah Beach Road |
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Mall of Arabia |
Dubailand |
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Mall of the Emirates |
Interchange 4, Sheikh Zayed road |
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Marina Walk |
Sheikh Zayed Road |
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Mazaya Centre |
Off Sheikh Zayed Road after interchange No 1 |
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Mercato Mall |
Off Jumeirah Beach Road |
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Mussalla Tower Mall |
Bank Street, Bur Dubai |
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Oasis Center |
Shk Zayed Road near Khaleej Times office |
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Palm Strip Shopping Mall |
Beach Road, Jumeirah opp. Jumeirah Mosque |
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Reef Mall |
Salahuddin Road near Fish Round about, Deira |
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Sahara Centre |
Dubai-Sharjah Highway |
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Souk Al Bahar |
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Souk Madinat Jumeirah |
25 minutes away from Dubai International Airport |
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The Center |
Abu Baker Al Siddique Road, opp. Dubai Cinema |
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The Gold & Diamond Park |
Next to Internet City, Sheikh Zayed Road |
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The Greens Centre |
Sheikh Zayed Road |
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The Lakes |
Sheikh Zayed Road |
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The Meadows |
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The Springs |
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The Village Mall |
Jumeriah Beach road |
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Town Centre Jumeirah |
Beach Road near Jumeirah Beach Park |
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Twin Towers |
Baniyas Road in Deira, along the Creek & near
the Intercontinental Hotel |
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Villa Moda |
Emirates Towers Hotel |
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Wafi Shopping Mall |
Al Wasl road |
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Warba Centre |
Abu Baker Siddque Rd, next to JW Marriott Hotel |
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Souks |
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Gold Souk |
Gold is serious business in this part of the
world; gold souk is a vibrant centre for
gold-loving buyers and sellers. There are plenty
of designs to choose from. The most popular are
24-carat, you can also get 18, 21 and 22 carat
gold. |
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Food Souk |
The fish market and the food and vegetable
market are situated side-by-side in large
hangar-like space by the creek.
The food souk bustles with over-enthusiastic
salesmen who force their wares on you and buyers
who haggle fiercely. The produce is delightfully
fresh, and there’s no fish, fruit or vegetable
too strange for this souk. |
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Spice Souk |
The Iranian shops in the spice souk stock just
about any spice you could think of. The thin
alleyways of the souk are fragranced by the
pungent spices the vendors have on display.
Big barrels of cumin, dried lemons and coriander
seed surround you on all sides and vie for space
alongside baskets of star of anise, stacks of
cinnamon sticks and oodles of frankincense. This
place is truly a heaven for food lovers. |
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Textile Souk |
Materials are rife in the textile shops off Al Fahidi Street
in Bur Dubai. The shops stock materials from the
sub-continent and some of them are perfect for
suits, shirts and skirts.
If you find yourself a little short of cash
there are ATM machines and a Thomas Cook
exchange bureau. |
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More Shopping Areas: |
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Meena Bazaar/Cosmos Lane |
This is an open market shopping area for
textiles and has a few gold shops as well. |
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Al Fahidi Street |
This street is known for the wide variety of
electronics it sells. Every brand of electronics
is available here. |
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Karama Market |
A general shopping complex for all kinds of
goods and you can really bargain here! |
Encounter Zone
Situated in the
Wafi Shopping Mall, this is an entertainment centre with
a difference, with areas for both children and results.
The popular Crystal Maze is featured along with a horror
chamber and fascinating 3 D films.Tel:
3247747
Fishing
The Gulf is rich in
marine life, and fishing was once a mainstay of the
local economy. Kingfish, jackfish, red snapper, rock
cod(the popular hamour on most Dubai menus), barracuda
and other species are caught commercially and not for
sport. Sailfish and bottom-feeding sharks are regularly
landed by visiting fishermen who can hire fully-equipped
boats, with crew, for deep-sea fishing
trips.
Galleria Ice Rink
Located at the
Galleria shopping complex at the Hyatt Regency. Rates
are Dhs 25, per person, per session and includes skate
hire. Timings are 10am - 1.30pm, 2pm - 5.30pm and 6pm -
9,30pm. Tel: 2096551
Golf Courses
Dubai
is a golfers paradise. The Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht
Club and the famous Emirates Golf Club are the venues of
the European PGA tour. The Nad al Sheeba Golf and Racing
Club even offers night golf for the enthusiasts who want
to beat the summer heat of Dubai! For bookings or
courses, Tel: Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club -
2956000, Nad Al Sheba - 3363666, Emirates Golf Club -
3473222
Go-Karting
Dubai has the Middle
East's first fully-equipped 40,000 sq. ft of
air-conditioned indoor go-kart facility at Formula One.
Open 7 days a week, from 10am - 10pm for 8 years
upwards. Tel: 3388828
Outdoors, an active go-karting fraternity races regularly at the track
beside the Jebel Ali Hotel. Visitors can enjoy this
sport during the months of Oct-May.
Al Nasr
Leisureland Complex
This facility provides
bowling, squash, go-karting, ice skating, swimming and
fun rides. Rates star at Dhs 10 for 2 hours of fuin.
Tel: 3371234
Horse Riding
The sport of
kings has rapidly become Dubai's most popular spectator
event, attracting crowds of more than 15,000. Race
meetings are held weekly during the cooler months at one
of the UAE's four racecourses. Dubai Racing Club, at
Naad Al Sheba, the country's largest and most
spectacular track and home to the Dubai World Cup the
sport's richest race also holds meetings at right under
floodlights. These evening meets also prove popular with
corporate clients, who may choose to take a hospitality
box to entertain clients and other guests. The winter
months (Nov - Apr) are more favoured for Horse
Racing.
Horse riding is part of the local
tradition and is upheld today by several active centres
including the Dubai Equestrian Centre and Jebel Ali
Hotel Riding Stables. Rides through the desert are
organized regularly. Dubai has a riding association for
the disabled.
Magic Planet
Housed in
the giant Deira City Centre shopping mall, this
children's entertainment centre is a unique indoor site
with 10 pin bowling, a crawling bungie jungle, variety
of electronic games and a mini pitch and
putt.
 The Souks
The souks on both sides
of the Creek are attractive not just for their shopping
bargains but also as places for the sightseer and
photographer. A huddle of narrow alleyways has survived
on the Deira side despite intensive building in recent
years. In the tiny lanes of the spice souk, the
atmosphere and the scents of the past can be savoured.
Bags of spices, incense, rose petals and traditional
medicinal products are stacked outside each
stall.
Along the slightly larger lanes of the
gold souk, each shop window is crammed with gold
necklaces, rings, bangles, earrings and brooches. In the
evening the area is a hive of activity. Gold prices are
among the lowest in the world. In other small streets,
the visitor can find shops selling nargilehs (hookah or
hubble-bubble pipes) and coffee pots, and nearby tea
stalls where both of these items are in daily
use.
There are traditional bakeries where large
flat loaves of delicious unleavened bread are baked to
order inside a domed oven called tandoor. Small textile
shops sell veils with decorated edges, pantaloons with
embroidered anklets, and dress lengths with similarly
embroidered necklines reminiscent of The Arabian Nights.
Meena Baazaar, on the Bur Dubai side of the Creek are
lanes full of textile shops, where a blaze of colourful
raw silks and cottons hang in profusion in shop windows.
Also, in this area, you will find the Al Fahidi Street
souq - which is famous for Electronics.
 The fish
souk in Deira is an attraction in itself. Early in the
morning and late at night, local fishermen unload
mountains of fresh fish which they sell in a frenzied
bargaining session. Kingfish, red snapper, rock cod (the
popular hammour), barracuda, tuna, lobster, crab, king
prawn, sea bream, squid, pomfret, shark, mackerel,
sardine and other species are available in abundance for
most of the year.
Wild Wadi
An exciting
state-of-the-art water park located adjacent to the
Jumeirah Beach Hotel offers exciting water rides for the
whole family. It is open from 11am to 7pm. Entry fees
vary - Dhs 95 (Adults) for all day and Dhs 75 (children)
for all day. Kids under 9 must be with adults.Tel:
3484444
WonderLand
The
18 hectare Wonderland family fun park features a wide
range of water attractions including speed slides, surf
hills, wave runners and a Caribbean cruise. It is closed
on Sundays and Wednesdays are for Ladies Only. Thursdays
are for Families Only. It is open from 10am-11pm.
Entrance fees varies. Tel: 3241222.
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