Hello,
I'm flying via Emirates next month and have an 8 hour stopover on a Friday in Dubai (arrive 7am, depart 3pm). I don't want to hang around the airport that long. Is 8 hours time enough to take a taxi to the major sights in the city?

Any suggestions on what I should see?

Can I get my tourist visa in advance rather than at the airport in order to save time? I'm from the UK.

Thanks in advance.

If you're travelling with Emirates, go to the Emirates counter and pay about$50 for a 96 hour visa. You can definitely arrange this before-hand instead of at the airport, just contact your travel agent (or Emirates directly).

When u get out of the airport, ask a taxi driver to take you to see the sights, they know exactly where to go. Instead of letting them just run the meter, ask if they can't give u a set price for the "tour" - they're pretty flexible and there are always a ton of drivers so if one refuses, another will accommodate you - major competition to the advantage of the buyer.

The driver can usually put an itinerary together for you. Ours was:
From the airport, went to Jumeirah. On the way, saw Emirates Towers , Trade Centre, Jumeirah Mosque, Jumeirah beach, Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Beach park, Mall of the Emirates (visited Ski Dubai ) and Madinat Jumeirah.

Yes, plenty of time. However you will arrive in time for the am rush which is usually pretty bad.

As long as you are a UK citizen, you will not need a visa. You just go up to immigration and they will stamp your passport.

Cheers

Just another point, when u grab a Taxi at DXB, the meter will show 25 Dirhams.

Thats the standard charge from the airport out...
Naturally from outside of the airport, the meter is as normal...

I've got an 8 hour stopover as well, and I'm flying Economy from Dar-es-salaam to Dubai and Business from Dubai to London. There is no availability in the earlier connection, hence the reason I'm having to do the 8 hour stopover. Am I entitled to free accommodation and/or meals during my stopover?

I know I'll have access to the business class lounge in Dubai, but I've never been a fan of the food they serve therein, and I'm not sure if the new lounge have any reclined seats that one can lie down on. Some ideas would be most appreciated!

Hi,
you will be given free accomodation at the Millenium hotel because of the economy inbound flight. They will provide meal vouchers aswell. However, this will have to be arranged with your local emirates office prior to departure, as they will make the reservation and give you the hotel voucher.
I have an 8 hour layover next week, and requested if it was possible to use the T3 hotel instead (with an F ticket). Unfortunately, they are still using the Le Meridian and Millenium. My guess is a hotel rooom is still better than the F lounge for an 8 hour stay. hopefully the inbound is early and beats the midnight rush! I haven´t used the new J lounge, but I´m assuming a room at the Millenium would still be better.

The problem is that the connection mentioned is actually only 7:55, so won't qualify for a STPC. I don't think it would have qualified anyway, as there is an earlier connection - even though there is no availability on this flight.

Cheers,
Rick

Oh right, didn�t realise, you might just luck out. Try a smile and a polite request, sometimes seems to do the trick.
Good luck!

It wasn't me who made the OP. I was just pointing it out

Cheers,
Rick

He said he's coming on Friday. So there won't be any traffic. It's a good day to drive around. Just avoid going to the malls after 5pm because it's chaos. It's fine around midday.

Everyday of the week for the past two weeks has been easy to get around traffic has fallen off big time. I havent seen a back up on SZR in weeks-- even a Thursday at 4-6pm is no problem.

I meant at the airport

I know, I SHOCKED. There was not one traffic jam the entire time I was in Dubai on SZR (Dec 22 - Jan 1) and I drove from Emirates Hills to Deira pretty much everyday.

Cheers,

Hi there,
Just curious,

Will the taxi driver stop at each of these places, at least for you to take photographs? Or is it just a one-stop destination at Jumeirah?

And how long does it take for you to complete this tour around Dubai?

Thanks in advance.

They'll do whatever you ask. The longer they stop, the more money they'll get.

The other alternative is to do the Big Bus Tour. This stops at most of the sights and malls. It leaves every half hour from the City Centre Mall (about 10 minutes in a taxi from the airport). It takes about 90 minutes in all, but you can hop-on and off as you please.

Cheers,
Rick

Make sure you do not have any stamps from israel in your passport though (or if you have a jewish sounding name be prepared for some Q&A). Just mentioning because many people that are just there for a couple of hours for sight seeing during stop-over (=non business) are usually not aware of this!