The wife and I are doing a day and a half stop-over in Dubai on the way to Kenya and were wondering what we should see. We both have interest in the desert, the souks and seeing the the beach, but we don't know how much we can see in such a short time.

We will be arriving late at night on Thursday, Jan 13th, so we will have all day Friday and until our flight at 2:30pm on Saturday.

Other random questions:

1. Also, is it true we can just get our Visa's when we arrive at the airport?
2. What would be the appropriate dress for the wife and me?
3. How early should we arrive at the airport on Satruday for our outgoing flight?

Thanks for the help.

Rich

Your first question depends on whehter you will have a car. If you do then you have more flexibility. Driving in Dubai isn't hard but not easy. If you are used to NJ/PA driving then you should be fine. Without a car, stay in the city and visit Jumierah for the beaches. The city is where the souks and whatnot are and could keep you occupied for the whole time. I don't find that Jumierah is terribly interesting unless youre staying there, but that's just me. Personally, i would spend your time with a trip to Sharjah than the beaches. Go to the blue souk and the islamic museum. Both worth the trips. The islamic museum is in an old fort which is pretty interesting and then the displays are very interesting. You would not need a car for either Jumierah or Sharjah. Trip to the beaches will be about $15-20 each way and to Sharjah about $10. With a car you could head out to the deserts. It's a bit of a drive, though, so expect that you won't be doing an awful lot more than the deserts and the Dubai souks.

1. If youre a US citizen, yes.
2. No shorts for either, no overly revealing dress for your wife. No miniskirts, no halter tops, etc.
3. Maybe a couple of hours? Dubai is a nice airport so you can easily kill some time if you arrive too early. But getting both in and out of Dubai is efficient and easy.

You don't need a special visa. They will just stamp your passport like any Euro country if you are a US citizen. If you are going to the beach, you can wear shorts or bikinis or whatever. There will only be foreigners there. In other places I sometimes see foreign men with shorts, but for women it is discouraged. Otherwise dress for the weather. Dubai is quite cosmopolitan, but some of the other emirates like Sharjah are not.

I always recommend getting a car to get out and see the country. If you like golf, there are some great courses. Or you can rent a 4 wheel drive and head out to the desert. There are some good dry river beds for 4-wheeling. You can also head out to Hatta or Al Ain. Darren's recommendations are good too.

It's doubtful that we will be renting a car, so we will probably just hit the Souks and desert on Friday and maybe on Saturday morning, just hop over to the Burj to check it out.

Thanks for the info.

I'm sure I'll be asking more questions the closer the dates near.

Rich

If you haven't picked out a hotel yet, the Intercontinental and Sheraton Creek are the closest to the main Souk. They are both decent hotels. The really fabulous hotels like the Burj are up the coast in Jumeirah or one or two in the business area on Sheik Zayed road.

Taxis are fine for most things, but I've never heard of anyone taking a taxi into the desert. However your hotel concierge can arrange for a Wadi-bashing tour where a driver takes you up and down the dunes in a 4 wheel drive. That will take up most of a day.

Hatta is beautiful and worth the trip but I am not so sure given the time restraints. I agree with Stimpy that if you are going to go to the desert then you should rent a car. Just a personal opinion. Again, driving there isn't hard and is very, very easy outside Dubai. Just stay out of the fast lane. No matter how fast you think youre going, there will be someone going twice as fast in a car worth more than I have made in my life. Al Ain is nice and you would be able to cross into Oman (no visa needed). Famous for its honey, some going for upwards of $100 a bottle. But the town is nice if a bit chaotic. Hatta is much quieter. In both Al Ain and Hatta are the old forts. Again, though, I am not so sure given the time constraints. I took a very roundabout way through Abu Dhabi to get to Al Ain and I made many stops before and after Hatta. Don't know the driving time straight from Dubai but I would think a couple of hours. If you don't have a hotel and go to Hatta, the Relaix & Chateau up there is beautiful and sometimes has a really good rate. I think it's called the Hatta Fort Hotel but I am old and senile and tend to forget things. In any event, I was able to get it for about $60-$70 for the night. It was one of my splurges. That would take you through the deserts and through some beautiful scenery.

One thing to consider is that *everything* is closed on Fridays until the evening. So if you are going on a Friday, prepare to get out of the city or go to the beaches.

Finally, a lot of the beaches, if not most of them, are private and not open to the public. Some allow you to pay to get on. I agree with Stimpy about shorts at the beaches. I was only referring to the cities. Although he is right about foreign men wearing shorts, the locals don't and when in Rome...

Here is a website with a few of my photos from the area so you have an idea of what it looks like. Hatta is in the east, Sharjah is in the West, and of course Dubai and Jumeirah have their own pages.

http://clam.rutgers.edu/~ddapas

FYI, the Shopping (traffic)Festival begins on 12 January, so the city, hotels(hope yours is already booked), airport will be pretty crowded. You have , in essence, one day in Dubai, so I'd definitely spend it walking along the creek, up to the Gold Souk, taking an abra to Bur Dubai, going to the heritage area there. Al Riqqa Street will be all decked out for the Festival as will all the malls. In the evening, I would venture to the happy hour at the Dhow and Anchor Pub at the Jumeira Beach hotel and sit on the terrace. You'll get a wonderful view of the Burj Al Arab and witness its spectacular light show. As others have said, visas are free on arrival. The weather has been rather cool here of late, so I'd advise long trousers and even long sleeve shirts in the evening.
Enjoy your stay here

Other forces are not allowing me to rent a car . If all of the souks are closed on Friday, I guess we will do the beach on Friday morning and take one of the evening desert safari's, which start around 3-4pm. On Saturday, we can go to all of the shops before we leave in the afternoon.

Do they have lockers in the airport? I would like to buy some stuff, but I don't feel like dragging it all over Kenya. Our return flight from Kenya goes through Dubai, so I can pick it up then.

I booked my hotel a few months ago at the Sheraton Deira. I got a pretty good deal using a 50% off coupon. Hopefully, the hotel is in a decent location. Tried to get the Sheraton Creek, but it's too expensive. Was trying to keep the hotel to under $150 a night.

If you haven't already, check out: http://www.dubaitourism.ae/www/main/content.asp

If you are flying Emirates, they do arrange for the "desert safari" experience. Its really neat, you get a driver and a 4X4 - they take you out to the middle of the desert, set up a tent and a bonfire, serve Arabic coffee in traditional cups etc. - the whole experience, so to speak.

About ten years ago, DNATTA was their "preferred" travel agency, and they arranged this for about $75-250 pp depending on length of the trip. However, I know things have changed since then - but Emirates should be able to help you with this if its something you want to do.

Also, you can actually rent cars with drivers in most rent-a-cars in the UAE. Rates might be higher - about $50/day.

Both Hatta and Fujeirah (on the coast) are day trips worth doing - but you may not have enough time.

Make sure you check out local Arabic food - food is cheap and really good. Dubai is a really neat city - have a fantastic trip!

I'm not sure about lockers at the airport. When I buy stuff I just FedEx it back home if possible.

The Sheraton Deira is just fine and fairly close to the nicer Sheraton Creek. If you are Platinum they will give you a reasonably large room.

I'm flying in on Lufthansa, but going to Kenya on Emirates.
I called Emirates to try to get some of their great hotel deals, but I was not allowed because I'm flying in on LH into the country.

I'm glad the Sheraton Deira isn't bad.
I'm curious to see if SPG Gold gets me a better room.
It's tough to know where to stay when the guide books aren't that much help.

We will be doing the "desert safari". I think that gives us a good flavor the desert. If I can convince the wife to rent a car I would, but I don't think that's happening.