tailfirst

Hello, two of us (men) are flying to Dubia in Nov for 13 days. Neither of us are into long stays at anyone place and most destinations are on the order of 2-3 days. We had thought of using Kuwait for our base as it seems we can get real cheap airfares out of here.

We would like to see as much of the middle east as possible and even a trip into North Africa would be entertained.

Has anyone done something similar, I am looking to adding as many countries as possible to my 100 country list.

What is worth while seeing and doing and what would be the best places to fly from and to.

Thanks in advance

stimpy

That could take a long time to answer. First, you should do some searches in this forum. Try searching for "Dubai" and you will find loads of information on what to do in that town. Do a google search too. Dubai is a great place to base yourself out of if you can afford it. Lots of flights everywhere.

Renting a car and driving around the UAE can be fun. Wadi-bashing is a lot of fun. Head down to Oman and Muscat. Fly to Tunis, rent a car and drive down to Hammamet. Or connect out to the edge of the Sahara for some beautiful scenery. Vacations are very cheap in Tunisia. Lastly, Jordan is a good idea. The Amman nightlife mixed with a visit to Petra is a must.

tailfirst

Thank you stimpy, this is a good start.

Tailfirst

GK

OK, so thinking about what is in a reasonable distance from Dubai.. you should look at the schedules on www.emirates.com

Cairo is worth spending time in, the city is a total contrast from Dubai.
Morocco is a 9hr + flight.. long way
Tunis is nearer and worth it
Jordan really worth it, but flights are in high demand at the moment to/from Dubai
Oman is great, and you can drive there easily in a rental car from Dubai
Iran is really close - if you can get a visa
India is close as well you know...

Frankly, Kuwait and Bahrain can be skipped, unless you really want passport stamps, as there is not much to do in a day as a tourist. This is of course my opinion. Never been to Qatar, so can't comment there.

Normally, would have recommended Beirut - but who knows, by the time of your trip you could make it there for a few party days..

Down_the_back

I am not sure, but if you use Dubai as a hub Emirates used to offer cheap vouchers for flights around the muddle east for as little as 100U$ per coupon.

Also, if you can change your dates (and get here fast) www.gulfairco.com have some amazing ramadan fares.

Alternatively, if you book online, Air Arabia out of Sharjah (the Gulf's first no frills airline) have great deals and go to Alexandria, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, Doha, Beruit etc - they also g oto India too.

Someone suggested driving round in Dubai, worth it if you used to like riding dodgem cars at fairgrounds...

BEYFlyer

tailfirst you should consider a visit to Beirut and as suggested by Down_the_back, use the LCC out of Sharjah for that as EK can get a bit expensive at times. Otherwise, GK had a few other suggestions for you. Should you have any questions about Beirut, please don't hesitate to contact me.

pokeshot

..take a detour to Israel after visiting some arab countries: Hours and Hours of free fun and games of 20(0) questions at the immigration when entering and leaving IL. Also going to Syria or Saudi-Arabia directly afterwards is going to be priceless. ;-)

Then again, just a suggestion