The UAE

I had previously visited the United Arab Emirates, specifically Dubai, when I was 5 years old. Back then, the Burj Khalifa didn't even exist! Almost 2 decades later, I returned for a week long stay, and it was a completely different place. Dubai, with it's constant construction and development projects, had turned from a road in the desert into a sprawling metropolis. Abu Dhabi, which I visited for the first time on this trip, also had major construction and growth planned. I'll take you through some of the things we got up to and saw - but in general the UAE is a great place to go if you want to relax, warm weather, great customer service and a huge array of hotels and resorts to choose from.

Logistics 🏨🚕✈️

I was based in Dubai for 8 days, staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton in M Square - close to the regions of Karama, Al Fahidi and Bur Dubai. I would definitely recommend this hotel, where we got excellent service, access to pools and a gym, and also conveniently close to the airport (20 minutes away). If you're interested in some of the history, the hotel is close by to Al Fahidi (Dubai's historical neighbourhood) and famous souks (markets). More on those later.

Getting to Dubai from the UK is pretty easy, with the likes of Emirates running multiple direct flights a day to DXB Airport. Dubai airport is a hub in the middle east for transfers and connecting flights, so as a result finding a flight to Dubai is pretty easy. Dubai was often the airport I transferred through when travelling between Melbourne and London, so catching flights from further east should be no problem. I actually flew from Singapore to Dubai, whilst my parents flew in from London to meet me.

Once in Dubai, the easiest way to get around is to use the local taxis, which you can flag down or use an app such as Careem to hail. They are government standardised, and so we found them very safe to use. They are easy to spot and flag down, and should all take card payments. If you prefer to use cash, they take that too. I wouldn't recommend using Uber, as it's more expensive in the UAE and the local taxis are far more available.

Regarding safety, there is no need to be worried at all in the UAE! We found Dubai to be totally safe, and never felt uncomfortable when exploring the city. The customer service is amazing and interactions we had with others was always pleasant. This extends to after dark, where it is still safe to be out and about. Of course, I would still take care of your valuables and personal belongings, but in that respect the UAE is one of the safest places to visit.

Dubai - Things To Do

Downtown Dubai 🏙️

Downtown Dubai is the city's busy tourism hub, home to Burj Park, the Dubai Mall, Dubai fountain show and of course the Burj Khalifa. We found ourselves here a few times over our stay, one of which being where I finished the Burj2Burj half marathon (more on this in a future blog). Burj Park is a nice green space from which you get uninterrupted views of the Burj Khalifa, and where you really appreciate just how tall it is (828m). Just around the corner is Dubai Mall, the second largest shopping mall in the world. It lives up to that fact, and you can easily get lost in there for hours if shopping is your thing. We did find it be become quite busy due to tourists, so for a better shopping experience I would recommend visiting any other malls that Dubai has. If you're downtown later in the day, The Dubai Fountain show takes place at 30 minute intervals over the evening. I personally wouldn't make a specific trip to see the fountains, as I found the show to be a bit short and underwhelming considering this is the world's tallest performing fountain - but it's worth checking out if you're already there.

Old Dubai 🛖

In a city which is constantly evolving, it can be hard to see the heritage or culture of it's past. That's why I particularly enjoyed visiting Old Dubai on this trip, which gave an insight into traditional building design and how life was in the old UAE. Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood is a must visit, where free guided tours are offered. The tour takes you around the site, as well as into a traditional home. It was interesting to see how despite the lack of technology, building design was advanced, such as the use of passive ventilation.

From Al Fahidi, you can take the traditional water taxi (called an Abra) across Dubai Creek to begin exploring the various souks on offer.

Souks 🪙

In the area of Deira lay all the souks - gold, spice, and textiles. These narrow lanes and gulleys were home to hundreds of market stalls, providing us with many smells, colours and sounds. The Gold Souk here is one of the largest in the world, with a huge range of items on offer. I enjoyed my experience in this market, as you weren't pestered or hassled to buy items by vendors. A must-see spot in Dubai.

Kite Beach 🪁

Named appropriately as it's a popular spot for kitesurfing, Kite Beach is a nice spot to chill on the beachfront, or get involved with some water sports. With the Burj Al Arab standing tall in the distance, it's a nice view by the water. I visited the UAE this time in January, meaning the weather was perfect to visit the beach during the afternoon - something that you wouldn't even consider doing in a Dubai summer.

Miracle Garden 💐

Located in the district of Dubailand, Miracle Garden is a flower show consisting of over 250 million plants. It is very well maintained and occupies over 72,000 square metres, making it the world's largest natural flower garden. A nice place to get some snaps, and I particularly liked the flower-clad Emirates Airbus A380!

Moreish 🍽️

For those of you who have been reading my blogs for a while now know that where possible, I always like to give the inside scoop on vegan food spots in the place that I visit. I wanted to give a special shoutout to Moreish, a restaurant just round the corner from our hotel that did amazing vegan food - and all onion and garlic free! I'll let the pictures do the talking, but I highly recommend this place.

Abu Dhabi - Things To Do

Whilst we were based in Dubai, we did a day trip to visit Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. Doing a day trip is definitely possible from Dubai, with AD being a one and a half hour drive away. Taxis are also very willing to take you between the cities (as it makes their lives a lot easier to meet their minimum daily requirement). Below is what we got up to in a single day, having departed from out hotel at 7.45am.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque 🕌

We took a cultural tour of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest in the UAE. It is stunning, and combined with the understanding of the architecture, culture and ethos behind this building, it got a true appreciation for it. The tour took us through the various spaces and explained the cultural and religious significance of points in the Mosque. I would recommend to get here as early as possible and attend the earliest free cultural tour - the Mosque can get quite busy with tour groups.

National Mangrove Park 🪸

We then headed to the National Mangrove Park of AD to do a guided kayak tour of the mangroves. Do check the tide beforehand - high tide meant we could get up close and personal with the mangroves. Some tricky parts to steer through, but was very nice to explore nature in this way.

Abrahamic Family House 🙏

The original plan was to visit Qasr Al Watan, the Presidential Palace, but for some reason it closed early (probably due to an event). It's meant to be worth the visit, so if I ever find myself in AD again I'll probably check it out. Instead we went to the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith centre which has a mosque, synagogue and church all in one plot of land.

Date Shopping 🛒

You must try the dates in the UAE, they are delicious! We bought some medjool dates grown in Saudi Arabia, and they were really juicy with barely any seed. We actually brought 1kg with us back home - that's how much we enjoyed them!

Yas Marina F1 Circuit 🏎️

Last activity of the day in AD was cycling on the Yas Marina F1 circuit! Quite surreal and a bit of a "pinch me" moment to be going around on the same track that F1 superstars have their final race on. This experience is completely free to do, all you need to do is sign up beforehand. Bikes and helmets are all provided for you, so just make sure you're wearing something comfy and have a bottle of water at hand. If you want to get a full workout in, I would suggest getting there in a timely manner so you can get enough laps in. TrainYAS takes place on Monday and Wednesday every week, from 6-10pm.

Overall, I would say Abu Dhabi felt a lot quieter than Dubai, with less traffic and bustle. It was nice to compare between the two cities, and you could definitely stay in AD for a few days as there is lots more to do.

With that, my last adventure of my year abroad is over! Thank you for all coming along on the journey I've had - from my first post on "How to Prepare for a Year Abroad" to now, a lot has happened. I'm sure more adventures are around the corner, and the UAE was a nice place to have my final travel destination before I arrived back in London. Stay tuned for more posts, and as always let me know what you think!

PS: If you enjoyed this, why not consider subscribing for free here? (Just remember to click the verification link in your emails to confirm, and mark the email as not spam!)