I can’t believe my trip to Dubai is happening tomorrow.  Before that decided make a plan to make sure I wont miss anything. Of course 48 hours is not enough to explore everything Dubai has to offer, I think that even two weeks wouldn’t be enough to see most of the vast metropolis of Dubai. Although I have come to realize in my travels that sometimes you can tell the moment you land in a city if your going to love it or hate it. So who knows, if I will fall in love with Dubai, maybe I will plan longer adventure sometime in the future. Let’s get the coin toss ready.

As for the hotel I choose the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel which seems to be located not to far from downtown, it looks very nice, modern and has a decent pool. I was also able to get a great deal on it via Booking.com.

Dubai - Palm Island
Dubai - Palm Island

Photo Credit: Jason Mrachina

So far my itinerary is looking like:

Day 1:

  • Dubai Creek – As with most cities I always look to start my visit in the Old, Historical Town. It would be foolish to miss, as almost everywhere on the internet, guides and other bloggers have literally mentioned that you would be crazy to go to Dubai and not visit the Old Town.  Granted it will be a big contrast from what you will see in the modern part of Dubai. You can take the water taxi “Abra” there which I have heard is a very nice way to travel, or you can go to the gold market where if you have money to burn you could buy yourself a big slab of gold or to be a bit more practical some nice jewelry.

 

  • Madinat Jumeira – the next stop is a luxury Arabian style Dubai Resort  with restaurants and shops where you can see the world’s only 7 star hotel Burj Al Arab, or Jumeira Beach Hotel. If you’re staying in town longer you could spend rest of the day in Wild Wadi Water Park.

 

  • Jumeirah Beach Park – I will then walk here and take a little bit of a break by walking across the beach to the park.

 

  • The Dubai Mall – heaven for those who love to shop. Unfortunately I won’t have time to check any of the 1,200 shops there (Yeah as with a lot of things in Dubai, it’s the biggest shopping mall in the world!). But I might grab some food if I will be able to decide what I want between the 120 restaurants and cafes in the mall, talk about a food court! Also I will check Dubai Aquarium and Unsterwater Zoo which is located at the mall, because well it’s Dubai! If you have more time and energy you can also go Ice Skating at the Dubai Ice Rink, play some games at the SEGA Republic amusement park, go watch a movie in the cinema or if you are visiting with kids visit KidZania an entire town run kids!

 

  • Burj Khalifa – No trip to Dubai would be complete without venturing up the tallest building in the world , standing at 828.8m!  Make sure you book your ticket online before your visit. It will save you time and money. I heard it’s very expensive to buy them last minute, and you won’t get the time you want and of course everyone wants to see Dubai from the heavens during the sunset.

 

  • Dubai Fountain – I am obsessed with fountains and have fallen in love with the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas. After sunset I will get to see the most exciting part for me! I am obsessed with every kind of fountain so when I found out Dubai has the worlds largest choreographed fountain system in the world, I knew it was something I could not miss! It has 6,600 lights and it’s 275m long. The shows run every 30 minutes stating from 6pm daily.

 

  • Souk Al Bahar – The last walk of the day will be in the little area with shops and restaurants, which is directly linked to The Dubai Mall and is overlooking The Dubai Fountain.

Photo Credit: Maher Najm

Day 2

  • Dubai Miracle Garden – Once I found a photo of this park, I knew I had to go there. It’s a flower garden which launched on Valentines day in 2013 and as this is Dubai it is the world’s biggest natural flower garden. Containing over 45 million flowers.

 

  • Atlantis, The Palm – Of course no trip to Dubai would be complete without visiting Palm Islands and the Atlantis it’s one of the places you need to see, especially if you’re hoping to swim with some dolphins at Dolphin Bay or Sea Lion Point. If you’re looking to cool off you can also check out Aquaventure Waterpark or if AC and staying dry is more your style you can visit The Lost Chambers Aquarium. The resort offers many beach clubs there as well as shopping, boat cruises or helicopter tours.

 

  • Dubai Marina  – This will be my last point in Dubai, which is a canal district of Dubai about 3 km long and of course full of restaurants, bars and shops . It has amazing views of the city skyline. If you’re around this area take a trip into the observatory in Marriott hotel to get a great view of Palm Island.

Photo Credit: Eugene Kaspersky

My plan doesn’t seem too intense because I am sure I will be a bit jet lagged, and normally I would be looking for the hidden gems; however, it does include most of the popular tourist attractions. The only place I am skipping but I would love to see is Grand Mosque which looks spectacular but who knows, maybe I will get a chance to be back and see it one day.

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13 COMMENTS

  1. This sounds so exciting! I didn’t get to visit the Grand Mosque the first time I visited Dubai either (there is so much to do in the city, it’s insane). The mall is so, so huge, I ended spending the whole day there and surprisingly managed to control my Rebecca Bloomwood-style shopping urges 🙂 Have a safe trip – your itinerary looks really fun!

  2. Dubai is definitely on my list of places to visit, with all the pictures I’ve seen I’m sure you would love it there.
    Lo it seems to have a lot of world biggest titles to it,
    120 restaurants? How are you to choose.
    Safe flight and enjoy your trip

  3. What a great itinerary! I’ve always wanted to go to Dubai, but I always choose to go somewhere else just because it is such an intimidating city! There is just so much to do and so little time.

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