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Hello, my lovelies,

It has been a while since I last shared our travels with you and unfortunately I have missed quite a bit, but I promise I will be back on track and I really hope that I will find the inspiration to write blog posts more often!

Anyway, on the 4th April I turned 25 and we decided to go and explore new places we haven’t really visited. That’s why we decided to skip Europe this time and go to the Middle East, more precisely to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We tried to explore both the touristy and the more local and traditional Middle East and that’s why I decided to summarize our whole experience into a Dubai & Abu Dhabi Travel Guide.

I have been to Dubai more than 10 years ago, when it was not so so popular tourist destination, and due to the fact that it is such a fast growing and developing place, I can honestly say I couldn’t even recognize it. It has definitely become a very modern and even futuristic place! The architecture, all the technological developments and even all the more touristy experiences were more than phenomenal. So here are some of my favourite places, activities and experiences from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

First of all, I would like to start with a bit of more general information. Most of our trip we spent in Dubai and I can say that a lot of the hotels there were really nice, but as we were looking for a more central location and a bit of a different experience, we chose “Gevora Hotel”. It is stated to be the tallest hotel in the world with its 365 meters’ height and both our room and the cute pool area had the most amazing views of the surrounding skyscrapers.

Apart from the hotel, I think it is useful to tell you that the metro is super cheap like 3-6 dirhams a ride, which is approximately less than 2 dollars. Also, if you are travelling around the centre of Dubai, the taxis are fairly cheap too and are definitely super fast, as with all the metro stations you have to walk quite a lot to actually reach your final destination. Now it is finally time to share with you our favourite locations, experiences and activities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Dubai Desert Safari

This experience is definitely a MUST! It was unique! You start with an off-road safari along the desert dunes, which is pretty tough for people who get sick in cars like me, but it is definitely worth it in the end. Then you go to one of the camps in the middle of the desert, where you can go sandboarding; ride camels; get henna tattoo; go on a squad bike; take photos; watch the sun setting above the sand dunes; walk around in the middle of the desert and after all of these you get to finish the night with amazing local food, shisha and stunning performances. We used an agency called Raina Tours and I can definitely recommend it, because it was an unforgettable experience for us!

Atlantis The Palm

Located on the top of the artificial island made in the form of a palm, Atlantis is one of the most beautiful hotels, I have ever seen. Its architecture is amazing and inside it’s like a small city, with numerous restaurants, amazing beach area and even the UAE’s largest aquarium, called The Lost Chambers. It is home to more than 65,000 marine animals and you can actually go snorkelling inside the aquarium. Unfortunately, we had just missed the last snorkelling session, so we just went inside to see all those amazing sea animals. It was more than stunning and it is definitely worth visiting, as it is literally impossible to see all those marine animals at once anywhere else!

Madinat Jumeirah

Located right next to Burj Al Arab, Madinat Jumeirah is a very beautiful and authentic re-creation of an ancient Middle Eastern Souk or in other words ancient traditional market. Build on numerous canals with natural water coming inside from the Persian Gulf, it really resembles Venice, but with a touch of stunning Middle Eastern architecture and lots of local tradition and craftsmanship. We decided to go on a boat tour around the canals and I can definitely recommend it! After that you can just walk around, have a drink or have dinner at one of the many restaurants there with view of the amazing Burj Al Arab and its night lights.

Dubai Miracle Garden

Located quite near to the Dubai city centre, this garden is the world’s largest natural flower garden, home to more than 50 million flowers and 250 million plants. You are more than amazed from the very entrance. This place looks and smells unreal and it is definitely the most picturesque place. It is definitely worth visiting, but bare in mind that it is quite open and it can get extremely hot.

Old Souk, Gold Souk & Spice Souk

If you want to experience old Dubai, you have to definitely visit the Old town and all the traditional souks (markets). The Old Souk is located quite near to the Al Fahidi Historical area and it has a bit of everything, starting from spices, jewellery, traditional garments, traditional food and unique interior pieces. However, if you want to explore all that the Middle East has to offer in more detail and in bigger choice, you have to visit the Spice Souk and the Gold Souk, where at any time of the day there is more than 10tones of gold, by just crossing the Dubai Creek with one of the many boats.

Dubai Marina

Located near the city centre and along the coastline, the Dubai Marina is definitely a very interesting place to visit. Apart from all the restaurants on the Dubai Marina Walk, all the nearby beaches, such as Jumeirah and Barasti beach, and all the beautiful resorts that you can visit, this place is unique because you can actually explore hundreds of boats and stunning skyscrapers, while walking by the beach.

Burj Khalifa & Burj Al Arab

Those two buildings have definitely made Dubai such a famous and unique place. Burj Al Arab is standing on an artificial and is stated to be one of the tallest hotels in the world with some of the most unique and luxurious restaurants in the area, including an underwater restaurant. This time we skipped going inside the hotel, because we were told that it hasn’t changed significantly since the last time we went there to have dinner and to explore it. Anyways, the other unique and distinctive building in Dubai is Burj Khalifa. It is the tallest building in the entire world with its total height of 829 meters and 160 stories, home to multiple observation decks, numerous restaurants and even a rooftop area, where you can have dinner with the most unique view.

Dubai Mall & Dubai Fountains

The Dubai Mall is stated to be one the largest shopping malls in the entire world, featuring endless variety of shops, restaurants and even an aquarium, where you can actually go snorkelling with more than 300 species of marine animals. As for the Dubai Fountains, they are located right outside the Dubai Mall, and are the world’s largest choreographed fountain system. You can not only go endless shopping, but also you can then observe this magical fountain and the unique Burj Khalifa from one of the nice restaurants placed on water decks.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

The next two amazing places are located in Abu Dhabi, which is the capital of the UAE and is located about one hour drive from Dubai. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the largest mosque in the entire UAE and is home not only to the most beautiful and luxurious marble in the world, but also to the largest handmade wool carpet, weighing around 35 tons, and some of the largest Swarovski chandeliers in the entire world. The experience of visiting such a place is unique! Before entering the mosque, women are given special clothes with hoods to wear inside, in order to show respect to their religion and tradition. Once you enter, the whole atmosphere is unbelievable! This place is honestly so beautiful in person and is for sure one of my favourite places we have visited this entire trip.

Emirates Palace

While we were in Abu Dhabi, we decided to also visit the Emirates Palace. Representing one of the most iconic Abu Dhabi landmarks, the palace is actually stated to be one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. This place is unique not only for its interior entirely covered with 22-carat gold, but also for the fact that in the Emirates Palace every year more than 5kg of 24-carat gold is being eaten in dishes chosen from a perfectly made gold menu. We had the opportunity to try gold cappuccino, camel burger with gold and golden waffles and it is definitely the most unforgettable lunch experience ever! Honestly, so amazing! If you want to visit this stunning place, it is important to actually make a reservation, because otherwise it is impossible to even enter the Emirates Palace (similar thing to Burj Al Arab).

We fell in love with how different, modern and at the same time traditional the Middle East was and we are definitely looking forward to visiting it again soon. Maybe in a few years for the EXPO or for actually seeing in person the first flying taxis or one of the fastest trains in the world. We had such an unforgettable time and definitely the most amazing and unbelievable 25th birthday. I would soon be sharing my top restaurants and cafes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

P.S. None of the places and experiences were sponsored and were just our favourite things to do and see in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I truly recommend visiting any or even all of these places when you have the opportunity. They are definitely worth it!

I am so sorry about this long blog post, but I hope you like it and actually find it useful for your travel experience.

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