A week in Dubai – part 2 - Claire Imaginarium

The second part of our week in Dubai was devoted to explore the history and culture of the United Arab Emirates and relax.

After a little lie-in on our third day, we headed to the main attraction in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa. I am not exaggerating when saying that the height of this tower is mind-blowing. It is… so high! Soooooooo high!

I had booked our tickets in advanced but the queues we saw weren’t too bad.

One part of the visit which is quite magical is the elevator ride, you can really feel how high and fast you are going, and the animation telling the story of Dubai from the time it was a little village to nowadays is beautiful.

Once at the top you have one job to enjoy the view! Well, that and taking some very cheesy pictures (no our choice but one of the guides insisted).

After our visit at the top of the world, we headed to the Dubai Mall for a bit of shopping and check out one of the biggest shopping centres in the world.

I am using words like ‘biggest’, ‘tallest’, ‘huge’, gigantic’, a lot in that post but this is what Dubai is all about – it is completely over the top!

The following day we headed to Abu Dhabi which is only a 90-minute drive away and where you will find the Grand Mosque.

After changing to more appropriate outfits (note to the ladies, make sure to pack a couple of maxi-dresses as they are very handy when visiting a Muslim country), we joined a group for a complimentary tour of the mosque. The place is beautiful and once again just gigantic/over-the-top/***insert the adjective of your choice here***.

I really recommend the guided tour as you will learn a lot about the history of the religion and the local traditions.

In the afternoon we headed to a water park between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. A very refreshing stop in the desert heat. I will spare you the swimsuits pictures though.

The fifth day was spent in the old Dubai. Head toward Deira neighbourhood, hop on a boat across the river and explore a more authentic Dubai and all the souks. Spices, utensils, diamonds, name it and there is a souk for it!

Our final day was spent at the beach. We paddle-boarded in the morning at Jumeirah beach. In the afternoon we headed to the Palm for a couple massage and a relaxing afternoon at the Kempinski.

Overall it was a very pleasant and relaxing week. So if you are looking for somewhere hot, easy to travel to and with a good balance of beach time and activities, Dubai is the place! Also, I want to apologise to Dubai to have thought that I would dislike it so much. Dubai, you are pretty okay!