Stopover in Dubai, is it worth it?

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flamtech

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I am planning a trip to London at the end of the year to attend a wedding.

I am contemplating the possibility to stopover in Dubai to visit the Dubai Mall and go and see the Palm Islands. Can you visit the Palm Island, or is it only for residents?

As far as the airplane ticket, it will cost me R300.00 more if I stop over.

Additional costs will be Visa R620 en Hotel R 1600.00 for two nights.

I would like to hear from you if you visited the Dubai Mall, and whether you have knowledge of low cost accommodation in Dubai. Also if there is any pitfalls to be aware of.
 
flamtech said:
I am planning a trip to London at the end of the year to attend a wedding.

I am contemplating the possibility to stopover in Dubai to visit the Dubai Mall and go and see the Palm Islands. Can you visit the Palm Island, or is it only for residents?

As far as the airplane ticket, it will cost me R300.00 more if I stop over.

Additional costs will be Visa R620 en Hotel R 1600.00 for two nights.

I would like to hear from you if you visited the Dubai Mall, and whether you have knowledge of low cost accommodation in Dubai. Also if there is any pitfalls to be aware of.
Click to expand...

By stop over I assume you mean getting a VISA and staying a day or 2?

As in: Not "in transit"
 
Well i havent been personaly, but if money is not a object then why not!
always good to see something different
 
We did a stopover a few years ago en route to France. Would I do it again? No. The whole Souks and shopping thing and being harassed by everyone for "genuine fake Rolexes" irritated me. I also felt were intimidated taking photographs, received some very hostile looks... Make sure you understand the customs in terms of clothing, alcohol etc.

Having said that, I guess it is worth seeing Dubai once. The Mall (and ski resort) is impressive. The best thing by far is the desert safari trip - we had a complete maniac driving a Land Cruiser on the dunes, then a camel and quad bike ride and cool entertainment and dinner afterwards. Definitely worth doing that.

The cheapest hotels we could find were the international ones. We stayed in the Ibis iirc.
 
DefecteD said:
Well i havent been personaly, but if money is not a object then why not!
always good to see something different
Click to expand...

My thoughts also, even if it is a bad experience, it still is an experience.
 
SiriS said:
We did a stopover a few years ago en route to France. Would I do it again? No. The whole Souks and shopping thing and being harassed by everyone for "genuine fake Rolexes" irritated me. I also felt were intimidated taking photographs, received some very hostile looks... Make sure you understand the customs in terms of clothing, alcohol etc.
Click to expand...

So I will keep my Klippies and coke in the room. I presume a man doesnt have the problems with clothing like woman does, So jeans and tekkies will do?

SiriS said:
Having said that, I guess it is worth seeing Dubai once. The Mall (and ski resort) is impressive. The best thing by far is the desert safari trip - we had a complete maniac driving a Land Cruiser on the dunes, then a camel and quad bike ride and cool entertainment and dinner afterwards. Definitely worth doing that.
Click to expand...

Excellent suggestion! I will follow up on that. Thanks
 
I would def recommend doing a stop over. Dubai is one of those 'must see countries' atleast once.

2 days is enough to do:
Dubai Mall, at dubai mall you will also get to go up the Burj Khalifa (tallest building inb the world) and watch the worlds largest musical fountains (amazing) amoung many other largest, biggest, brightest, most expensive things!
I would also recommend, Atlantis (Palm Island), Desert Safari, Souks, Dubai Marina etc etc.
Time wise you dont have to worry as your days are looong. Shops are open till late (1am) restuarants even later and you can go out at pretty much anytime, always something to do.

Culture and custom of the land is no issue atall as there is prob more expats there than locals and it is afterall a tourist destination. Just dont be an idiot and run around drunk and naked in the streets!

Overall Def worthwhile for a visit!!
 
If you can afford it, yes sure, it's interesting to see Dubai once.

Most interesting about the mall is the ski-slope, otherwise it's just a mall filled with the usual shops. Don't expect lots of bargains here - things are only slightly cheaper than south africa and you won't have a warranty.

Do visit Burj Khalifa (worlds tallest building), the water fountains in front of it is amazing (every 20minutes at night)

(Here's a photo I took last year)
4620805789_d3a98bbf48.jpg
 
Pynet said:
I would def recommend doing a stop over. Dubai is one of those 'must see countries' atleast once.

2 days is enough to do:
Dubai Mall, at dubai mall you will also get to go up the Burj Khalifa (tallest building inb the world) and watch the worlds largest musical fountains (amazing) amoung many other largest, biggest, brightest, most expensive things!
I would also recommend, Atlantis (Palm Island), Desert Safari, Souks, Dubai Marina etc etc.
Time wise you dont have to worry as your days are looong. Shops are open till late (1am) restuarants even later and you can go out at pretty much anytime, always something to do.

Culture and custom of the land is no issue atall as there is prob more expats there than locals and it is afterall a tourist destination. Just dont be an idiot and run around drunk and naked in the streets!

Overall Def worthwhile for a visit!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

How do you move from one place to the next? By taxi or do you get a rental?
 
flamtech said:
Thanks for the info.

How do you move from one place to the next? By taxi or do you get a rental?
Click to expand...

Dubai has an excellent Metro(subway) which is really cheap. There are stops at most of the malls and tourist sites. Or else taxi's are also pretty easy, all are meter taxi's so no haggling for rates etc. Just jump in and move.

Rental - Fuel is dirt cheap so rental may be an option. But I would recommend use the public transport as most of your time you will be indoors (malls etc) and they drive left hand drive there!

PS: Most of the bigger hotels have complimentary bus service to the malls. Worth checking when you book a hotel
 
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Pynet said:
I would def recommend doing a stop over. Dubai is one of those 'must see countries' atleast once.

2 days is enough to do:
Dubai Mall, at dubai mall you will also get to go up the Burj Khalifa (tallest building inb the world) and watch the worlds largest musical fountains (amazing) amoung many other largest, biggest, brightest, most expensive things!
I would also recommend, Atlantis (Palm Island), Desert Safari, Souks, Dubai Marina etc etc.
Time wise you dont have to worry as your days are looong. Shops are open till late (1am) restuarants even later and you can go out at pretty much anytime, always something to do.

Culture and custom of the land is no issue atall as there is prob more expats there than locals and it is afterall a tourist destination. Just dont be an idiot and run around drunk and naked in the streets!

Overall Def worthwhile for a visit!!
Click to expand...

Beat me to it, while I was typing :D

@flamtech: When arriving at Dubai Airport, before you go through customs, remember to get a retina scan - otherwise you'll spend an hour in the queue only to be sent back. Retina scans are done in a back corner on the same level as customs. (Funny that only South African, Chinese, Pakistani's and the like need to have this done before entering)
 
Pynet said:
I would def recommend doing a stop over. Dubai is one of those 'must see countries' atleast once.

2 days is enough to do:
Dubai Mall, at dubai mall you will also get to go up the Burj Khalifa (tallest building inb the world) and watch the worlds largest musical fountains (amazing) amoung many other largest, biggest, brightest, most expensive things!
I would also recommend, Atlantis (Palm Island), Desert Safari, Souks, Dubai Marina etc etc.
Time wise you dont have to worry as your days are looong. Shops are open till late (1am) restuarants even later and you can go out at pretty much anytime, always something to do.

Culture and custom of the land is no issue atall as there is prob more expats there than locals and it is afterall a tourist destination. Just dont be an idiot and run around drunk and naked in the streets!

Overall Def worthwhile for a visit!!
Click to expand...

What he said! If you have the time and some extra cash. Seems some of you are getting mixed up with Mall of the Emirates (Has Ski Dubai) and The Dubai Mall (next to Burj Khalifa)
Those 2 malls are very expensive, if you like malls etc. then you will love them. The fountain at Dubai mall is worth a visit as someone mentioned as well as the desert safari's. December is a nice time as well, weather is better etc. Taxi's are the norm as well as the Metro.

Any questions let me know, currently live in dubai.
 
Mier said:
Beat me to it, while I was typing :D

@flamtech: When arriving at Dubai Airport, before you go through customs, remember to get a retina scan - otherwise you'll spend an hour in the queue only to be sent back. Retina scans are done in a back corner on the same level as customs. (Funny that only South African, Chinese, Pakistani's and the like need to have this done before entering)
Click to expand...

Everyone on a visit visa needs to get a retina scan. British/US/EU citizens (plus a few other countries) don't need visa for 30 days, so thats why you dont see them at the retina scan section.
 
Mier said:
If you can afford it, yes sure, it's interesting to see Dubai once.

Most interesting about the mall is the ski-slope, otherwise it's just a mall filled with the usual shops. Don't expect lots of bargains here - things are only slightly cheaper than south africa and you won't have a warranty.
Click to expand...

No warranty.. good point. After all, it is just shops. Rather spend the time in the dunes with a maniac!

Mier said:
Do visit Burj Khalifa (worlds tallest building), the water fountains in front of it is amazing (every 20minutes at night)
Click to expand...

I am getting excited!
 
AvOk said:
What he said! If you have the time and some extra cash. Seems some of you are getting mixed up with Mall of the Emirates (Has Ski Dubai) and The Dubai Mall (next to Burj Khalifa)
Those 2 malls are very expensive, if you like malls etc. then you will love them. The fountain at Dubai mall is worth a visit as someone mentioned as well as the desert safari's. December is a nice time as well, weather is better etc. Taxi's are the norm as well as the Metro.

Any questions let me know, currently live in dubai.
Click to expand...

Thanks AvOk for identifying that there's two malls. I did pick it up, but thought it was just a different name.
 
Spent 2 days there returning from our honeymoon. My wife wasn't too impressed - but I rather enjoyed it. Malls = pretty standard (except for things such as the ski-slope) and rather expensive. Souks = waste of time, unless you know your gold price off by heart and are able to accurately estimate the weight of something you're holding. They will pick up pretty quick that you are a tourist and you'll end up paying more for the gold items in any case.

Desert safari (4x4s, camels etc) is really worth it!

Unfortunately the waterfountains were still being built when we were there. :(
 
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