The second stop on our backpacking journey was Dubai, UAE. Somewhere I’d always wanted to visit but feared would be way too hot for my pale Irish skin.
I was exited to stop over somewhere in the Middle East as we made our way to Sri Lanka, and was very excited that it turned out to be Dubai as I know so many people that have visited there, that live there and that speak so highly of it.
I wanted to see if it lived up to everything I thought it would be with its glamour, luxury and wealth.
Top tip: for mobile data around Dubai, we used the Airalo eSim which was super handy and easily installed onto our phones as soon as we landed in the airport!
You can see everything we got up to in my Dubai YouTube vlog below. From our hotel suite room tour, to the tourist attractions, everything we ate and my first impressions of Dubai:
How we got to Dubai
To get to Dubai, we flew from Bucharest, Romania as this is where we had started our backpacking journey. If you didn’t already know, my boyfriend and I quit our jobs in London to go travelling for as long as possible until our budget runs out.
As we were in Bucharest, we were able to fly to Dubai a lot cheaper than we would have, had we been in London (which is why we came to Bucharest in the first place).
We flew with WizzAir at 2pm, and landed around 8pm local time. The flight lasted five hours and we didn’t have any delays or issues flying with WizzAir.
Where we stayed
As I mentioned, we were at the start of our backpacking journey, so were travelling as cheaply as possible. You don’t often hear the words ‘Dubai’ and ‘cheap’ in the same sentence, but we were hoping to find ways to make it as cheap as we could, making sure our budget could stretch as far as possible.
This meant staying outside the usual tourist hotspots of Dubai Marina/The Palm and staying in Old Dubai, nearby to the airport.
We stayed at the Copthorne Hotel, a ten minute drive from the airport and situated in Old Dubai, but a few minutes’ walk from a metro station.
Our room cost £45 per night and we were very luckily upgraded on arrival to a suite with a large lounge area, kitchen, bedroom and balcony spreading across the entire suite. It definitely made staying a bit further outside of the main area worth it!
Related blog post: Checking In: Copthorne hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Everywhere we ate
Even though we were travelling on a budget, we didn’t really change up our eating habits to match this as we always seek out hole-in-the-wall local spots over the more fancy/up-market restaurants.
For our two evening meals, we ate in family-owned canteen-style restaurants in Old Dubai, to sample authentic Middle Eastern style cuisine.
Al Ustad Special Kabab: The oldest Iranian restaurant in Dubai, and a local spot to come and try Persian food, we had an incredible kebab platter that was cheap and delicious. It’s definitely famous for a reason!
Ravi Restaurant, Satwa: Another canteen-style establishment in Old Dubai that serves Pakistani and Indian cuisine. Popular with locals and tourists alike, it’s definitely a spot worth travelling to.
We did have a somewhat expat-style dining experience with our final meal of the trip when we were walking along Dubai Marina, stopping at Eggspectation on the waterfront for some brunch. All in the name of research of course, as you know, I’m a brunch connoisseur.
Related blog post: The Best Authentic Restaurants To Dine At In Dubai, UAE
12 things to see and do
- Take a walking tour of Old Dubai
- See the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building
- Spend two hours on the water in a private boat, sailing around Dubai waterfront
- Visit the souks in Old Dubai
- Watch the fountain show at night in front of the Burj Khalifa
- Walk around Dubai Marina
- Take a boat across the creek in Old Dubai
- Visit the famous Dubai Mall
- Sunbathe on JBR beach
- See The Frame
- Visit the Souk Medinat and see the Burj Al Arab (the world’s first 7-star hotel)
- Go quad biking in the dunes of the desert
5 things to know about Dubai
- Dubai is a muslim country, be respectful and make sure to cover knees/shoulders in religious spaces and limit public displays of affection.
- The local currency is AED – we only needed cash for Al Ustad Special Kabab, but used contactless/card payment everywhere else.
- The temperature in Dubai is hot all year round, you are in the desert so don’t forget sunscreen!
- Uber is readily available but don’t be afraid to use public buses and the metro. As this will cost you 5 AED (£1) per journey. You’ll need a TAG card to use public transport (just like an Oyster card). And these can be obtained in any metro station.
- Dubai is a lot larger than you might think – bring sensible walking shoes. If you’ve been to Las Vegas, think of it as the Las Vegas strip. You might think everything is close together, but it’s actually a 30 minute (or more) walk away.
- Yes, it’s expensive.
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