Dubai Experience: Independent

Ahlan wa sahlan! Welcome to the United Arab Emirates. On arrival into Dubai International Airport, clear customs and collect your luggage before meeting your private transfer. Please look out for your local Desert Adventures representative. From here, transfer to your centrally located hotel in the downtown Al Fahidi (Bastakiya) historical area, close to the Dubai Museum and the Ruler’s Court. The rest of the day is free for you to discover Dubai – a place that started out as a tiny pearl-diving village and has now grown into one of the world’s most extravagant cities. Bigger is certainly better in Dubai, as it’s home to the world’s tallest building – the 829-metre-tall Burj Khalifa, containing the world’s highest restaurant, outdoor observation deck and nightclub. It also has one of the largest shopping malls (featuring one of the world’s biggest aquariums), the biggest indoor ski resort and the world’s only seven-star hotel. Pretty impressive, huh. This afternoon, perhaps head out for some retail therapy, enjoy your rooftop pool or jump on the complimentary bus service to the beach – it’s up to you!

Explore Dubai beyond the facade with a half-day tour of the city. Discover the heritage area of Bastakiya, full of courtyards, wind towers, and narrow alleyways designed to give pedestrians shade from the sun. Merchants from Iran settled this area in the 1900s, and they built houses sophisticated for the time, including towers that funnelled breezes down into the buildings in an early form of air-conditioning. Next, visit the ornate Al Fahidi Fort and its museum, built in the early 1800s to protect the settlement from rival Bedouin tribes, and later the residence of the ruling sheikh. Ferry across the Dubai Creek alongside abras (water taxis) criss-crossing the water. Follow aromatic smells as you wander through the enticing spice market centred around the creek, and then enter the largest gold market in Arabia, where precious metals and jewels glitter all day. Later, make a stop at the imposing Jumeirah Mosque for some excellent photos. Tonight, a dhow cruise is a wonderful way of spending an evening – aboard a traditionally decorated wooden boat, enjoy dinner as it sails along the Dubai creek under the moonlight. The major Dubai landmarks shine through the moonlight sky as the wooden vessel slips silently across the creek. The past and present architecture of the area is brought to its full beauty during this time.

Your Dubai Experience comes to an end today. There are no activities planned for the final day and this trip finishes after breakfast. That doesn’t mean that your adventure has to come to an end! If you would like to spend more time in Dubai, we’ll be happy to organise additional accommodation (subject to availability).