Self-Travel in Dubai: Useful Advices

Since both these attractions are located on the Dubai Mall area, I have decided to merge them into a single post.

Let’s start with Dubai Fountains. It’s a free attraction, and one of “must see” places in Dubai. Official show is performed in the evening, but sometimes they do some kind of “repetition” during the day. Here is how it looks in the daylight:

But it is especially beautiful in the night. Here is the video I found in youtube, but I think you should see it with your own eyes.

Fountain show is performed in the evening every 30 minutes. There are some different music themes, we’ve seen the arabic song, and it’s very impressive. You can also have some good views in the evening:

Burj Khalifa:

And Address Hotel:

Let’s proceed to Dubai Aquarium. If you have been to Shanghai Aquarium, you won’t be impressed; otherwise you must get only positive emotions from this trip.

There are some types of tickets to purchase; I’d recommend Platinum Aquarium Package for AED 75. It includes access to all areas, except glass bottom ride. When you enter you can see a big tunnel full of fish:

Some other animals:

Penguin feeding:

And a big spider on the wall :0

I recommend you to take a tour (about 15 min) to understand how this aquarium works. You will bw shown some laboratory equipment, and you will find out interesting facts suck as how many people are working at the aquarium, how much water does it need, etc.

Don’t forget to redeem your ticket at souvenir shop. Even if souvenirs are quite expensive, you can find something that will remind you about this experience.

If you consider Atlantis The Palm worth visiting, here is a bried guide.

If you’re planning to reach it via public transport, you should know that you will need a taxi to reach it from the metro station. We’ve tried to avoid using taxi, but there is no way for pedestrians, or the road should be very long. So the cheapest and fastest way will be to take Dubai Internet City metro station and then catch a taxi, that will bring you to monorail. Monorail is just like metro, but it’s much more expensive (25 AED 2-way) and it is mostly used by tourists (haven’t noticed anyone except turists with photo cameras). It allows you to take good photos of the Atlantis:

There is an aqua park inside (we have considered it to be too expensive), a small aquarium (you should better visit Dubai Aquarium in Dubai Mall) and some shops. If you like these activities, you should go to this place.

You can also take some good shots of Burj Al Arab Hotel when you’re at Atlantis. Just like these:

We haven’t visited “Lost chambers”; you might find them interesting. But note, everything is very expensive in that area because of the class of this hotel. This is related to food and any souvenirs, you should consider buying them anywhere but in Atlantis.

There are some good city tours that include Atlantis. Check major tour operators; there are some tour agencies in big malls, that will propose you a great variety of Dubai tours.

Let’s start with internet and mobile networking. I’ve purchased a sim card with data plan (It’s not very cheap but if you need internet, i.e. for Google maps or any other tasks, that’s the best solution). Etisalat SIM card with 1Gb data plan was about $60. There are 2 mobile operators in the UAE: du and Etisalat. Both these operators support roaming, but 3G traffic is too expensive.

If you’re planning to use Skype, you should consider purchasing VPN since you might have problems connecting to it. Same thing is with VOIP providers: it is better to have the ability to encrypt traffic from your device. connection quality is good and network coverage too, you will always stay connected when you need it. ICQ seems to be blocked too, so if you really need these services, you should think about it before your trip.

Money exchange: there is no problem to exchange $ or € at major shopping malls, there are lots of ATM machines. All you need is to have the money: there are lots of ways to spend it. I haven’t found the difference in exchange rates, so it is ok to exchange funds almost at every location with the same rate.

Food: there are a plenty of foodcourts in big malls. There are many restaurants around, but eating in foodcourt is much cheaper. You can find Mcdonald’s, KFC, Subway and other known brands. If you go to a restaurant, the price is much higher (2x-3x). Have a good breakfast at your hotel.

Most taxi drivers understand and speak good English. But I suggest you to have printed all the location addresses you might need in the trip. Sometimes, when you need anything specific, you might have problems figuring out where the address you need is located.

One of “must see” places in modern Dubai is Burj Khalifa. We’ve been at many skyscrappers and high points, but the view from Burj Khalifa is really impressing. Let’s start our trip:

First of all, how to get to Burj Khalifa. There are always several options to reach it. If you like comfort and can afford taxis, you should use it. Another option is using metro and get off at Dubai Mall station. You can take a bus to Dubai Mall or make a short walk as it’s quite near and is visible from the metro station.

We have used metro and then a bus to Dubai Mall. I recommend you to arrive a bit earlier as you need to collect your tickets that have timed entry.

If you know your exact visit time, it is strongly recommended to purchase tickets at the official site: http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/ . Immediate access costs AED 400, and if you book the tickets online, it’s only AED 100. Do not forget to take your passport and credit card you’ve used to purchase tickets and you will be asked to show them when picking up your tickets.

What is the best time to visit Burj Khalifa? We’ve come at 16-30 and got off at 19:00 as the time is not limited. We wanted to take photos in the daylight and to view Dubai fountains at night. If you’re not interested in photos, you can reserve about 30 minutes to view everything. View is impressive at any time, so you can select the time that suits you best.

When you arrive to Dubai Mall, you should follow the pointers to reach Burj Khalifa entry. Here is how it looks:

After you get your tickets, you can enter the hall, where the small copy of this building is placed:

And a message from one of the initiators of this building:

When you arrive to the top, the view is really impressive:

And from another angle:

And the desert view:

Here is how it looks like in the evening:

And the Address hotel:

When it’s dark, you can see “At the top” logo on the black background:

And finally, some night views:

So if you have any doubts: to visit or not, I hope my photos will help you to choose whether this sight is worth your attention or not.

Public transport is the most inexpensive way to travel around Dubai. If you’re on a budget, this can save you lots of money. Even if taxis are relatively cheap, public transport is much cheaper and it is comfortable enough.

Let me describe the ways to move in Dubai. The first, fastest and most expensive one, is travelling by helicopters . You should probably not read this article further, if you can afford helicopter trips. But this is the fastest way to travel and it is widely used in Dubai.

Taxis are very good in Dubai. All taxis have taxi meters, that’s why you always know the truth about the fare used. An average trip will cost you 30-35 AED (we never paid more).

Public transport is represented by metro and public buses. It is much cheaper than using taxis, but takes much more time too. A bus trip will cost you around 1.8-5 AED, and a metro trip 2-8 AED.

First thing you need to use public transport is NOL card. It is used in all public transport units, that’s why this is a “must have”. There are no single-journey tickets, especially for buses. You can purchase NOL cards at all the metro stations at AED 20. Cards can be refilled at every station too.

The second thing you need is Dubai public transport map. All public routes are mentioned on this map. Here it is: https://www.rta.ae/wpsv5/links/buses/FullBusNetwork_sm.pdf

Metro map can be found here: http://www.rta.ae/wpsv5/links/map/rta_map_en.html . Actually there are 2 lines: red and green.

Here is a typical Dubai bus:

Metro stations feature unique design:

Here is the metro interior:

And inside the car:

NOL card, used in public transport:

To finalize the spoken above, I should mention that public transport in Dubai is very clean and comfortable even in rush hours. I can recommend using it if you’re on a budget.