This year I traveled for the first time outside of Europe. I traveled to Dubai, one of the seven Emirates of the United Arab Emirates.
I chose to visit Dubai on March and the temperature was like the summer in Greece. While I was there, it ranged from 27 to 37 degrees. In my opinion, the best months to go to Dubai are from October to March. From April to September the heat is unbearable.
Trip
We didn’t fly directly to Dubai from Greece, as we went with WizzAir to Abu Dhabi. It’s a different Emirate from Dubai and it has different regulations for tourists with the currently situation with the coronavirus pandemic.
If a tourist wants to stay to Abu Dhabi for one night, he will be forced to stay in quarantine for ten days in a hotel. If you go to Abu Dhabi just for a intermediate stop to Dubai, then, when you’ll arrive to the airport you will take an airport taxi to leave immediately.
The journey was about 1 hour and cost about 60 euros.
Be careful: Airport taxis from Abu Dhabi accept only cash.
What you need in order to travel to Dubai during the pandemic
First of all, if you are a greek passport holder, then you can travel only with this, without a visa.
At this moment, their coronavirus policy is as follows: You must have done a PCR test no later than 72 hours before entering the country and as soon as you arrive, you will do a free rapid test at the airport. Then you must stay in quarantine until the results.
We signed a “health” form in order to arrive to Abu Dhabi. I don’t know if there is something similar for Dubai.
To return to Greece, you must do another one PCR test up to 72 hours before your arrival in the country. In addition you must complete a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) no later than 24 hours before the flight. When you arrive in Greece you will do a fourth test and you will stay in a mandatory quarantine for 7 days.
Attention: 1. Test results obviously must be negative. 2. There instructions were valid during the time period I traveled (March 20-27). As each country renews its policy often, it would be good to be informed from the official pages of the airports.
Where to stay
Hotel Revier Dubai
The hotel is located in Business Bay Area and it’s very close to famous tourist attractions like Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall.
It’s different from the most hotels in Dubai. It has minimal design with modern details. As soon as you get in the lobby, you’re transported to a resort in Aspen, Switzerland. It’s really impressive. The staff is incredible polite and willing to help you with anything you need.
The owners first visited Dubai in 2008 and they were instantly fascinated by this thriving and pulsating city. They were impressed by the way Dubai transformed from a small town to an internationally recognised bustling destination. They brought for sure a little taste of Switzerland ti the Middle East.
The rooms are spacious with special decoration. The hotel also has a very large swimming pool, very useful with the temperatures that Dubai has.
Hotel’s restaurant is also open for the non-residents. Everything was delicious and the dishes are very neat. The prices are very affordable, especially for what they offer you.
Where to eat
Salt
After our walk in Kite Beach, we chose Salt. It’s a food-chain, as there are many “Salt” in Dubai.
First you order your food, you sit at the table you want and they give you a little gadget that will notifies you as soon as your order is ready, to go and pick it up.
I tried the Chicken Crispy Burger and it was amazing. It was one of the best breaded chicken I have ever eat! totally recommend it.
Wendy’s
This restaurant was close to our hotel and we chose it one night, as we were tired enough to walk and go out. We ordered and got our food in a package to eat at the hotel, but you can also eat inside the restaurant if you want. It’s a quick and cheap solution. For four burgers (the two of them had double burger inside), potatoes, chicken nuggets and chicken wings we paid a total of 17.70€.
The Chickery
At La Mer Beach, we went to The Chickery. They had an offer with 44 AED (around 10€) per person and you had a portion of fries, a soft drink and as many chicken wings you can eat! For the record, I ate 13.
Pizza Hut
The day we went to Dubai Mall, we chose Pizza Hut, as we found a table outside and we sat in front of the Dubai Fountain. The Chicken BBQ pizza and the Lasagna pasta were my favourite. We also bought the Alfredo pasta, but I didn’t like it so much.
Kazoza Restaurant
When we visited Palm Jumeirah island, we went to The Pointe Beach and then we strolled down the sidewalk with the shops, until we chose to sit at the Kazoza Restaurant.
The tables overlook the famous Atlantis the Palm Hotel, as it’s directly in front of them. The restaurant is nicely decorated and the staff is very kind.
Revier Dubai Restaurant
I mentioned above the hotel I stayed. On the third floor, there is a restaurant that you can eat even if you don’t stay there. We chose it for dinner and the food was delicious. The dishes are amazing and the atmosphere is very nice. You can also enjoy your breakfast there, lunch, but also some cocktails.
El Greco
If you want to tase greek and mediterranean kitchen in Dubai, hen it’s the best solution. The portions are big and the food so tasty. The prices in terms of quantity and quality are very good. You will find it at La Mer Beach.
Bab Al Mansour
Centrally located near the Burj Khalifa, you will find the Moroccan restaurant. The decoration is incredible and the food is unique. It worths a visit.
At.Mosphere Burj Khalifa
The restaurant is located to the 123th floor of Burj Khalifa, at the most tall building in the world. There you will feel to the fullest the luxury which Dubai is famous for.
The prices are quite expensive, but let be honest, where else will you find this view? We went for coffee in the morning, but you can go for any meal of the day. In order to visit it, you have to make a reservation.
A sample of their prices is their popular coffee, with gold leaf, which costs 160 AED, about 37€.
Places you have to see in Dubai
Burj Khalifa
Burj Khalifa skyscraper is the tallest building in the world with a height of 827 meters and 160 floors!
If you want to go up to the building, you have to buy a ticket. For the 124th and 125th floor, the ticket costs 149 AED, approximately 35€. If you want to get to the 148th floor, the entrance costs 379 AED, around 88€.
Alternatively, you can stay at the hotel inside the skyscraper or dine at the 123rd-floor At.Mosphere Restaurant.
Kite Beach
An endless beach with white sand and full of shells. Above the beach, you will find cute colourful canteens and they have a big variety of food options.
Dubai Miracle Garden
Dubai Miracle Garden is a magical place. It first opened on Valentine’s Day in 2013. It’s the largest garden with real flowers in the world and contains more than 50 million flowers and 250 million plants.
The entrance ticket costs 55 AED, about 13 €, for people over 12 years. Children aged 3-12 would pay 40 AED, about 9€ and the admission for children under 3 is free. The best way to go is by taxi.
Definitely worth a visit, it’s something you will never see anywhere else.
Madinat Jumeirah
A luxury resort with private beach, but there is an area with souvenir shops and restaurants. At this area the entrance is free and you don’t have to be a hotel resident to have access.
It was one of my favorite parts in Dubai.
Burj Al Arab – Jumeirah Public Beach
Close to Madinat Jumeirah Resort there is the Jumeirah Public Beach. It’s a wonderful beach with white shells and countless shells. The best part is the view of the only 7-star hotel in the world, Burj Al Arab.
Al Fahidi Area
A beautiful place that takes you to the past. Around you will find unique paths with cafes, restaurants and many attractions. There you will see an other part of Dubai. It has a historic style in its architecture and is dominates by calm and quite as you wondering around there.
La Mer Beach
A nice place to spend your evening. The public beach is perfect to enjoy the sunset. Around there are many shops and restaurants.
Dubai Marina
If you ever visit Dubai, you should definitely see this place. The scenery is unreal. Huge skyscrapers around, many shops and so many people everywhere.
Dubai Desert Safari
My favorite activity in my trip to Dubai. It’s a unique experience and it’s something that you will never find in Europe.
There are so many travel agencies in Dubai that organize safari tours. Prices range from € 20-60 for group packages and from € 100-700 -maybe more- for private tours.
We paid 25€ per person and the package included: 20 minutes dune bashing, camel ride, henna for women, sand boarding in the dunes, photo with traditional clothing (due to coronavirus it was not available).
After the activities in the sand, we went to a camp located in the middle of the desert and had dinner, while at the same time there is a spectacle of oriental dancers and other dancers with fires etc. They picked us up from the hotel at 15:30 and returned at 21:30.
The Palm Jumeirah – Atlantis The Palm
The artificial island of Palm Jumeirah in the shape of a tree is known for its luxury hotels and of course the famous Atlantis The Palm. To get there we took the metro that leaves us almost at the beginning of the island and from there, we took a taxi to The Pointe beach.
It was a nice small beach and it was full of shells too. It’s also the place with the best view of Atlantis. Above the beach you will find the pedestrian street with countless shops to drink coffee and restaurants to enjoy your meal.
Dubai Mall
The huge mall next to the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Fountain attracts millions of tourists every year. It has four floors and over 1,500 shops. In fact, it’s so big that there are small cars inside to take you from one side to the other. Inside there is even an ice-skating stadium and an aquarium. It has almost all the famous brands and is neat and clean.
Strengthen with time, great patience and endurance for walking!
Dubai Fountain
Dubai Fountain is the largest fountain with water choreographies in the world. From 18:00 to 23:00 every day, there are mini shows of 2-3 minutes every half an hour . It’s really impressive, but I wasn’t very excited, as I expected the show to last a little longer.
Transportation in Dubai
Dubai is a huge city with big distances. You can rent a car, move around with public transportation or use a taxi/Uber.
Metro-Buses
We use a lot the public transportation. Metro has very frequent routes, every 3-5 minutes. Buses have routes every 10-20 minutes.
We stayed in Dubai for a week, so we got a weekly travel card and it costs about € 30 per person. It’s an affordable solution, as if you use only taxis, be prepared to pay a lot of money.
Taxi – Uber
In cases where the metro was far from the location we wanted to go we had to use taxis and Uber. Initially we only called Uber, as we considered it cheaper, but eventually in Dubai taxis are cheaper.
For example, when we wanted to go to Miracle Garden we wanted to call Uber and it would charge us 30-40 AED, because it was late to arrive we decided to take a taxi and it only charged us 17 AED. That’s when we realized that taxis are a cheaper idea than Uber
Things you should know before traveling to Dubai
- The currency in Dubai is the Dirham. 1€ =4.30 AED approx.
- They accept credit cards almost everywhere, but the Greek banks keep high commission. We paid with the Revolut card.
- The climate is very hot. The best months to go are from October to March. Unless you don’t have a problem with high temperatures like 40+ degrees.
- Greek data and minutes are not valid in the United Arab Emirates. There are two local SIMs that you can buy there. We bought an e-SIM, because we only wanted mobile data, not mobile minutes. There is also free Wi-Fi everywhere, so you don’t have to buy any package if you don’t want to.
- Distances are huge. If you don’t have a car, then you should choose the metro and on some routes the taxi option. Especially during the high-traffic hours, when the subway is full.
- With the pandemic, at this moment, in order to travel from Greece, you need a total of 4 tests. One before you go, one as soon as you arrive at the airport, one before you return to Greece and one at the airport in Greece. (The rules are constantly updates, so before you travel, please get informed from the official sites of each country).
- At this moment, anyone returning to Greece from the United Arab Emirates, must be quarantined for 7 days.
If you want to see more videos and photos from my trip to Dubai, visit my profile on Instagram.
