places to go in dubai

Places To Go In Dubai On A Budget

Visiting Dubai on a budget may seem to be impossible as this city is associated with luxury and glamour. Dubai is rich in attractions, so maybe it’s worth to save some money before going there. When we started planning this trip we weren’t sure, if it’s beyond our means. That’s why we had to make very accurate plan and we managed to do it. Our stay in Dubai will always be unforgettable for us, especially because it’s a place of our engagement :) Click read more button to find out more about it and see what places to go in Dubai.

DAY 1

Places to go in Dubai

As we wrote in previous posts (Budapest – Click here to read about it), we had a plane from Budapest to Dubai. We arrived in Dubai in the evening, so we didn’t spend there a whole day and we were also too tired to see anything. And it was also too late for that :) We just went to the Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall – we liked its decoration so much! There was a simple ceiling painted as it was a sky, shops looked like buildings and aisles resembled streets. It was a very unique mall. If you visit Dubai, we definitely recommend going there. We saw something like this for the first time and must admit that it’s very creative. We bought some food there and went to the hotel to rest for the next day :)

places to go in dubai
Can you believe it’s a shopping mall? fot. Elvis Payne, flickr.com, CC BY 2.0

And also we haven’t used to such high temperatures. It was a shock for us when we got out of the plane – we would describe it as the feeling when you open the oven with your face close to it :)

DAY 2

The second day was Friday – The Holy Day for Muslims. As we went out of our hotel, we heard Adhan (Islamic call to worship recited by Muezzin). It provided very specific and exceptional atmosphere. It’s much different from our European culture and we fell in love with that place at once.

places to go in dubai

First we headed to the bus station. All of the bus stations look very modern and futuristically. They are made with aim to secure people that are waiting for the bus from heat. How great is that! You come and don’t need to worry that you will get sweated! :) With only one minor exception – the air conditioning. It wasn’t working at the time we were waiting :( But we hope that it doesn’t happen often ;)

places to go in dubai
Unfortunately a fan doesn’t make any difference there in summer – it’s too hot (about 44 degrees)

Ok, but let’s go to the point. The bus station wasn’t our main attraction – we wanted to get to the beach near the hotel Burj al Arab. Before we got there, we could see beautiful Jumeirah Mosque from the bus – the structure is strikingly impressive :)

places to go in dubai

Burj Al Arab at Sunset Beach

When we finally found ourselves on the Sunset Beach, we could admire beautiful views: the Bay, the hotel and everything around. It was really nice to sit in the blue water and enjoy this unforgettable moment :)

places to go in dubai
How many stars has this hotel exactly?

Madinat Jumeirah

Our next stop that day was Madinat Jumeirah. We have to admit that there is a little bit less muggily than normally while being outside. Later, we got to know that it was caused by the special construction of the buildings there. Madinat Jumeirah is close to the Burj al Arab (which you can see in the picture in the distance). It’s a huge space with boutique hotel, rich greenery, water canals and elegant boats that boat hotel guests to their apartments. The whole place is luxurious and perfect to relax :)

places to go in dubai
Burj Al Arab in the distance

places to go in dubai

Mall of Emirates

Then we took taxi to the Mall of the Emirates. Luckily taxis in Dubai are amazingly cheap :) We were very hungry and wanted to eat something. There is a great choice of food but the food court is full of people and it’s hard to find a place to sit. We tried some Asian food there but surprisingly what we liked the most was pizza ;)

places to go in dubai

The rest of the day we spent in the shopping mall and we saw ski slope but didn’t go inside. We decided to skip this attraction, but it seems that it’s also worth-visiting and people looked like having much fun there. It can be a great attraction especially for those, who live in hot climates and don’t see snow very often.

places to go in dubai
And that’s how our second day ended.

Day 3

Dubai Marina

On our third day we planned to see Dubai Marina. As we got there, we took a water taxi. It was very cheap in comparison to other boat rides offered in Marina. But there are many offers so we have to pick wisely.

places to go in dubai

In general, we were walking around the whole afternoon and enjoying the views. There are a lot of skyscrapers in that area, so we took plenty of pictures.

places to go in dubai

Later on, we came back to the hotel and in the evening we went to see the main attraction of Dubai – Burj Khalifa. This building is so high that it’s almost impossible to have it on the photo in all its glory when taking a picture at close range.

The evening was wonderful and it would be unforgettable for us for the whole life and not only because of the atmosphere and views but mainly because of OUR ENGAGEMENT!!! :) :) Everything was precisely planned and Agata didn’t know about anything. We went to the downtown of Dubai supposedly to only have a walk next to Burj Khalifa and Fountains. It was dark, but the area was still very lively and full of tourists. We snapped a few pictures and found a bench a little bit aside. We could be alone there. And in that moment IT HAPPENED. Any what’s more? She said YEEEEEES! ;) For us it was very exceptional to experience such an important moment of life in that place :)

places to go in dubai

places to go in dubai

So it was how our third day in Dubai looked like! – we couldn’t imagine a better end of the day :)

Day 4

Burj Khalifa

On our fourth day we went at the top of Burj Khalifa. The first impression you get just when you get to the elevator – you can feel how the pressure changes – it’s the same as when you get to the plane and your ears clog.

After we got to the top, we weren’t sure what’s going on – some people started making us pictures and asking to stand in strange positions and it lasted for a while :) (it were just photographers that later offer these pictures, but they are extremely expensive).

places to go in dubai

And then we finally could focus on where we were :) the view is amazing but it’s also extremely frightening. One of us (Agata :)) has a fear of heights so it took almost an hour to get accustomed to this unusual situation. From above everything looks like small toys – even the skyscrapers. For someone with the fear of high, getting at the top of Burj Khalifa can be a horrifying experience, but it can be also treated as a form of therapy to beat the fear :)

places to go in dubai

places to go in dubai
Our photographer managed to capture the whole building – it’s not easy!

We spent a couple of hours at the top because we wanted to watch the sunset. It was beautiful to see how the sun set over the desert.

After that we walked around the shopping mall for a while and then came back to our hotel :)

And we think that worth mentioning is that we could take water with us – we had read at some blogs before that it’s not allowed but as we were passing through control, nobody said about any restrictions.

Day 5

Palm Jumeirah – Monorail

Fifth day was incredible. At first we went to the Dubai Marina mall to eat something and then we took the tram to the station Palm Jumeirah (the station is not at Palm Jumeirah but very close and that’s why it’s called like that). From there we took monorail that goes through the Palm Jumeirah straight to the waterpark Aquaventure! The ride with monorail was awesome – we managed to sit at the front, from which it’s best to observe the artificial isle.

places to go in dubai
View from the monorail

Aquaventure Waterpark & Shark Safari

Then we headed to waterpark and bought tickets to shark safari, because we had to buy them separately in a different place than we bought the entrance tickets to waterpark. We quickly dressed up and went to have fun.

At first we went to the Leap of Faith – but only Paweł had a go :) it’s soooo scary!  and then we went to shark safari – it was amazing and the personnel was very professional – they explained everything clearly and made a funny and laid-back atmosphere so that we weren’t scared at all to meet sharks face to face.

The whole safari lasted only 20 minutes, so not very long but the equipment that enabled breathing under the water was very heavy and it was hard to hold it even for this 20 minutes. We saw lots of fishes, huge rays (they are funny – they just use to swim at you and don’t pay attention to anything :)) and the most important – sharks. At first they swam in the distance but later they got closer and laid at the bottom of the tank right next to us :)

places to go in dubai

Then we spent the rest of our time on different slides – the Leap of  Faith, Poseidon Revenge and lots of others. It was a great fun and also a lot of screaming :) We stayed there till the closing time (they close not at fixed hours but when the sun sets).

And when it comes to the entrance, it was exactly the same as when we entered the Burj Khalifa – they were checking our rucksacks but didn’t tell to throw the bottels of water.

We mention it because before our trip we’ve read how some bloggers wrote that it’s not permitted to take something inside.

places to go in dubai
Waterpark and the Leap of Faith in the distance

Day 6

Fountains

It was our last day and we had to reach the airport in the afternoon, so we just went to see the Burj Khalifa for the last time and also to watch the afternoon show of the fountains.

places to go in dubai

We took our last photos there (where we got engaged :D ) and then said goodbye to this beautiful place and then headed to the airport :(

places to go in dubai
Fountains are amazing in Dubai but shows are more frequent in the evening

Our departure was from the Al Maktuum airport – there weren’t much flights at that time and the airport was practically empty.

places to go in dubai

FINAL THOUGHTS

And that was the end of our trip. Dubai is a very desirable direction and now we know why. There are many interesting places to go in Dubai and it’s actually hard to visit this city on a budget (especially if you are interested in all attractions it offers). But we think we still managed to do it at quite a good price.

If you are thinking about going there, you shouldn’t hesitate :)

And lastly we have also tried camel milk in Dubai. The taste was a little bit weird: sour, sharp flavour that is much stronger than any other milk we’ve tried before. Basically, it’s not possible to compare it to anything else. It’s worth to try it, but it’s better not to repeat it ;)  Maybe that’s the reason why they sell it in such small bottles – nobody would like to drink the whole carton :D Have you ever drink camel milk? What’s the weirdest food/drink you’ve ever tried? Write us in a comment below! :)

places to go in dubai
Weirdest milk ever!

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