Dubai is an evolving city, you will see construction everywhere. I expected to see everyone with foreign cars and exotic pets riding shotgun. Sadly, I didn't see any exotic pets but there was a higher amount of nice cars than usual.
We stayed in the Renaissance Downtown hotel and it was the best hotel I've stayed at so far in my young life. Below is the hotel infinity pool and the view from my room where we watched the most beautiful sunsets every night.
The best way to get around in Dubai is with taxi, it is fairly cheap and your best option because there are no public buses or transportation. I wouldn't get a rental car either because lots of things are in walking distance.
HELPFUL STORY: Be careful though, we got swindled once! We got into a taxi and told him "Dubai mall please" and he replied with "okay, 15 AED." So once we got there he pulled up and said "okay, 50 AED." We argued with him and eventually just gave him the 50. This was our first taxi ride in Dubai and we now know better. If the taxi driver's screen isn't ON and tracking the rate, then its free! His monitor was off and he was obviously looking to swindle tourists.
Here are some things we did in Dubai...
1. Old Souk
The Old Souk has spices, gold, textiles, and souvenirs and is in a traditional, older part of Dubai. Many workers will try to pull you into their shops to buy something. I love markets and it was interesting to see!
TIP: Try the fresh fruit juice, yum!
2. Water Taxi
The water taxi is only a few cents to ride to get you across the creek, but you can ride it longer and see a lovely view of the city from both sides.
3. Dubai Mall
This is the second largest mall in the WORLD with an ice skating rink, a cinema, an aquarium, restaurants, and over 1,200 shops! The best part, it's right next to the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Fountains!
4. Burj Khalifa/ Dubai Fountains
The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world! My one regret in Dubai is not going up in the Burj because it was $40, at the cheapest. At night the Dubai fountains put on a show every 30 minutes from 6pm to 11pm and 2 during the daytime at 1 pm and 1:30 pm. This is the largest fountain show in the world, shooting up to 900 feet.
When we were there, in March 2018, the Burj also displayed a light show once an hour in cohesion with the fountains. The show was amazing, grand, and colorful! Sadly, the light show was a limited time thing, but they may bring it back someday!
There are also other interesting things to see around the Burj too, such as light up teeter-toters and lit up giant dandelion.
5. Kite Beach
Everything in Dubai is bigger and grander, including the beach! I was surprised to find food trucks, fair games, shops, a jungle gym for all ages, water sports, land sports like volleyball and trampolines -- all on the beach! This was the only beach we visited in Dubai but it definitely wasn't disappointing.
6. The Frame
The Frame is basically for the view, one side is old Dubai and the other side is new Dubai. It looks cool from the outside but I would have rather paid the extra $20 to go up in the Burj Khalifa, don't make the same mistake!
7. Desert Safari
The safaris are cheap ($30) and include off roading in the desert, hotel pick up and drop off, a henna tattoo, hooka smoking, dinner and a show, and a short camel ride (Don't ride the camels, they are abused).
There is too much to say about the safari so I made a separate blog post, check it out!!
8. The Palm Islands
Everyone has beach front property on these man made islands, shaped like palm tree branches! They look much cooler from above though, and lots of traffic on the actual palm. There are many glitzy hotels on the palms to visit and admire. We visited the "Atlantis" on the palm and marveled at its hotel aquarium.
9. Dubai Miracle Garden
The Miracle Garden is about $14 and has over 45 million flowers, including a real airplane covered in flowers (in the Guinness Book of World Records)!
This is just a handful of things to do in Dubai! There are so so many more sights to see and they are building and adding more every year!