Dubai – The Land of Shopping? Yes!

Posted on 14 April 2009 by

If things continue at the pace they are going, Dubai will have the distinction of possessing the highest per capita shopping space come 2010. In a recent byte, the President of the Middle East Council of Shopping Centers predicted that the emirate would have a shopping space amounting to 25.3 square foot per head, the highest in the world, by next year.

Dubai, it seems is all set to be known as the land of serious shopping.

One of the sightseeing activities included in ourDubai tour packagesincludes trips to the popular malls of

Dubai Shopping Tour

Dubai. Tourists coming in for sightseeing in Dubai quite enjoy these excursions, as the bargains to be had in Dubai are some of the best in the Middle East.

Our Dubai travel companycan ferry you around shopping hotspots like theMall of the Emirates, Ibn Battuta and Deira City Center. Incase you have not booked any tour packages with us you could still take advantage of the Dubai car rental service we offer.

There are varied Dubai car rental options as well. Depending on the duration of your stay, you could opt for a self-driven package or you could book a chauffer service.

Most hotel apartments in Dubai have excellent concierge services to help tourists who want to go on Dubai City tours. It is easy to arrange it before setting out on your tour trip.

This again is an orientation tour on Dubai’s shopping wonders. Begin with a halt at ‘City Centre’ one of the biggest malls in Deira Dubai, after which we proceed to Bur Dubai for a short walk through ‘Bur Juman’ shopping center. After visiting both the malls we proceed to explore the bargains at the Gold Souq and savor the aroma of exotic spices while strolling through the spice souq.

Shopping is fun in Dubai and if your Dubai travel company is good, you need not walk or take public transport to whichever part of Dubai you would like to visit.

Image Credit: tinou bao

Dubai City Tours – Explore the Beautiful Textile Souk

Posted on 7 April 2009 by

Any good Dubai travel company will tell you that the Textile Souk is one of the best places to get a good bargain on cloth, clothes and bespoke clothing.

Bur Dubai

Located in Bur Dubai, the souk finds many patrons from the city’s masses and tourists visiting forsightseeing in Dubai. The materials found in the souk are usually imported from all over the world, with most of them coming in from the Far East.

Silks, satins, voile, fine cotton, broderie anglaise

Beautiful Textile Souk

and velvets are but a sampling of the beautiful materials to be found in every second stall in the Textile Souk. The Indian Film Industry or Bollywood is it is affectionately termed, influences many of the local fashions. In the Meena Bazaar area, you are bound to find a tailor or seamstress who will create a dress to rival those belonging to any Indian starlet.

There are costumes available on demand in the souk. As abayas are worn by most of the Arab women, tailors and shops compete to create some rather lovely creations, some of them in especially luxurious fabric. Tourists can even take back souvenirs of the traditional Arab clothes as worn by the local residents.

Explore the Beautiful Textile Souk Dubai

One of the best Dubai City activities to indulge in, especially for women, shopping at the Textile Souk will even get you buying some beautifully embroidered mojris (flat, ballet-style loafers) and cloth bags.

Dubai City tours that take you for a round of the major market areas will take you for a visit to the textile market in Deira as well.

Check out the timings of the souk if you are planning on an excursion of your own or else book a Dubai car rental to get you there.

Laces by Just a Temporary Measure

Shoes by Meanest Indian

Valentine’s Day & Going Sightseeing in Dubai for your Honeymoon

Posted on 10 February 2009 by

It’s the official month for love and if you are honeymooning in Dubai you couldn’t have picked a better time.

Valentine’s day means bling, bling and more bling and to assuage your love’s jewelry fix, what better way than visiting the Gold Souk in Dubai? Any good Dubai tour package will help you with arrangements to visit this part of the city.

Besides the considerably low price of gold and precious metals in Dubai (as compared to the rest of the world),

Valentine's day

at the ongoing shopping festival you will get to enjoy fantastic discounts on these items. Arrange for a Dubai car rental with your travel agency and take your Valentine for a tour of the Gold Souk, and do not forget to purchase her a bauble while you are at it!

Another novel experience you could enjoy for your Valentine’s Day honeymoon could be a stay at any of the many luxury hotels in Dubai.

Dadabhai Travels can fix up affordable hotel booking in UAE at any of the major hotels in Dubai. Choices like the very urbane Address, idyllic mountain retreats like Hatta Fort and opulent underwater suites at The Atlantis would be a good start.

If you want to wine and dine your ladylove at a venue that is anything but run-of-the-mill though, then get busy and purchase tickets for the whacky Red Tie and Tiara Ball to be held on February 14 at the Montgomery Golf Club. The proceeds from the Ball go to charity, so you get the chance to do some good on Valentine’s Day (besides making your love happy).

So there you go, take your pick of the Dubai City activities to enjoy on Valentine’s Day and have a honeymoon like no other.

Photo Credit: Hamed Saber

A Taste of Honey on Your Arabian Adventure for Good Health & Cheer

Posted on 6 February 2009 by

This February, take back something absolutely natural and less expensive than the new Gucci bag- honey. Winnie the Pooh loves it, kids prefer it to cough syrup and if used in the right amounts, your face will come to appreciate the benefits of honey as well.

So head to the Honey Festival in Al Seef Street quickly to enjoy this delicious liquid in all its different forms

and uses. The Honey Festival ends on 13 February and you might want to hire a Dubai car rental service to get you there before it ends.

The best thing about honey is its versatility and at the Honey Festival in Dubai, variety is something you will find in huge dollops. Bringing in varieties from places like Yemen, Lebanon, Pakistan and India among others, the offerings will have everything from cosmetics created from honey to food items and gourmet dishes using honey as an ingredient.

Include the Honey Festival as part of your Dubai City activities and get to enjoy other attractions like discount shopping as the Festival is actually part of the events lined up for the Dubai Shopping Festival.

If you rush now and hire an Abu Dhabi travel company, you could still have enough time to enjoy the last few days of the DSF before it shuts shop for the year. You need not worry about tickets or yourDubai hotel booking availability either, as during this period Dubai tourism goes out of its way to welcome and accommodate tourists and travelers.

Get a good travel company like Dadabhai Travels to arrange for yourArabian adventure and you can even throw in some of our attractiveDubai tour packages in your stay.

Photo Credit: Ema Yudistira

Sightseeing in Dubai? Experience the Night Souk as Never Before

Posted on 28 January 2009 by

One of the highlights of Dubai’s annual shopping festival is the Night Souk, which constitutes a sizeable chunk of the month-long festival.

Held in Al Seef Street, the Night Souk houses 50 retail units- all competing for buyer attention with attractive discounts and half-priced goods. The crux of the idea is to provide customers with a point to shop until late into

Sightseeing in Dubai

the night after a day of shopping at other participating outlets in the DSF.

This year, the DTMC has chalked up an exciting entertainment plan for tourists and visitors who have arrived in the Emirate for the ultimate Arabian adventure. With Emirates Airlines stepping in with special excess baggage allowances (excess of 10 kgs free) for departing visitors, there is more the average visitor can shop for and buy when sightseeing in Dubai.

Lookout for these fun activities and attractions at this year’s Night Souk:

The Grand Raffle Stage
Floating Restaurants
Fun Fair
Gold Raffle
Lexus Mega Raffle
Nissan Grand Raffle
Dubai Food Festival
Al Zarooni Fireworks
Dubai Carnivals, etc.

Apart from shopping, activities like the ones listed above can be an especial delight for young children and will prevent them from asking you to take them home so that they can go sleep!

There are also Dubai City activities to enjoy during the one-month festival, which will take you and your family to places like the Heritage Village and Festival City. These places are simply crammed with sights to see and enjoy for the tourist.

Hire a well-known Abu Dhabi travel company for organizedDubai tour packages and a relaxing time in Dubai.

Image Credit: SecondPrint Productions

Dubai Loves The Tourist

Posted on 14 January 2009 by

If you are planning a vacation trip or a short weekend in foreign climes, then you had better keep your options open for Dubai. Riding on a wave of tourism-love, Dubai has announced grand plans to pander to the travel and tourism sector.

Foremost among these plans are the moves proposed by the DTCM, which are decidedly going to attract more than the 3.5 million visitors that poured into Dubai between 2006-07.

If you are planning to make your hotel booking in UAE for this year’s DSF, be prepared for a rate slash

Hotel Booking

ranging between 40-60 percent. Beverages and food at most of the popular joints are going to have a 25 percent discount too.

You will also find participating shops included in the discount spree called DSF with massive price cut offs of 80 percent. As there is an abundance of high street brands as well as traditional market ware, a tourist need not worry about limited options and inferior goods.

Additionally, the Dubai Road and Transport Authority has decided to create a rank system for taxis, so that commuters can promptly find access to a taxi when they need one. Just in case you choose to forsake Dubai car rentals, you could always continue on your Dubai City tours in a taxi.

Tourists and visitors need only to inform their Abu Dhabi travel company about their travel itinerary and requirements for a smooth tour experience. Coordinating with the tour experts will also give you a better chance to experience difficult to arrange Dubai City activities like camel safaris and dhow cruises.

Image Credit: Chrissy Olson

Dubai City Activities With A Bit Of History & Culture

Posted on 30 November 2008 by

A lot of travelers and tourists do go back to their hometowns with praises for Dubai’s cosmopolitan makeup and ultra-modern façade but very few take the trouble to discover the wonder that is old Dubai. A wonder that still exists, if you would only care to look for it.

Our Abu Dhabi travel companywould like to point out the official address of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum,

Dubai City Activities

grandfather to the present ruler of Dubai. The house is located on the Shindagha end of the Dubai Creek and holds a collection of photographs and documents that is quite rare.

The Heritage Village and Diving Village, another point to soak in some old world charm and culture is in the vicinity of the Sheikh Saeed house.

Another historical location to go sightseeing in Dubai is the Hatta Heritage Village, a 400-year-old settlement. The community is nestled among the Hajjar Mountains and also houses the magnificent rock formations and rock pools known as the Hatta Rock Pools.

Of course, no Arabian adventure involving old Dubai is complete without a shopping excursion in Dubai’s souks. First on your list for sightseeing in Dubai souks should be the Gold Souk in Bur Dubai near the Ascot Hotel. Follow it up with a trip to the Perfume Souk, the Spice Souk and Textile Souk- each market an exciting experience in itself.

There are many Dubai City Activities that will show the soul of real Dubai and you don’t need a guide book to tell you where to go looking for them. Let our Abu Dhabi travel company help you out. We have well-placed contacts and a touch on the local pulse- perfect for your excursion into old Dubai.

Image Courtesy: Flickr

Experience Souk Shopping As Part Of Your Dubai Tour Packages

Posted on 21 November 2008 by

Eons before the Dubai tourism department brainstormed the Dubai Shopping Festival, there were the original souks of Dubai that dotted the Emirate. Just like the malls that are slowly taking over the retail area today, the souks were the heart and soul of Dubai trade and economy.

The mud paved, palm-thatchedGold Souk, Textile Souk, Perfume Souk, Fish Souk and Spice Souk may

Shopping Experience in Dubai

have given over to cobbled and more spacious versions, but one element they yet retain is an old world charm.

One of the must-see and must-try Dubai City Activities, these souks are still the best places to get the best bargains and indulge in some authentically Arab grabs. The Gold Souk for instance, offers tourists and residents alike a selection of gold designs and craftsmanship that is more traditional as compared to the modern Westernized options sold at malls and showrooms.

Book a Dubai car rental through your travel agency and direct them to the Ascot Hotel, where the Gold Souk is located.

Gold Souk Shopping

The Deira Spice Souk and the Perfume Souk are tastes of the exotic you must savor when sightseeing Dubai. The spices and attars (perfume essences) sold at these places are headier and more aromatic then the ones found elsewhere. Some attar shops can even concoct you a signature perfume to suit your senses and personality, making it a unique souvenir to carry home (we happen to know some authentic perfume sellers who can do this).

Our Abu Dhabi travel company can arrange for excursions and make a hotel booking in U.A.E. near these relics of Old Dubai. Contact us for an Arabian adventure high on some retail therapy.

Image (right) Courtesy: Flickr

Image (left) Courtesy: Flickr

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