Cheap Family Holiday in Dubai
Fancy holidaying in Dubai this summer but worried about the cost of taking the kids?
Then you might want to take up this Emirates airlines offer if you can travel before 20th September 2009:
• Free flight to Dubai for one child under 16 (when traveling with both parents)
• Free accommodation and meals for two children (again when traveling with both parents)
• Free entry to 9 of Dubai’s top children’s attractions:
o Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo (Dubai Mall) with over 33,000 aquatic animals
o Dubai (Olympic sized) Ice Rink
o Magic Planet – with rides, bumper cars, soft play area and video games
o SEGA Republic Indoor Theme Park – the middle east’s largest Sega park
o Ski Dubai – complete with chair lifts, button lifts and toboggan run (the largest indoor snow park in the world)
o The Lost Chambers (Atlantis Hotel – the Palm) – explores the story of how the citizens of Atlantis might have lived with a maze of underwater halls and tunnels
o The Montgomerie Dubai – golfing destination
o Wild Wadi Water Park – with 30 rides and slides
• Discounts for some shops in the Dubai Mall
Having recently returned from a trip to Dubai – this is an excellent opportunity to take your kids – and there’s more to do in the city than I had previously realised. Yes – lets not under-estimate the heat….…it will be very very hot over the summer months – upwards of 45 degrees. But, everywhere is air-conditioned - even the bus stops!! There are many great and varied places to eat to suit all budgets and some things and of course plenty of shopping.
My trip was predominantly business, but from my short stay I can personally recommend the following:
- A visit to Atlantis hotel – just making a trip down the palm is in itself interesting – from the road to the Atlantis you don’t really appreciate you are surrounded by the sea as the road and buildings are so substantial. There is a fabulous Dale Chihuly glass installation in the foyer (I am a big fan of Chihuly’s work), and the aquarium is well worth a look, especially to see the whale shark. Downstairs there is a very please little shopping mall and a couple of places to eat
Chihuly glass installation at Atlantis
- Ski Dubai mentioned above is well worth a look. Although I didn’t have time to actually ski I could see it was much better than the dry slopes I have been to in the UK. For a start it has ‘real’ artificial (!!) snow – I don’t know how else to describe it! There appear to be a couple of different runs, one even with moguls, a wooden chalet and at least a couple of different lifts inside. It does seem bizarre to see people walking around in insulated ski outfits when it’s 45 degrees outside the mall
- For women - a visit to the area of Karama is a must. You will find many hand-bag shops selling copes of all the latest designer bags. Many have ‘hidden sections’ behind bookcases down dark alleys, but you can get great bargains, especially if you are prepared to barter. Not at all what I expected to find in Dubai. In the same area there are also quite a few souvenir shops. There’s a huge variety of good available –of course the usual tacky bits and pieces – snow globes of the Burg al Arab (the closest the building is ever likely to get to snow!), a plethora of fridge magnets, but you can also find quite a bit of trendy clothing, costume jewelery an silver goods – such as tea-pots, lanterns and pill boxes. This is definitely an area to haggle – don’t be shy! I bought a large ‘Gucci’ bag, a Channel bag, a ‘Juicy Culture’ purse and some ‘Mont-Blanc’ cuff links for about £90 – but did haggle quite hard for that price
Karama Shopping area
- Visit the fairly recently opened Souk Madinat Jumeirah. The souk is a maze of little shops and stalls, many inside a specially built air-conditioned building, towards the sea there is a landscaped area with many restaurants overlooking a river with little boats that will take you around the whole area and a great view of the Burj al Arab. Restaurant prices are at a bit of a premium here as you would expect
- Friday brunch – practically anywhere, although Gordon Ramsay’s Verre is meant to be a real treat. Friday brunch seems to be a bit of an institution in Dubai. Friday equates to our Sunday in the weekly calendar, and brunch is a really family affair, many restaurants laying on entertainment such as face painting for the kids
Don’t have your own kids…..go ‘borrow some’ and give yourself an excuse to visit!
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