Insight Guides - Insight Guides Explore Dubai (Travel Guide eBook)

How To Use This E-Book

This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With top-quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the worlds most exciting destinations.

Best Routes

The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destinations many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights, and there are also excursions for those who want to extend their visit outside the city. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.

We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments options are shown in the Food and Drink box at the end of each tour.

Introduction

The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink, shopping and more, while a succinct history timeline highlights the key events over the centuries.

Directory

Also supporting the routes is a Directory chapter, with a clearly organised AZ of practical information, our pick of where to stay while you are there and select restaurant listings; these eateries complement the more low-key cafs and restaurants that feature within the routes and are intended to offer a wider choice for evening dining. Also included here are some nightlife listings, plus a handy language guide and our recommendations for books and films about the destination.

Getting around the e-book

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

2017 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Recommended Routes For...

A desert experience

No visit to Dubai is complete without a trip to experience the stark, serene beauty of the desert (), or to tear it up dune bashing or quad biking on the towering dunes.

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Dubai from the water

Abras are a common Dubai transport and a delightful way for visitors to take in views of the dramatic skyline along the Creek ().

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Hedonistic hotels

Dubai has some of the biggest, glitziest and the most downright stunning hotels on the planet, encapsulated by the iconic, seven-star Burj Al Arab ().

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Hit the beaches

Dubais coastline has numerous classy beach resorts ().

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Modern architecture

In the last 20 years, Dubai has altered beyond recognition, and it now has a truly 21st-century skyline, best appreciated from Sheikh Zayed Road and Dubai Marina ().

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Off the beaten track

A tour round the other emirates gives a flavour of Dubai before the oil boom ().

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Shopping in souks

For a local shopping experience, try shopping in the traditional souks of Deira (), with cut-price gold, exotic perfumes and spices, and tubs full of fragrant frankincense.

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Traditional Dubai

Explore the souks, mosques and heritage houses of the old city centre during walking tours of Bur Dubai and Deira ().

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Explore Dubai

Dubai is a modern Arabian metropolis, a regional hub for business and leisure and an international crossroads. Visiting this futuristic desert city is a unique and fascinating experience.

Dubais rise from unknown to household name confirms the adage that in the world of celebrity it can take 20 years to become an overnight success. In the late 1980s, few people outside the oil industry would have found this former fishing and pearling village on a map. In the space of a few decades, the city has transformed itself from a modest Arabian trading town, which few outside the region had ever heard of, into one of the planets most glamorous, futuristic and talked-about destinations, home to the worlds tallest building, its biggest shopping mall, its largest man-made island and a host of other record-busting developments all of which continue to attract hyperbole, admiration and derision in equal measure.

Dubai Marina by night

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Dubai has now become a byword for a certain type of high-octane glamour and a major celebrity destination, with, among others, film star George Clooney making his movie Syriana here, Morgan Freeman being a regular at its annual film festival, and cricketer Andrew Flintoff now a regular with a home on the luxurious Palm Jumeirah, while countless others are regularly spotted, from sports stars and their WAGs to major film and music stars living the high life and enjoying a bit of the emirates near year-round sunshine.