I'll be in Dubai for a one-day seminar in mid-June. This is my first trip to the Middle east and I would like to take an extended vacation while I'm there.

1. How many days should I stay in Dubai? I find the gold/spice souq thing very intriguing but not the mega-malls. I would like to see the desert or take a one-day guided tour of the area.

2. Is there a city/country that is nearby and interesting and worth a quick stopover?

Thanks.

Ming

As this is your first trip I suggest you spend three nights in Dubai which you will find very glitzy with an increasing traffic problem. I encourage you to take one of the many opportunities to vist the desert which the hotel can arrange. You should also take a trip on the creek on an 'abra' (which means 'across' in Arabic) to vist the old souk. You might also consider a side trip to Oman which is a delightful country; kind people, wonderful mountains; unspoilt. And you might find my book 'Don't they know it's Friday?' helpful; it was once a handout to my cross-cultural seminars which deal with Westerners and Arabs. www.handshaikh.com Have a good trip!

Hi

My wife and I went to Dubai a few years back. I have posted a trip report on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/dubai.htm . Maybe you can find some useful information there

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

Gard, thanks for the link to your trip report. I am visiting the UAE on vacation in November, and I'm sure I'll spend a lot of time in Dubai. I will visit the seven Emirates and Oman. Thanks, Michael

The 3-4 night long weekend sounds like enough to see Dubai and maybe some other emirates. A weekend trip to Oman is very nice but you would need an extra few days for that. I think it is about 6-7 hours from here to Muscat and maybe 2-3 to the border if you just want to get to Oman.

The desert safari is a must! June is a great time to get one as it is the 'low season' for tourism. You should be able to find trips from 150-200 dirhams (35-55 dollars) that give you everything for an evening (SUVs with AC, dinner, dancing, hooka, sandboarding). Hopefully you like rollercoasters

The souks can be done in a few hours easily. It gets hot (45+) midday but they are open until about 10-11pm, so whichever. You can get VERY good deals if you can bargain or you or company can speak arabic or urdu. One will sell something for 20 dirhams and the next will try 250 for the same thing. Either to or from the Diera souks you can get a cab for about 5 dirhams that takes you to the creek for a dhow cruise.