Dubai

Society Travel & Tourism
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Traveling to Pakistan in a few weeks with a possible long layover in Dubai. Do you think the Desert Safari is doable within a 15 hour window? Please share which company is reliable for desert safari

How is the transportation at Dubai Airport? From online reading it seems convenient from the airport?

If I am able to get a longer layover of 21 hours, do you think it is worth it to get a hotel for rest and then catch the evening Desert Safari tour?

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If your 15-hour-window is during the day, then it might be doable. There are a number of Desert Safari companies that would pick you up from your hotel (or from the airport in your case), drive into the desert with you and then drive you back to the place you need to get to. So assuming that you land in Dubai around noon-time or in the early afternoon, you would easily make it back to the airport in time for your next flight. If it's earlier, you would be cutting it very close. If it's later, it will probably not work out.

However: You will have a 12-hour flight before your 15-hour layover. So you will be very tired. Not sure if you'll be able to enjoy the Desert Safari that much then.

And regarding your question about the 21 hour-layover: Since you're flying in from the US, ie you would have had a 12-hour flight before your 21-hour stay, getting a hotel room is definitely a good idea.

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i believe if you fly Emirates and your layover is more than 8 hours, you are provided a free hotel room. also, they arrange for transit visa-upon-arrival. i think most flights arrive in Dubai around 5 pm.

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@Sara516 had something like this. She can guide

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If Afro-Sheen's flight lands at 5 PM, then a Desert Safari will probably not be possible. That would be too late.

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Did couple of stay overs (ranging from 6 hours to 2 days) so telling you things from experience. Also, things change really fast there - my last experience was two years ago so keep your senses open, there maybe better options:

Lets start from the top:

  • Money exchange choices are not best at airport, outside you will get better deals - but you generally need money right away. Something to keep in mind.

  • There are rather inexpensive option to get a locker and put your luggage in there (they are very small locker). You can also put slightly bigger bag at a service for safe keeping, but its not as cheap as locker (not that expensive either). As always, even if its super safe - don't leave jewelry etc in bag.

  • You want to plan what / where before hand. Especially, transit times are insane - even though their transits are top class.

  • If its less than 24 hours stay, you can only stay AT THE AIRPORT based hotels. Its not worth to get hotel anywhere else (commute times).

  • Cheap and pretty good way to get around is through their above surface subway (called metro). Just prepared for lot of walking! A lot of walking ... did i mention a lot of walking? especially when you goto Burj Al-Khalifa, dubai mall etc (largest mall, tallest world building etc)

WHAT TO DO:
- Thats highly subjective - and all depends on what you want to do. I don't know your background, what you like - nor who you are travelling with (kids?). Most importantly - your budget.

  • If you choose to goto 7 star hotel. You have to get a cab, and then go get tea (cheapest item for about $100 USD). Hence, budget is important.

  • If its less than 24 hour. I will suggest take it easy. Spend time at Dubai mall (world's largest mall) + Burj al-Khalifa (world's tallest building). And then rest and do activities around it only. why?

  • It will take you about an hour to get to mall

  • It will take you about another 30 min to hour to walk from metro to mall

  • You want to leave 1.5 hours to get back to airport (and then 1-2 hour at airport before your flight leaves)

  • AT mall you have lot of free things (such as world's largest aquarium - it has free view options).

  • Book ahead , buy tickets days before for Khalifa tower! (cheaper)

  • Lot of things to do and eat (e.g. Fountain dance etc)

  • Desert Safari - i think is over rated. but everyone to their own.

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Welcome back! :flowers:

And thanks for sharing your experience and tips :k:

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Thanks for the advice. Most likely I will do the layover on the way back from Pakistan. Flight arrives at 11:10 am in Dubai, so we won't be tired or anything as it is just 3 hours from there. Flight to NYC leaves 2 30 am ish....so let's see....im worried about no rest in between.....

Trying to get a 21 hour layover

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haha Thanx , didn’t think anyone will notice / remember :stuck_out_tongue:

Ya that is a condendrum, hotel at start is a waste because you are not tired. At the end you are tired but is it worth to pay full day price for 2-3 hour rest? (PS: Some do rent rooms on hourly basis, but you are paying like 90% of price for 3 hours , vs for the whole day). I think if you take it easy, its not that bad - you don’t need hotel. Also, you will be sitting in the plane again for a fairly long time … so all depends you think that’s uncomfortable or manageable?

Best solution is to find a relative, who can help :stuck_out_tongue:

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Ok so did my booking. On way to paki from NYC I have an 8 hour layover in Dubai arriving at 7:20 pm. (Also scored a nice layover on way back that arrives early enough). So 3:20 am is next flight on to paki. I will be traveling with 3 kids, 10, 7 and almost 4 and typically good with walking a lot (Not sure of dubai heat though). For this 8 hour layover, is Burj Khalifa doable? Esp as it is evening. Otherwise I'm considering the mall, but would prefer to see Burj as plenty of malls here. I would prefer to get out of airport.

Also I think taxi is best bet with kids? Pink top taxi? Is it super expensive compared to metro? Also from metro, approximately how far is Burj Khalifa? A mile, 1/2 mile etc? Thanks.

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On the way back home, I got layover in
Dubai from 11:10 am to 8:30 am the next day. I think I will go for airport hotel or in the vicinity of airport. I would like to try the Desert Safari once.

Umer I did read that they do pickup and drop off from hotel, so that is even better. If I get back to hotel by 10ish we can easily rest a few hours before heading back and I am fine with that. Kids can sleep some more on the flight back. We would get a taste of Dubai, as we probably wouldn't fly to Dubai directly for vacation.

My question is anyone know which company is good for the evening safari with dinner? Also how much time should I keep in mind for getting in and out of dubai airport? Like when should I leave for the airport for 8 30 am flight if I am staying near airport?

Prince I woild need $ for taxi so I guess I will do exchange at airport? Is it more expensive to use debit or credit cards?

Thank you so much for taking time to respond, any advice is appreciated

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Re: Dubai

If you are traveling with kids, taxi is absolutely a better option than the metro. It’s not going to be very expensive anyway. My guess is, that the ride from the airport to Dubai Mall (which is where Burj Khalifa is), would take approx. 20 to 25 minutes. And the fare would be around US$ 8 to 10.

However if you want to go up Burj Khalifa it would make sense to pre-book it. As you can see on the following URL, the pre-booked tickets are much cheaper: Burj Khalifa At The Top Tickets - Great Offers | Burj Khalifa

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I've done the Desert Safari twice. First experience was excellent, second was not so good because the guy who was supposed to pick us up at 1 PM showed up 2 hours late. But unfortunately I can't remember the name of the company I had used for the first one.

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For an 8.30 AM flight you should be at the airport no later than 7 AM. Considering that you are traveling with kids, I would say 6.30 AM is safer.

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We ended up taking the Metro to Dubai Mall to see Burj Khalifa. OMG it was a LOT of walking!!! I think we maybe.got a little lost and from info desk got the right way. Burj Khalifa was nice and luckily I did buy in advance so better price. But it was a little underwhelming. At least I got the experience as kids wanted to go. We found the taxi on the way back. We did get to see the ice rink etc.

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Glad to hear it worked out. I told you, taxi was the better option. :)

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I should have listened. Few people at Airport said it's only a 10 minute walk so I figured we'd get to check their Metro out as well. What a mistake, it took forever. Worst was when we were walking along the tunnel thing we could see the Burj Khalifa and scratching my head thinking I thought this stop was supposed to be in there....lol.

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Thanks for all the advice. On my return trip from Pakistan, we did get a hotel in the airport vicinity(less than 1 mile). Umer you were right about timings. I figured I was so close, I would get to airport quickly! Oddly it took almost 30 minutes to get from hotel to airport via shuttle....but jeez. I could see the airport across the highway...lol.

I encountered a lot of drama with a mixup on company for desert safari. Let's just say some of the paki people there are Arses!! In any case we were finally able to do the evening safari and the best part (for kids) was the dune bashing. It was actually a lot of fun and more thrilling than expected. Camel ride was short but good for kids. The entertainment was just ok, belly dance was just weird...lol. Food was good quantity and fresh and just enough variety. Best part was that I didn't have to go anywhere on my own! Pickup and dropoff to hotel was an excellent thing. Alhumdulillah.

PS. Not sure who thought making rooftop pools was a good idea in Dubai (100+ degree temps). OMG. Online it seemed like a great idea to me as well...lol...pics looked cool. Holy cow, when we got to the pool...the sun was blinding....the brightness and the heat...jeez. Yeah always opt for an indoor pool in Dubai!!!!!

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Thanks @Afro-Sheen for the summary. I'm glad you guyz had fun. What is dune bashing btw?

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Driving over sand dunes with a 4x4 in relatively high speed. It's fun.