8 Great Reasons To Visit Dubai In 2019

Whether you are looking for a dash of nature, coupled with the sophistication of a city and some amazing retail therapy (including buying a camel!) Dubai offers all this and more. Not just a place to do business, the city has a variety of tourism attraction from visits to the desert, water adventures, parks, shopping and beautiful architecture the city has stolen the hearts of many seasoned travellers. Get yourself booked into a cosy Dubai apartment then set out exploring!

If you want to visit Dubai there are some “must see places” and activities to include in your itinerary – check out our top tips in this article!

The Desert

Where Dubai is today, were Bedouin villages in the desert a long time ago – visitors can recapture some of the romance and the beauty of an area long gone by going on a desert safari, ride a camel or go dune bashing. Dubai Tourism also advises guests to get a henna tattoo while on their desert trip, spend a night at a camp and enjoy traditional dishes. They also point out that the desert provides some of the best opportunities for stargazing and sunrise watching. Don’t be fooled into thinking the desert is just sand – there is much to see here. For example, a visit to the magnificent rock formations and fossils of Al Wathba is also well worth the trip.

A city tour

A city tour to see the incredible and unique skyscrapers and other buildings the city has to offer is strongly recommended – even if it is just a drive down Sheikh Zayed Road. They also advise a trip to one of the tallest buildings in the world, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world to get a bird’s eye view of the entire city and watch the sunset and visiting one of several vibrant nightclubs in the city.

Islands

There are several manmade islands along the Dubai coast, including the Palm Juneirah that resembles a giant palm tree in the ocean. All of these islands, while some are still under construction, offer beautiful beaches, hotels and restaurants. Another great place to visit is the Delma Islands, to explore more than 7000 years of history.

Gardens in the Desert

A visit to the artificial gardens of Dubai will leave anybody amazed at the colourful and impressive greenery, especially in the midst of the city’s stark setting in the desert. Particularly recommended is a visit to the Dubai Miracle Garden for its spectacular flower statues.

The 72 000 m²  Dubai Miracle Garden is one of the city’s signature attractions and offers breath-taking flower sculptures on display between November and May each year. These sculptures use 150 million flowers annually and the garden holds two Guinness World Records for the largest vertical garden in 2013 and world’s largest floral sculpture forming the shape of an Airbus A380 in 2016.

The  Souks

At the Gold Souk in Dubai visitors would find a multitude of jewellery stores selling gold, silver and precious stones. It is in the older part of the city and resembles a traditional market, The Culture Trip explains. The famous and well-visited gold market offers an incredible variety of jewellery on sale.

Dubai also offers a Spice Souk in Deira where a very large variety of spices like cinnamon, turmeric, pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cumin can be bought with fresh supplies arriving every day from India, Iran and Pakistan.

Beaches

Dubai has many beautiful beaches offering exciting watersports on offer, Dubai Tourism advises adding that there is something with tourists with varying degrees of adventurousness from sailing, wakeboarding, windsurfing to banana boating. Palm Jumeirah also offers paddle-boarding and kayak-surfing around the island and there is kite-surfing available at Kite Beach.

Parks

From amusement rides, to tranquil gardens to sea creatures performing tricks, Dubai’s parks have a wide variety of fun and adventure to offer to visitors. According to TripAdvisor there are 21 parks, including a Legoland, dotted around the city offering rides, watersport and activities for visitors of all ages.

There are several bus tours around the city offering visits to these parks including the IMG Worlds of Adventure theme park Marvel Super heroes are brought to life, dinosaur adventures, a 12 screen multiplex cinema. Novo Cinemas is a 12-screen multiplex cinema adjacent to IMG Boulevard that includes IMAX and VIP cinemas.

Off the Beaten Track

One of the fascinating things about Dubai is that apart from the famous landmarks and tourist attractions in this modern, cosmopolitan city, it also offers some amazing places to visit off the beaten track. This includes a 110 km² Mangrove Forest that served as a traditional source of wood and food to Bedouin communities. You can even pay a visit to the Al Ain animal market where hundreds of camels are on sale.