UAE: Dubai - the old, the new and a palm tree

Where To Go Next By I&P
Nov 14, 2022
3 min read

After visiting the impressive Dubai city center, we wanted to see other parts of the city: the old town, La Mer, the Dubai Marina and the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre).

So for our second day, we went back in time and visited the older part of the city with the gold, perfume, silk and spices souqs. Be prepared to be harassed by the aggressive sellers! The french expression of the “fosse aux lions“ (the lion pit) would be appropriate here. But if you are looking for a bargain, this is the place to go!

From there, we took a quick boat transfer to the other side of the river, Dubai Creek.

And we arrived at Al Fahidi/Al Seef historical centers, renovated versions of arabic old towns with less aggressive sellers and with buildings topped by barjeels (wind towers). Those ingenious towers helped to cool down the house naturally.

When wandering in those old towns, we discovered a nice restaurant where we decided to have lunch: the Arabian Tea House. It had a very surprising decor - a tree, the floor was made of small white pebbles and the ceiling was covered in dried white palm leaves. It was beautiful!

In the evening, we went to La Mer. It seems so fancy to use a French word to describe this beach area that has a 1920s Paris style promenade and shopping area.

Since we were in the area, we took the bus for the first time to go see the Jumeirah Mosque. We were surprised to find air conditioned bus stops and usb outlets in some buses. However, we also found that these too can get really crowded during rush hours.

The following day, we went to the Dubai Marina, another spot with a lot of skyscrapers around a marina full of really nice boats.

But to get there, it took us at least 45 mins from the city centre by metro, which shows just how big this city is.

Once at the Dubai Marina, we chose to take the tramway which allowed us to move around the area without having to walk in 38C degree weather.

The marina is fairly close to the famous Palm Jumeirah, a very wide man made archipelago in the shape of a palm tree. We decided to go visit the "palm tree" and, in order to go all the way to the top of the “tree”, we had to take the monorail.

The monorail travels through the "tree trunk", so you can see nearly the entire archipelago. We were surprised by its size and amazed by the views of the Atlantis Hotel!

After taking the monorail back, we continued north towards the Burj Al Arab, the iconic sail-shaped seven star hotel.

Unfortunately, you can only see it up close if you have a reservation (maybe one day they will read our awesome blog and invite us over 😉).

In the evening, we headed back to the Burj Khalifa once again. But this time, we were going inside! We decided to go up the mighty tower to the 148th floor (out of 163) to enjoy the view.

After a lot of waiting and two elevator rides, we were rewarded with incredible views of the exuberant city. We felt like a player watching their city on SimCity! Unfortunately, we were not able to see a true sunset because of the clouds of dust but the view of Dubai by night from 555m above made up for it.

When visiting the Burj Khalifa, be prepared for crowded elevators and long waits, and check the official website for tickets as they offer some promotions that you don't have access to at the ticket office.

For dinner, we met a friend at the Time Out Market, a fancy yet casual food court with views of the Dubai fountain.

Then we ended our day at the Ritz-Carlton Sunken Garden, in the area of the DIFC, to have one last Oum Ali before flying out. The DIFC is one of Dubai's business areas with a smaller Parisian "Arche de la Défense".