Day 0 of 6

Day 0, because despite our arrival to Dubai was late in the evening, the flight through the airspace of Dubai skyline and the driveway to our relative’s home was fascinating enough, not to be excluded from the records of our memorable trip.

Day 1 of 6

We started our trip on a Sunday, which is the first working day in Dubai. That way, we were able to avoid the crowd and was able to get the best price for our City tour across Dubai. We booked a City day tour called “Dubai Top Five Attractions” with Tripadvisor. I personally believe, they should rename the tour package to “Nine attractions of Dubai” which apparently will include the Top Five Attractions of Dubai. In this city tour you’ll get to visit-

1. Palm Jumeirah
2. Burj Al Arab
3. Souk Medinat Jumeirah
4. Dubai Marina (includes a Cruise Ride)
5. AIN Dubai
6. Armani/Prive Restaurant
7. The Dubai Fountain
8. Burj Khalifa
9. Dubai Mall

The quality of the city tour is guaranteed by Tripadvisor. However, minor details of the trip may differ from operator to operator they may hire to conduct the tour. The City tour offered by Tripadvisor is a Global favorite and it’s advised to book the trip well in advance to avoid last minute disappointments. Your money is refundable upto 24 Hrs before the tour starts.

The eight-hour long city tour is generally priced at ₹17 – ₹18K per person which include a memorable lavish buffet lunch/dinner at the Armani/Prive Restaurant, overlooking the Dubai Fountain. And if you are a light eater and/or vegetarian and would like to skip the meal, you can reduce the price by ₹6K per person. Quite a deal!

In case you plan to visit the “At the Top” of the Burj Khalifa separately, you “should” book your tickets “in advance” to avoid last minute disappointments and hefty charges. You may book your tickets from their official website Burj Khalifa At The Top. The General ticket to the At The Top Burj Khalifa will allow you access to the 124th+125th floor of Burj Khalifa. Tickets for At the Top, Burj Khalifa SKY will allow you access to the 148th floor and comes for more than twice the price of the general ticket.

Day 2 of 6

On our day 2 of Anniversary trip to Dubai, we visited the Dubai Dolphinarium to see the Dolphin and Seal show. Dubai Dolphinarium also houses a Bird park that is home to several exquisite breeds of birds on earth. Dubai Dolphinarium is built on around 5000 Sq. mtrs. of land in the Creek side park area of Old Dubai. It has about 1250 seating capacity and also houses many souvenir shops and eateries. For the shows, they use Bottlenose Dolphins and Northern Fur Seals. The Dolphinarium offers them an exclusive habitat in a pool with over 600 Cubic metres of sea water which is connected to the main arena pool, where they perform. Book your tickets in advance from their website – Dubai Dolphinarium.
For our journey to the Dolphinarium we took the Dubai Metro which is divided into- Red, Green, Blue and Purple lines. The route intersects each other at several stations to provide seamless transit to commuters. Tourists and newcomers to the city should be extra cautious about the routes to avoid taking the wrong train. Train tickets are generally sold using Vending machines at the Train stations and are available under three categories – Silver, Women and Children and Gold. Boarding the incorrect class of coaches against the ticket you have purchased may lead to heavy fines.
We spent the noon in the Dolphinarium and took the Metro to travel to Dubai Mall that houses the gigantic Aquarium which spans the entire height of the Dubai Mall (about 51 mtrs in length, 20 mtrs in breadth and 11 mtrs in Height). One part of the Aquarium can be seen from inside the Dubai Mall and give you a quick glimpse of the excitement that awaits you inside the Aquarium. Aquarium trip packages are divided into “Experiences” based on the kind of marine life you wish to have a close interaction with. If you have the required certifications, you may also book for Shark Dive and Snorkeling experiences. We had an exciting time in the Aquarium feeding the Giant Australian fishes and a ride on the Glass-boat that gives you a view of the Aquarium from the top of the tank and you can also see the 48 mtrs long tunnel using which you entered the Aquarium. The Aquarium is home to over 300 marine animals and You may book your tickets directly from the website – Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo.
Before booking your tickets, you may take a look on Groupon Dubai website to check if they are offering any discounts on the tickets. Using the site, we could save about 40% of the total ticket cost for the Dolphinarium and Dubai Aquarium.

Day 3 of 6

On the third day of our anniversary trip to Dubai we drove to Miracle Garden which is located in Arjan. Miracle Garden is a part of a Super-Mega-Leisure-Entertainment project, called Dubailand, which started in the year 2003 and with 45 Mega-projects, 200 sub-projects spanning and spanning across 278 Sq. KM. was expected to be the largest Leisure destination of the world, nearly twice the size of Walt Disney World. The ambitious project have seen multiple road-blocks including the 2008 Recession and the COVID pandemic. In 2021, the project sponsors are still working to give it a conclusive shape.
However, Miracle Garden project is one of the completed projects under the Dubailand program and was opened for the public in 14 Feb 2013. It occupies over 72,000 sq. mtrs., making it the world’s largest natural flower garden. The Garden also holds three Guinness World Records. In 2013, it was declared as the world’s largest vertical garden. Currently, an Airbus A380 flower structure in the garden is listed by Guinness World Records as the biggest flower structure in the world. The 59 ft topiary of Mickey Mouse, which weighs almost 35 tonnes, is the tallest topiary supported sculpture in the world.
The garden is open for public between October and April every year to avoid the harsh summer days of Dubai weather. Their efforts to maintain the garden that houses 50 million flowers and 250 million plants using an average amount of 757,082 litres of treated wastewater using Drip-irrigation method, in the middle of a Desert land, is impressive.
You may book your tickets in person, over the counter or in advance using their website – Dubai Miracle garden. The website also gives you the guidance on the various available modes and routes to reach the Garden. Entrance fees for 12 years and above is AED 55 and children between 3 and 12 years of age are charged AED 40.
Before booking the tickets, you may once want to check the Groupon’s website for discounts.

Day 4 of 6

Fourth day of our trip was unusual as we witnessed rain in the morning. We went for some shopping in the day time and went for Desert Safari in the evening. Desert Safari is operated by various UAE/Dubai Govt. authorized Tour operators and are generally located in the Deserts between Dubai and Sharjah. The usual time of Safari is 4 PM to 10 PM UAE time and usually all Desert Safari operator would offer you Hotel Pickup – Drop facility. You may book your Safari trip from their official website – Desert Safari Dubai.
Generally, all Desert Safari tours include 20-30 mins Dune Bashing SUV-ride, Camel ride, Sunset Photography, Photography with Hawks, Exotic Dates and Gahwa as Welcome drink, Traditional Arabic Costumes, Heena Tattoos, Shisha (Hookkah), Barbeque Buffet Dinner, unlimited Soft Drinks, Tea, Coffee, Mineral Water, Tanoura, Fire and belly Dance shows and with some additional charges you may also enjoy Sand Skiing, Quad bike and take some unique Arabic souvenirs.
There are multiple operators of Desert Safari. You may like to compare the prices before booking. The prices starts at AED 40 and may go up to AED 250 for Overnight Desert Safaris.
We ended our day with some Arabic language lessons at home.

Day 5 of 6

Day 5 was our 8th anniversary day and to seek our Beloved’s blessings, we went to the Shiva Temple and Gurudwara located in Old Dubai. We caught some memorable glimpses of Dubai Museum and Al Fahidi fort in old Dubai and the Dubai Frame on our way back home. We spent the remaining part of the day at home, enjoying with the family.

While Dubai Museum showcases life in Dubai before the discovery of the oil fields, Dubai Frame has become an assertive icon of modernity in Dubai’s landscape. Dubai Frame holds a Guinness world record for being the largest building in the shape of a Picture Frame.

Tickets to Dubai Frame costs AED 50 and can be booked from their website – https://www.visitdubaiframe.com/

Day 6 of 6

Day 6 of our anniversary trip to Dubai was the last day of our trip. We had initially kept it reserved for visiting Ski Dubai and spending some quality time with the family. However, a weather forecast for a sea storm on 20 Nov evening made us shift the Parasailing activity to the last day of our trip, after two reschedules – first on 20 Nov and then on 21 Nov. We feared the weather may ruin our Parasailing plans. However, the weather favored us on 22 Nov morning and we did the parasailing on that bright sunny day and created a memory we’ll cherish lifelong.

After the parasailing, we went for having a sumptuous veg Lebanese lunch and we were so full that we had to drop our plans to visit Ski Dubai. We managed to catch a few glimpse of Ski Dubai from the outside, in Dubai Mall.

Tickets for Parasailing can be booked from Sea Wake’s official website. Although there are multiple operators for Sea sports in Dubai, Sea Wake is one of the most trusted and reliable yet not too expensive amongst all Sea sports operators operating from the picturesque JBR Beach. Like many other Business houses in Dubai, Sea Wake is owned by an Indian Tamil family.

Tickets to Ski Dubai can be bought online from their official website. Ski related equipment and apparel can be hired on the spot. In case you lack courage to undertake any activities there, like us, you may enjoy the Ski Dubai events from outside through the gigantic glass pane, like we did. Watch that videoclip on the YouTube video at 19:22 mins.

In the evening, we caught our flight back to India. A memorable end to the memorable trip to Dubai, the land of biggest, largest, grandest of all. Thanks Dubai!