Luxury Travel

It is easy to enjoy luxury travel to Dubai, but first you have to find it. Many tour

companies are offering trips to Dubai, but in order to cut costs you will have very little

leg room on the plane, and are packed into planes, buses and hotels with dozens of other

travelers. It’s not so much fun as an ordeal sometimes. However, there are some good

operators around, with professional planners that can give you everything you want, so more

on these later.

First Dubai. Part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there is more money invested in its

development than any other construction site in the world. One of its largest projects

currently underway is the Three Palms, three artificial islands constructed in the shape of

palm trees, with the top of the tree forming a breakwater to protect each island. Although

each palm will be multifunctional, the Jumeirah will focus on international hotels, the

Jebel Ali on entertainment and leisure and the Deira on residential use. They have been

described as the 8th Wonder of the World.

Dubai also boasts the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai, but that is not why you

would be there – you can see tall buildings and islands anywhere in the world. No, Dubai

offers a lot more, including the famous souks, or markets, the gold souk and the spice souk

being two of the most popular with tourists. The gold souk is particularly well attended,

where the glittering treasures on offer are largely sold by the gold weight rather than the

work put into creating the piece. There are fantastic bargains to be had here. The spice

souk offers frankincense and cinnamon, and everything else in between, and epitomizes the

mystery of the Middle East.

Don’t forget that luxury travel to Dubai must include a visit to the desert, and there is

more to do there than you would think. There are many ways to explore the desert, from the

modern 4×4, or 4WD, to the more traditional camel, and you can also sand ski and sand board,

although falling into the sand at speed is not as pleasant an experience as you might think.

Best to stick to archery, falconry or one of the other popular local sports, but try to

visit an oasis if you can.

Dubai consists of the old and the new, and no trip there would be complete without a visit

to one or more of the museums. The Dubai museum itself presents the various treasures,

including skeletons, found during digs in the area, and the historic Dubai creek is also

worth a visit. On the Bur Dubai side of the Creek, the Grand Mosque Dubai is one of the

largest mosques in the United Arab emirates, and can accommodate 1200 worshipers. It

contains 45 domes, and looks spectacular when lit up at night.

When visiting Dubai keep in mind that it can get very hot, so make sure that you wear loose

fitting clothes. It is also a Muslim city, so dress conservatively, particularly if you are

visiting rural areas where you could get into serious trouble if you wear anything too

revealing, particularly the women. Enjoying luxury travel there is the same as traveling to

any other foreign country: respect their way of life and their customs and laws, or you

might be made to feel unwelcome.

The weather in Dubai is best between November and April, so arrange your tour for then,

while it is pleasantly warm. Temperatures can exceed 40C in the summer months. Unless you

are aware of, and able to observe, all the codes of conduct needed during the month of

Ramadan which is very strictly observed in Dubai, you are best to avoid this period, even

though hotel prices are slashed to about 50% of normal.

The basis of any luxury trip is the service and the comfort of travel. You should make sure

of business class flights at the very least, and if you can find a travel planner that can

offer personal service such as your own limo driver, and also the very best hotels and food,

then that is where the luxury will come from.

When you enjoy luxury travel to Dubai, you are enjoying the very best in one of the richest

cities in the world, if not THE richest, and you will certainly be rubbing shoulders with

some of the richest people in the world. So enjoy it.