I FINALLY got girlfriends from home to travel with me as we all decided we wanted to explore Dubai! If you know me, you know how often I travel alone. Thanks to a great flight deal on Qatar Airways, I was happy to have company from two very close friends from uni/college.

Days OOO: 2. I went over a long weekend… and yes I know how crazy it was to give myself 30 hours of travel for 5 days. Technically including my layover in Doha I took 3 days off, but if you just want to do Dubai quick and dirty 2 is possible.

Budget Style: Half budget half ballin out. As one of my good friends told me, if you want to have a cheap vacation DON’T go to Dubai.

TIPS:

• Be sure to book tickets for the Burj Khalifa in advance since it sells out quickly.
• Make Friday brunch and dinner reservations in advance
• Dubai is a pretty modernized spot but I’d still recommend covering knees and shoulders in public. Bikini was fine at the beach though!
• Men and women have separate entrances to mosques. We got yelled at and didn’t know why since there was zero signage. Don’t mess this up haha.
• As close as the city looks on a map, everything is spread out and taxi commutes can be upwards of 30-45 minutes depending on where you go. Work driving time into your schedule.
• The easiest (and cheapest) way to drink alcohol is to buy it from Duty Free at the airport.
• If you’re flying economy with Qatar, they force you to check your carry-on bag if it is over 16lbs/7kg. I masterfully stuffed 27lbs of stuff into the smallest European sized carry-on suitcase and it meant jacks***.

What I Did:

At the Top – Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall. Of course the one time we come to Dubai, we bring with us the worst weather the city has ever seen. Visibility was not ideal due to sandstorms… but that didn’t stop us from going up the tallest building in the world. The good news is, you enter through the Dubai Mall and get to kill two birds with one stone!

Friday Brunch & Beach Time. We wanted to find a brunch spot with great food, beach, and pool access. Maya at Le Royal Meridien fit all of these things, and I’ll never turn down good tex mex. Friday brunch is a bit of an institution in Dubai, and the unlimited drinks were flowin! Unfortunately we didn’t

Night Out. Other than yummy dinners and drinks along with house parties, we had a great time at Pier 7 in the marina. There are 7 floors with different things… which reminds me of a less trashy Kapital in Madrid haha. I couldn’t tell you which floor we were on but I hear great things about the salsa floor!

Miracle Garden. My little sis had this on her wish list, and it was a dark horse for me. It was a perfect day to be outside, and probably the greenest garden that exists in the entire UAE. They have an Airbus A-380 covered in flora!

Jumeirah Mosque. Gorgeous on the outside, peaceful on the inside. There were very few people there and it was unlike the mosques I visited in Bosnia that had robes to cover up and interesting historical information readily available. It was interesting to see it in use with locals though.

Deira Souks. A highlight because we got to look at beautiful jewelry at a bargain, and two of us walked out with gold and diamond infinity rings that we bargained down! Also ALL of the Saffron… piles of it in windows. Saffron is expensive AF back home and I was tempted to see how much cheaper it was. My one annoyance of the souk is that everyone harasses you with designer names–as if I want to buy fake purses. No thanks.

Desert Safari. A bit tacky compared to my Morocco experience. At least 100 people, SUVs, and not enough camel time (like pony rides for kids but with camels). The dune bashing made me super carsick which never happens… Dramamine is key!

Where We Ate:

Zuma. Amazing sushi, fish, and cocktails. Goldfish bag full of gin- 1. Shaye- 0.

Marina Social. In the hotel; delicious octopus and entres, gave my friend 12 different types of gelato for dessert. Nom.

Maya. See above… tex mex food haven in the middle of the desert.

Operation Falafel. Fast food spot… I had a hankerin’ for some hummus and shawarma. Cheap for Dubai!

What We Didn’t Do Out of Spite:

Burj al Arab (the sailboat hotel). We saw it from afar, that was good enough. What’s the big deal? To be reminded that we can’t afford a 1500 a night hotel room?

Where We Stayed:

Intercontinental Dubai Marina. Marina was a good choice because of beach and bar proximity, and we were lucky enough to get a room with a balcony on the 21st floor with an awesome view! The hotel was only built 2 years ago so the room and fixtures were all super modern/digital. We even had a mini kitchen! The restaurants were also convenient when we were exhausted. Highly recommend.

How We Got There:

Qatar Airways had a roundtrip fare for $650 from DC and about $680 from NYC that we took advantage of. It’s about 13 hours of travel to Dubai and 16 hours back, including the Doha, Qatar layover. The Doha airport isn’t the worst place in the world to be stranded as it is really fancy and modern— which we found out when one of our legs was delayed by a few hours. All things considered (having to check a carry-on for weighing more than 7kg?!) I would still fly Qatar Air.