Lonely Planet Dubai & Abu Dhabi , livre ebook

Dubai & Abu Dhabi

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to Dubai & Abu Dhabi
Dubai & Abu Dhabi’s Top 10
What’s New
Need to Know
Top Itineraries
If You Like...
Month by Month
With Kids
For Free
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities

Explore

Neighbourhoods at a Glance
Deira
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Bur Dubai
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Downtown Dubai & Business Bay
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Jumeirah
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Dubai Marina & Palm Jumeirah
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Abu Dhabi
Al Markaziyah
Breakwater & Around
Al Zahiyah & Al Maryah Island
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque & Around
Al Mina & Saadiyat Island
Yas Island & Around
Day Trips from Dubai & Abu Dhabi
Sharjah
Al Ain
UAE East Coast
Sleeping

Understand

Dubai & Abu Dhabi Today
History
Politics & Economy
Identity & Culture
Environment
The Arts

Survival Guide

Transport
ARRIVING IN DUBAI & ABU DHABI
GETTING AROUND DUBAI
Directory A-Z
Accessible Travel
Customs Regulations
Discount Cards
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Emergency
Health
Internet Access
Legal Matters
LGBTIQ+ Travellers
Money
Opening Hours
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Taxes
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Visas
Women Travellers
Language
Dubai Maps
Deira & Eastern Creek North
Deira & Eastern Creek South
Bur Dubai & Western Creek North
Bur Dubai & Western Creek South
East Jumeirah & Around
West Jumeirah & Around
Downtown Dubai
Al Quoz
Dubai Marina & Palm Jumeirah

Table of Contents

Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Dubai & Abu Dhabi

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are a stirring alchemy of profound traditions and ambitious futuristic vision wrapped into starkly evocative desert splendour.

Cultural Dynamism
With Emiratis making up only a fraction of the population, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are bustling microcosms peacefully shared by cultures from all corners of the world. This diversity expresses itself in the culinary landscape, fashion, music and performance. Although rooted in Islamic tradition, this is an open society where it’s easy for newcomers and visitors to connect with myriad experiences, be it eating like a Bedouin, dancing on the beach, shopping for local art or riding a camel in the desert. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are both fertile environments conducive to breaking down cultural barriers and preconceptions.

Shopping Haven
Shopping is a leisure activity in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi and malls here are much more than just mere collections of shops. Some look like an Italian palazzo or a Persian palace and lure visitors with surreal attractions such as an indoor ski slope or a giant aquarium. Traditional souqs, too, are beehives of activity humming with timeless bargaining banter. Meanwhile, in Dubai a new crop of urban-style outdoor malls has expanded the shopping spectrum yet again.

Innovation
It’s hard not to admire Dubai and Abu Dhabi for their indefatigable verve, ambition and ability to dream up and realise projects. Dubai especially is a superlative-craving society that has birthed audaciously high buildings and palm-shaped islands. Sci-fi concepts such as flying taxis, a lightning-fast hyperloop train and an army of robocops are all reflections of a mindset that fearlessly embraces the future. And with many more grand projects in the pipeline for World Expo 2020, it’s clear that Dubai is a city firmly in charge of writing its own narrative.

Nocturnal Action
After dark, Dubai sometimes seems like a city filled with lotus eaters, forever on the lookout for a good time. Its shape-shifting party spectrum caters for just about every taste, budget and age group. From flashy dance temples, sleek rooftop terraces and sizzling beach clubs to fancy cocktail caverns and concerts under the stars, Dubai delivers hot-stepping odysseys. Most of the nightlife centres on the fancy hotels, but there’s no shortage of more wholesome diversions either, including shisha lounges, community theatre, live-music venues and the sparkling new Dubai Opera.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque , Abu Dhabi | GABLE DENIMS / 500PX ©

Why I Love Dubai & Abu Dhabi
By Andrea Schulte-Peevers, Writer
Ever since first setting foot in Dubai back in 2007, this tiny powerhouse emirate and its big brother Abu Dhabi have fascinated me with their energy, optimism and openness towards people from all over the world. I’m a die-hard foodie, so the staggering variety of authentic global fare is exhilarating, and even shopping – which I normally consider a chore – is actually a joy here. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are both constantly in flux and it’s been exciting to see them grow and mature as cities and as a society. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
For more, see our writers
Dubai & Abu Dhabi’s Top 10

Burj Khalifa
1 Slicing through the slipstream of the sky’s superhighways, there is no more potent a symbol of Dubai’s aspiration to position itself as a major global player than its phalanx of futuristic skyscrapers. Above them all looms the Burj Khalifa, shaped like a deep-space rocket and at 828m the world’s tallest building. Clad in 28,000 glass panels, it also lays claim to several more superlatives, including the highest outdoor observation deck, the most floors, the highest occupied floor and a lift (elevator) with the longest travel distance.
1 Downtown Dubai & Business Bay

UMAR SHARIFF / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Dubai’s Top 10
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
2 Abu Dhabi’s snow-white landmark mosque was conceived by Sheikh Zayed, the country’s ‘founding father’. It has truly impressive dimensions with 80 marble domes held aloft by 1000 pillars and space for 50,000 worshippers. Open to non-Muslims, the main prayer hall is a visual extravaganza drenched in gold leaf and boasting massive crystal chandeliers, the world’s largest handwoven carpet and pillars adorned with intricate semiprecious stones and floral marble inlays.
1 Abu Dhabi

SANCHAI KUMAR / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Dubai’s Top 10
Louvre Abu Dhabi
3 The much anticipated, Jean Nouvel–designed Louvre Abu Dhabi finally opened to great fanfare in late 2017. Sunlight filters through its huge perforated dome onto a cluster of 23 galleries sheltering 600 priceless works that illustrate our shared humanity across time, ethnicity and geography. Highlights include a Da Vinci painting, a Chinese Buddha and a bronze statue from Benin. The dome pays homage to desert-palm shading – its geometric openings represent the interlaced palm leaves used in traditional roofing – and creates a cinematic ‘rain of light’ as the sun’s rays pass throughout the day.
1 Abu Dhabi

TOM DULAT / STRINGER / GETTY IMAGES ©

Dubai’s Top 10
Shopping
4 Shopping malls represent an integral part of the culture and lifestyle in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Not merely places for maxing out your credit cards on fashion, electronics or gourmet foods, malls are also where locals go to socialise in cafes and restaurants, to catch a movie in a state-of-the-art multiplex or to get adrenaline kicks in an indoor theme park or game arcade. The best and biggest of the bunch is Dubai Mall, which features not only 1200 shops but also a giant aquarium, an indoor ice rink and a genuine dinosaur skeleton.
7 Shopping

DUBAI MALL | ESCHCOLLECTION / GETTY IMAGES ©

Dubai’s Top 10
Exotic Souqs
5 For a dose of Arabian Nights flair, head to Dubai’s historic core and plunge headlong into its charmingly chaotic warren of souqs. There are sections for spices and perfume, but the headliner is the dazzling Gold Souq. Even if you don’t have a thing for bling, a walk through here will feel like you’ve entered a giant Aladdin’s Cave. It’s fun to just watch the action, especially in the evening. If you’re buying, sharpen your haggling skills no matter whether shopping for teensy earrings, an engagement ring or a dowry-worthy necklace.
7 Deira

SPICE SOUK | IAIN MASTERTON / GETTY IMAGES ©

Dubai’s Top 10
Al Fahidi Historic District
6 Wandering around this restored heritage area in Bur Dubai provides a tangible sense of historic Middle Eastern architecture and culture. Low-lying traditional courtyard buildings flank this quiet labyrinth of lanes, many of them featuring arabesque windows, decorative gypsum screens and wind towers. Some contain craft shops, small heritage museums, art galleries, artsy guesthouses or cafes serving local fare, including Arabic breakfasts and camel milk smoothies. The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding leads guided tours of the quarter.
1 Bur Dubai

IRYNA RASKO / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Dubai’s Top 10
Burj Al Arab
7 This landmark luxe hotel, with its dramatic design that mimics the billowing sail of a ship, floats on its own artifical island and has become the iconic symbol of Dubai’s boom years. The interior is all about impact, drama and unapologetic bling, with dancing fountains, gold fittings, shiny marble and whirlpool baths your butler can fill with champagne if you so wish. If a stay exceeds your budget, you can still partake in the opulence by making reservations for cocktails, afternoon tea or dinner in the underwater restaurant.
1 Jumeirah

S-F / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Dubai’s Top 10
Dubai Museum
8 Housed in Bur Dubai’s Al Fahidi Fort, the city’s oldest surviving structure, this museum provides a well-laid-out introduction to the history of Dubai. Marvel at the turbo-evolution of this city from simple desert settlement to futuristic metropolis in just a third of a century. Dioramas recreate traditional scenes in a souq, at home and in the mosque,