A beginner's City Guide to Dubai

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Who doesn't know and who doesn't love to visit Dubai ? But then it is always good to review few things before you visit this beautiful city. Below are things you should know before you visit the place

1) History of the City and the Country

Dubai is one of the seven emirates (ruled by Arabs of course) that form the Federal Monarchy of United Arab Emirates or UAE. Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi are the most well-known, the other four emirates Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khaimah and Umm al-Quwain linger behind but are equally. As everyone is well aware, UAE is geographically located in middle east Asia and thrives on its oil reserves. However, in the recent past, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are trying to move away from the oil economy and are amongst the most sought-after tourist destinations and holiday spots. 
Dubai is known for being megalomaniac, over the top extravagant holiday and shopping center of the world. As one of the tour guides aptly put it, “If anything can be described largest, biggest, tallest, costliest, then it has to be related to Dubai”.
Having said that, it’s a safe haven for all tourist and people from all races of life can afford to holiday here depending upon their lifestyle and how deep their pocket is. Apart from the modern civil engineering wonders, Dubai also has an intriguing history and vibrant heritage.
A trip to Dubai can be about enjoying the modern lifestyle or about getting a glimpse into the fascinating Arabian culture and desert life.

2) People, Food and Culture

UAE is Arabian country with Islam as its official religion and Arabic as it official language. While the other Emirates may be conservative, Dubai has an open culture inviting people from across the world – of all economic classes, religion and races. While I have to say, Arabs are the primary residents, you will see people from Indo-Pak, Bangladeshi and Philipino origin employed in the lower end of the economic chain – drivers, shop owners in markets, salesmen in malls, construction workers etc. Then move over to the big building, you will see people from across the world in suits going about their businesses and earning big bucks. There is a clear divide but people at each end of this lopsided economy are generally warm and have accepted tourists and tourism in their life like any other major cities in the world.
Food, food, food. You can enjoy delicacies from every corner of the world – at street corners to Michelin star restaurants. There is the Food pop culture – malls and burger joints, then there are restaurants and diners too. So, plan accordingly, not to just the places to visit but also the food to eat.

3) Geographic Location and Weather

As I said earlier, Dubai is situated in Middle East Asia and is a desert but like any other great cities, Dubai is located at a water front and has about 700 kilometers of coastline. The Dubai creek divides Deira district in North and Bur Dubai in the south.  You will see blue skies and sunshine all around the year. It is hot all around the year beware, but its hottest between June to September. If you would prefer a cooler temperature then plan to visit between December to March.

4) Currency and conversion

Dirham is the national currency. The Currency code is AED which I guess stands for Arab Emirati Dirham or United Arab Emirates Dirham.

If you are traveler like most others with international credit cards, then you should have no problem whatsoever. Dollars and Euros are accepted at most of the malls and places but if you want to carry local currency, there is many currency conversion counters at airports and other places. You can withdraw Dirhams from the ATMs as well. Although there are many banks, ATMs from three banks stand out -Emirates NBD,  First Gulf Bank (FGB) and Dubai Islamic Bank.

A below table gives you the Real time Currency Conversion for AED. Our Source is https://fx-rate.net

United Arab Emirates Dirham Exchange Rate

5) Language and Basic communication

Arabic is the most common language. You can of course get through the trip if you know English, Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam provided if you find the people who can speak this language. Almost everyone understands English but what’s the point in touring a place and not learning the local language. It also helps to connect better with local Arabs. So, we are listing below common phrases in Arabic that should help you survive or at least to put a smile across the faces of the people.

For more refer to this article from Timeout Dubai. 

6) Transportation and Local Commutes

There’s always Uber and taxis if you don’t prefer to figure out the public transport. The taxi rates are regulated and controlled by the government. So, there’s not much to be cheated with. But if you are feeling adventurous and want to go through the riffraff of the locals then read further about Public transport.

It is operated by the Roads & Transport Authority and consists of the metro, buses, water buses and trams. You can visit the website  www.wojhati.rta.ae for routes maps, timings and stuff. For other information, call the 24-hour hotline (800 9090) .  We would like to suggest you buy a NOL Card to make it easy to manage the fares and costs. A day pass costs about  20 Dhs.  Visit www.nol.ae for more information.

If you are in Dubai for about 24-72 hours then you can also choose to take BIGBUS tour , a hop on hop off service that stops at all major attractions. It has some attractions for free such as ticket to Atlantis, Desert Trip, flamingo tour etc. Plus they provide you free cool water. The Elixir you need when you are in desert. Visit this link for more details about Bigbus Dubai.

Now that we are all experts on basics of this City, we are all set to go deeper into the rabbit hole and plan for the trip.
And as a token of appreciation for patiently reading through this, we present you with the "Wanderlust Earth Certified Dubai Beginner " Badge. 

Drop us a comment to claim it and display it proudly on your site or wherever you would like to flaunt it :)