Dubai Flights:
Flights to Dubai
Dubai is situated in the United Arab Emirates and is one of the seven ’emirates’. In effect it’s like an independent city-state and over recent years has been the focus of much attention due to the huge amounts of capital being invested here and super-structures being built to cater for its rapidly expanding tourist industry.
Dubai can be reached from South Africa by taking a direct flight from Johannesburg’s O R Tambo International Airport. If you wish to fly from any other South African city you will need to catch a connecting flight in Johannesburg. All of the major African airlines fly this route as well as several others. You can choose a flight with: British Airways (BA), South African Airways (SAA), Emirates, Ethiopian Airways, Air Kenya, Egypt Air, KLM, Air Mauritius and Qatar Airways.
Book a Flight To Dubai:
To Book a flight type in where you are leaving from, where you want to go to. Edit the date range and number of passengers and just click on the submit tab.
The Tourist Attractions of Dubai:
Although Dubai is now most famous for its mega-structures and modern architecture, if you’re interested in seeing the ‘old Dubai’ this is still possible in a few places! The Bastakiya District is the one remaining small area where you can find traditional buildings, and this offers quite a contrast to all the new high-rises going up.
To get further insight into the old Dubai and how it grew from a poor village into the metropolis that it is today, visit the Dubai Museum.
The new developments are difficult to miss though the one you will most definitely not miss is Burj-Dubai – the world’s tallest building, and still growing! It has passed 600 metres and it’s believed that when it is completed in 2009 it will be taller than 800 metres.
Another spectacular building is the Burj al-Arab Hotel – the only 7 star hotel in the world according to the owners, though officially it’s a 5 star deluxe! Unless you’re lucky enough to be able to afford to stay here you can’t just walk in to look around, and will have to make a reservation for dinner to do so.
Dubai has the largest of everything it seems! The weather might be in the high 30’s C outside but Dubai has the one of the world’s largest indoor ski slopes! Situated at the Mall of the Emirates, this is Ski Dubai, and the ski slope is 400 metres long and there is real snow here!
Another largest for Dubai is The Palm Islands – the world’s three largest artificial islands. Currently the first one is under construction and includes many private residences and hotels.
Once you’ve marvelled at all the architecture you can enjoy the other side of Dubai, and that is some of the whitest and sandiest beaches in the world. The weather can get very hot and dry in the summer months (see below), though the ocean doesn’t offer a great deal of respite from the heat as the water is reputed to reach 35C! You may prefer the popular water park, Wild Wadi, which has numerous water rides and amusements, pools and lagoons.
Dubai is also known for its shopping. There are many shopping centres and malls including the Mall of the Emirates which is the largest shopping mall outside of North America. The modern malls contain many of the well-known ‘high street’ stores, selling goods at much cheaper prices, plus there are also the souks to visit, such as the Gold Souk and the Spice Souk, which are historic markets where you can haggle over the price with the vendor!
When Should You Visit?:
As mentioned, Dubai gets very hot and dry in the summer, being bordered by desert regions. From May to September the average daily high ranges from 36C to 39C, so if you don’t like it this hot you would be better visiting between December and March, though even then the max doesn’t drop below 22C and the min gets down to 14C.