Once in this ultra-modern city, it is hard to believe that in the old days it was replaced by a coastal village in which Bedouin merchants lived. Today, this metropolis is not only the capital of the United Arab Emirates, but also a magnificent oasis in the desert.
It can be noted that Dubai is one big attraction that combines old times with modernity, traditional features with innovative discoveries, pathos and modesty. Everything is here. And all this is so magnificent that the city is often compared with a paradise on earth.
Of course, initially many travelers go to Dubai only for a beach holiday. However, after they get to this cosmopolitan city, it becomes clear that a huge amount of interesting sensations will be a pleasant bonus to rest. After all, here you can visit the famous camel races, and see the highest skyscrapers in the world, and see the whole mountains of gold that are laid out on the shelves of markets, visit palm islands, and visit very seductive and luxurious duty-free shops, and enjoy the charming smells of Arabian the kitchen.
House of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum
What should be visited from the sights of Dubai for those who are interested in the historical heritage of the UAE? There are not too many museums in the city, but fans of such excursions will still find something to see in cosmopolitan.
What to visit in Dubai from this destination? A very interesting place for tourists is the house of Sheikh Saeed al-Maktoum. Once it served as a residence for the family, the ruling country. Today, the house was turned into a museum, which is an example of 19th-century Arab culture. This building is even included in the list of national cultural monuments of the UAE.
In this museum, travelers can get acquainted with the exposition, which includes the rarest photographs, pictographs, ancient stamps, paintings and coins telling about the history of the Emirate. Here you can see the wax figures dressed in national costumes. If you go up to the balcony of the top floor of the house, you will have a view of the harbor. Interestingly, on the facade of the building are the wind towers that have been preserved to date. In earlier times, they cooled the air in the rooms of this house. Based on its purpose, such towers can be considered as the first air conditioners on the planet.
Those tourists who do not yet know what to visit in Dubai are advised not to disregard the House of Said. This is a great place to get acquainted with the history of the country.
Heritage House
What to visit in Dubai for those tourists who are configured to explore the historical sights of the UAE? A very interesting place for such travelers will be the Heritage House. This museum is a dwelling that was typical of the UAE at the end of the 19th century. A local caretaker helps tourists get acquainted with the expositions.
The year of construction of the building is considered to be the 1890th. Previously, it belonged to Ahmed bin Dalmuk, a wealthy merchant, one of the pioneers in the pearl trade.
Those who have not yet decided what to visit in Dubai on their own should come to Al Ahmadiya St. The Heritage House will greatly enrich travelers' knowledge of the country's ethnography and diversify their vacation in Dubai. Attractive is the fact that the entrance to this museum is completely free.
Unique villages
What else can you visit in Dubai? What excursions will leave an unforgettable impression about this country? In the western part of the capital of the UAE, which is called Bar Dubai, in a bay located near the Shindaga Peninsula, there are two villages. One of them is a settlement for pearl hunters, and the second is a historical and ethnographic museum. Both of these villages are one of the main attractions of the country.
Not far from the entrance to the bay is a historical and ethnographic settlement. Its buildings in 1997 are located on an area of a little less than a hectare. There are many interesting objects for tourists. This, for example, is the Bedouin's house, for which the branches and trunks of the date palm served as the building material.
Here, in the village market, travelers can buy for themselves interesting products made by local potters and blacksmiths, weavers and other artisans. Right before the eyes of holidaymakers in the village, delicious cakes are baked, which you can try, as they say, in the heat of the heat.
The local museum located here acquaints its visitors with archaeological finds. All of them were discovered during excavations on the outskirts of Dubai. Among these exhibits are household items, bronze weapons and jewelry.
Not far from this historical and ethnographic village is the settlement of divers. All its inhabitants earn their living by extraction of pearls. The village of divers is also a kind of open-air museum. Its exhibits are boats: transport, fishing and those on which they reach the places of pearl mining.
These attractions are also a great guide to anyone who wonders what to visit in Dubai on their own. Entrance to the village is free.
Al Fahidi Fort
Those who are going to come to the UAE and do not yet know what places to visit in Dubai should get acquainted with the fortress, which today is a national museum.
Al Fahidi Fort is one of Dubai's oldest buildings. Its construction began at the end of the 18th century. on the shore of the Persian Gulf. Arab architects managed to build a fortification out of clay blocks and corals, which they fastened together with lime.
In former times, the fort protected the city from raids from the sea. He was later converted to a weapons depot and a state prison. After the liberation of Dubai from British colonial dependence by Sheikh Rishid Ibn Saeed al-Maktum, it was decided to restore the old fortress and open a historical museum in it. It took almost thirty years. Building material was imported by restorers from Iran, India and Africa. The exhibits of the museum were hardly preserved due to the unstable political situation in the country, characterized by constant uprisings and strikes.
Today, the museum has household items from pearl hunters, merchants and Bedouins who have inhabited these lands for more than one millennium.
In the courtyard of the fort exhibited “tzou” - traditional Arabs' ships, as well as shasha boats, the material for the manufacture of which were palm leaves. In the open air in this museum you can see barasti reed huts, which have a unique ventilation system used by the local population as the first air conditioners.
There is a separate exposition in the museum, which is dedicated to the musical art of the Arab people. Among its exhibits are drums and flutes, guitars and bagpipes. For those who are interested in history, it will be interesting to inspect the collection of archaeological finds. These items have an age sometimes exceeding 4 thousand years.
Dancing fountains
Tourists interested in sightseeing in Dubai, what should I visit first? There are dancing fountains in the capital of the United Arab Emirates , which are not without reason considered the main attraction of the Emirate. They are located in a lake near the Burj Khalifa, between the skyscraper of the same name, the market and the Dubai Mall shopping center. For free, tourists can watch these world's largest man-made streams of water flowing upward. The jets of fountains rise so high that they allow you to admire yourself from all around.
The point of interest - the lake at Burj Khalifa - is exactly what is worth visiting in Dubai. After all, tourists do not need to go anywhere to watch shows with fountains. Moreover, the main local tourist routes run in the shopping center and skyscraper near them. If you visit the UAE and not see these world's largest dancing and singing fountains, then it will become very disappointing. Indeed, jets of water soaring upwards are a kind of symbol of the country's prosperity. And even initially, these fountains were conceived as the best on the planet.
What is a show with 83 tons of water? This is a unique sight consisting of 3-hour special dances. The main role is assigned to water, which rises to the height of a 50-story building in the form of various intricate figures (colors, spirals and other forms) in time with the music. How can I pass by and not see such a miracle in the UAE?
Burj Khalifa Tower
What can tourists visit in Dubai? One of the most famous landmarks among Russians in the UAE is the highest tower in the world, the Burj Khalifa. Its height is 830 meters.
The skyscraper has some interesting engineering features. One of them is special mirror panels that cover the exterior walls of the building. Such a solution allows you to prevent overheating of the premises in the hottest months of summer.
Another feature of the tower is its recharge of electricity from its own generators, whose work is carried out from the wind. In addition, the building of the Burj Khalifa has special automatic systems that can wash the windows of the structure.
When designing the tallest tower in the world, a huge number of technical innovations were required. Without them, she could not simply resist. For example, the Burj Khalifa section looks like the letter “x”, which makes the structure as stable as possible.
The tower has many terraces with beautiful gardens. On a two-story elevator located in the building, tourists can climb to the 124th floor, where there is a viewing platform. From here (from a height of 452 meters) it is wonderful to admire the wonderful views of Dubai.
Burj Khalifa Tower is partly a residential building. It has 900 apartments and nine hotels. There are several pools, as well as a restaurant and a nightclub, which are considered the highest in the world. On the 158th floor is a mosque.
Most of the building is given over to offices. However, today almost all of them are empty due to sky-high rental prices.
Palm islands
What should tourists visit in Dubai? Those who wish to become a happy witness to the implementation of a grandiose project in terms of significance and scope of the twenty-first century need to visit the palm islands. This man-made archipelago is also called the eighth wonder of the world.
The artificial structure consists of three islands that look like palm trees. Among them are Palms Jumeirah, Palms Jebel Ali, as well as Palms Deira. These islands, and to be precise, the peninsula (due to their connection with the coastline), have the shape of a date palm, which is very revered in Islam. The crown of each of these islands is a crescent moon, which seems to creep along the top. It was conceived as a breakwater and at the same time to perpetuate Muslim symbolism. Around the islands are unique barrier reefs. So, Palm Jebel Ali is protected by quotes from the poems of Mohammed bin Rashid - the ruler of Dubai. By the way, on his initiative this grandiose construction was carried out. Protective reefs made of sand and rocks.
Palm Islands in Dubai is a territory inhabited by local millionaires. Between the islands and the mainland, communication is via a monorail. In addition, the airship constantly runs here.
They say that this “eighth wonder of the world”, like the Great Wall of China, is visible even from space. Palm Islands today are considered a symbol not only of Dubai, but of all the United Arab Emirates.
The largest shopping center
What to visit in Dubai? It is unlikely that there will be a traveler who, having arrived in the capital of the UAE, will not stay at the Dubai Mall, the world's largest shopping and entertainment center. Indeed, this complex has an impressive scale. Its area is 1.2 million square meters. But you can do here not only shopping. Those who have not yet decided what to visit in Dubai with their children should definitely come to this shopping center. After all, here is located a spectacular indoor oceanarium. Over 33,000 of the most diverse marine life swam in its waters, including tiger sharks and stingrays. Above this giant aquarium is a water zoo. This is a place where you can see a large number of fish and other deep-sea inhabitants. Visitors are given the opportunity to look at penguins, snakes and reptiles. The Dubai Aquarium is located in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest indoor structure of its kind in the world.
Aquapark
What to visit in Dubai with children? The real attraction of the city is the water park. This is the most famous similar complex in the Emirates, which is called "Wild Wadi." Tourists, having entered its territory, seem to fall into an oriental tale. And if it weren’t for the towering skyscrapers nearby, it would give the full impression of being on a pirate island, where the exotic river Wadi flows. On it, visitors travel between rocks and oases.
Each of the attractions of the water park is made in a certain theme related to the adventures of the navigator Sinbad. Travelers fall into the world of waves, the height of which sometimes reaches 2.5 m, tropical showers, surfing, downhill (up to 80 km per hour) and waterfalls. All this can be found at 23 attractions of the water park.
Emirates Mall
This shopping complex must be on the list of places that a traveler has chosen for himself, trying to find the answer to the question of what to visit in Dubai. After the Emirates Mall lost its leadership position, losing first place to the Dubai Mall, management tried to incorporate something special into the Centre’s work. And he did it superbly. Today, the Emirates Mall is well known to tourists due to its ski resort. Especially it attracts those who are tired of the hot sun and want to cool at least a little. Such tourists are invited to visit the shopping complex by a snowy descent, whose length is 400 m. Of course, visitors to the Emirates Mall are also waiting for many other pleasures. In addition to shopping, there are restaurants and cinema, attractions and a theater.