Travel planning for Dubai, you must read this article

Dubai captivates everyone with its brilliance. In the last few years, Dubai has relied firmly on the travel map of the world. People from all over the world come to visit here. Dubai is also a good destination for Indians who want to travel abroad. I have tried to cover the important information related to traveling in Dubai in this article.

What about Dubai Visa

The first requirement for going abroad is to take a visa for that country. You cannot go to another country without a visa. The Dubai visa rules are easy for Indian passport holders. Dubai visa can be taken in India in two ways.

1- Through airlines- You will also get a visa from the airlines with which you book tickets from India to Dubai. They have to submit more documents to get a visa. Such as bank details, last 2 years fixed deposit information, etc.

2- Through travel agents- It is easy to get a visa from them. Visa is usually obtained by giving a passport copy and photo.

How to go Dubai

Many full-service and low-cost airlines fly to Dubai from India. These include full services such as Emirates, Air India, Jet Airways and low-cost airlines like Flydubai, SpiceJet, Indico, Air India Express. Usually, you get a return ticket to Dubai from different cities of India between 12000 to 20000 rupees according to the airlines.

Apart from this, there are airlines like AirArabia and Etihad which can reach cities near Dubai such as Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. From there, you can easily come to Dubai by taking a taxi or bus.

Now many small cities of India also get a direct flight to Dubai. Take flight information from your nearest International Airport to Dubai.

Hotels in Dubai

Dubai is a well-known tourist destination in the world. Therefore, there are places to stay for people of every budget. Everything from the world's most expensive hotels to doormetry is available here. While in an expensive hotel you may have to pay a few lakh rupees a day, in a dormitory you can get a bed for sleeping between 1000-1500 rupees. What kind of hotel you want to choose depends on your budget. By the way, in a budget of 3000-4000 rupees per day, you can find a good clean hotel in Dubai. Most of the places to visit in Dubai are around the Metro line, so if you want to travel on a low budget then try to have your hotel close to the Metro line.

Bur Dubai or Deria is a good option to stay. Here you get all kinds of hotels from five star to cheap and also these two areas are also connected by Metro Line. If your hotel is very cheap in Dera or Bar, then find out if there is any dance area in the hotel. Often such hotels are found cheap. People come to these hotels till late night and the noise remains. If your room is on the lower floor of the hotel then there can be trouble.

What about Public Transport in Dubai

 The best and easiest way to get around in Dubai is the Dubai Metro. The Metro line is designed in such a way that it originates from around all the places in Dubai. If the place is also at some distance, a taxi or local bus can be taken from the nearest metro station. There are two Metro lines in Dubai. These are called red and green lines. The red line runs from Rashidia to the UAE exchange. The Green Line runs from Etisalat to Creek Station. Dubai International Airport falls on the Red Line. Terminals 1 and 3 of the airport are connected by a metro line. If you are at Terminal 2, then you can take a bus or taxi to the Metro station of Terminal 1 or 3. Each Metro Rail has four coaches with half of the first class being reserved for Gold Class and a half for women and children.

Apart from this, one can also travel to Dubai by public bus, tram, taxi, and water bus. The Regional Transport Authority of Dubai runs all this public transport.

The fare of your journey is determined by how many zones you have crossed during that trip. Actually, Dubai is divided into a total of 7 zones according to travel. The fare is less when traveling within the same zone and the fare increases as you move to another zone.

Here Metro, buses, trams do not have tickets, instead, you have to use Nol card. You can buy these cards at some metro stations, bus stations or vending machines.

What about local SIM card in Dubai

Etisalat and DU are two companies in Dubai that offer mobile services. Two companies have counters at Dubai Airport itself from where a SIM card can be taken. In both companies, you will get prepaid plans made for special tourists.

I took the visitor line prepaid (talk, text, surf) plan for tourists from Dubai Airport to Etisalat. I had to pay 105 dirhams (100 dirhams plan + 5% VAT) for the 14-day plan. In which I get 40 minutes of local and international call time, 40 SMS, 700 MB of data and 5 hours of free Wi-Fi (Etisalat gives free Wi-Fi to my customers in many places in Dubai, though I use this feature Could not do it either I did not know how to use it or the free Wi-Fi was not working properly. You can get information about it from any Etisalat store.). Tourists also get some additional benefits with the Sim of Etisalat. Like I got a coupon book which had discount coupons related to many restaurants, theme parks, adventure parks, etc. in Dubai which can be used to save money. Simultaneously a free ride of up to 100 dirhams was also received from Sim's Dubai Karim Taxi Service. Although I could not use this taxi service, a free taxi ride of 100 dirhams with a plan of 105 dirhams is a great deal. These plans made for tourists are valid for 14 days, if you have more days than this, you can get the plan recharged again. To get the 14-day plan recharged above, 75 dirhams have to be given.

If you compare Etisalat with DU's plan, DU's plans are a little more expensive. The 14-day tourist plan in Dew is 165 dirhams. With which 2 GB data and 40 minutes of talk time are available. There is no additional benefit with DU. Therefore, it is better to take Etisalat instead of Due. But these plans can also be changed, so when you go, buy the SIM only after getting information about the plan from the stores of both companies.

Before taking a SIM, make sure to pay attention to one thing that now the mobile service providers of India are also offering cheap international roaming plans. For example, if you talk about Airtel, you can get a Dubai Roaming Plan for 10 days for Rs 2999. With which you get 250 incoming calls, 250-minute calls (for calling and local calls in India), 100 free SSS and 3 GB data. If you compare it with Etisalat, then it sits about 900 rupees more, but it is getting about 6 times more call time and more than four times the data. Also, you can keep your India number current. According to this, it is not worth much.

Which Currency require in Dubai

The currency of the United Arab Emirates is - dirham. It is also spelled AED. Take it from India before leaving or you can also remove it using Dubai ATM there. Some ATMs charge extra for withdrawing money from Indian ATM cards. While using the ATM card, you will be given information on the ATM screen about how much you will have to pay. I once had to pay an extra 25 dirhams. However, there is no charge for withdrawing money from some ATMs, so find the card by installing the card in different ATMs.

Debit and credit cards run almost everywhere in Dubai.

What to see in Dubai

Dubai is a well-known tourist destination in the world today. Things like giant malls, theme parks, adventure parks, exciting sports, nightlife, beaches can be enjoyed here. If you are fond of shopping, then Dubai Mall, Mall of Emirates and Ibn Batuta Mall can be seen here. By the way, there is no shortage of malls in Dubai. But these three malls are always included in the list of tourists. You will find every big brand in the world here. The Burj-Khalifa is also the tallest building in the world in Dubai Mall. Also, the world's largest musical fountain and the highest artificial waterfall is also built-in Dubai Mall.

There are many water parks, theme parks, and adventure parks in Dubai which you can see according to your interest.

If you are going in winter then definitely go to Dubai Miracle Garden.

If you are fond of exciting sports, then you can enjoy in Dubai from sea diving to skydiving.

Jumeria Beach is very popular among the beaches. The Burj Al-Arab Hotel can also be seen near this beach.

If you want to see the old markets of Dubai, then go towards Dubai and Dera. In Dera, you will find old markets like Gold Souk, Spice Souk.

If you are interested in history, then definitely see the Dubai Museum built in Bur Dubai and the area of ​​Al-Fahidi. Al-Fahidi is a 150-year-old area of ​​Dubai. The buildings of that era have been preserved here.

To know about Al-Fahidi, read my blog - Al-Fahidi's History of Dubai.

Cities like Abu Dhabi and Sharjha can also be seen near Dubai. The bus is easily available to travel to both cities. It takes hardly one hour to reach Sharjha by bus and Abu Dhabi can reach in 2-2.5 hours.

Best time to visit Dubai

Dubai remains very hot most of the year. Day temperatures will be just above 40 degrees centigrade. The best time to visit Dubai is from November to February. At this time the weather is somewhat cold and can be visited on foot during the day. But hotels in Dubai become expensive from November to February. Some want to travel to Dubai for less expense then they can go in less hot months like March, September, and October. I went to Dubai in the last week of September. At that time the weather was hot but still, there was not much trouble in walking during the day.

What should we eat in Dubai

Dubai is a unique country in the world where people from all over the world live and work. So here you get food everywhere. Whether you eat in a great restaurant or in a small roadside shop, the food is delicious and cleanly made. Indians live in Dubai in large numbers, so there is a lot of Indian food here. Vegetarian Indian food for two people can be eaten in 50-60 dirhams in a good restaurant. In small shops, you can eat vegetarian food at a budget of 15-20 dirhams per person.