United Arab Emirates (Dubai)

   Super tall buildings, large 8 lane highways, luxurious urban districts and artificial islands are just some of the mind dazzling engineering wonders one can find nowadays in the city of Dubai. Now using the Wizzair.com website you can find relatively cheap tickets from Bucharest to Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport (A on map). We got ours for something around 110 Euros / person including the big luggage (25 Euros), for a one way trip that took approximately 5 hours. European citizens that enter the Emirates will receive a stamp in their passport available for 30 days of stay, this includes a 10 days extension, so a total of 40 days. Your passport needs to be available for at least another 6 months from the date of entry otherwise you will not be permitted to board the plane flying to the Emirates. The local currency in the United Arab Emirates is the Dirham (AED) which is at an almost 1:1 parity with the Romanian Leu making it easier to convert prices.      

     

     Most people think Dubai is a crazy expensive city but we found it to be exactly how you plan it to be for your specific budget. Except for rent which is indeed super expensive compared to Romanian standards you can actually do stuff with small amounts of money. A lunch at a local Indian restaurant can cost you 15-20 Dirhams, you can go on a desert safari trip (that includes camel riding, dune bashing, dinner, traditional dances and others) for only 85-90 AED (groupon.ae), getting to the 124th floor of Dubai's record breaking tower Burj Khalifa is 125 AED if you purchase the ticket in advance from their website and for cost efficient shopping we would recommend the Outlet Mall (B on map) located central south outside Dubai. We even got to check out the indoor ski slope at the Emirates Mall (C on map) with a few friends and using 2-for-1 discount coupons found in Entertainer Magazine, we only paid 105 AED / person for two hours of skiing in the desert. 

     If you prefer the traditional side of the town and you're not that much into high buildings, urban centers and malls we would recommend the visiting the Creek and the old city of Dubai. Also the museum Al Fadihi Fort (D on map) is quite interesting and is located in the same area. Crossing the creek on a boat with one of the locals is only 2 AED one way and you can find yourself in the souqs (local market areas, E on map) and the old town in no time.

     Using local transportation to get to the main beaches and touristic attractions is quite cheap as well. If you plan to use the public transport on a daily basis you may consider getting an RTA card which you can charge with credit any time you wish. The traveling charges will be lessened this way. Traveling towards Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall with the metro will have higher prices compared to other locations.

     You cannot find alcohol in normal street markets or supermarkets only in specific liquor stores (ex: Barracuda, located approximately 100km North) or in mostly all of the hotels where there are bars serving alcohol at relatively high prices. You will not see drunk people on the streets, fights, stealing or any other type of street crime since inculpates will be severely punished by the Emirati authorities.

     If you plan to make a trip to Abu Dhabi which is located only 140km away you need to take the metro's Red line towards Jebel Ali and get off at Ibn Battuta station. Located just near the metro station is the bus station where you can find buses leaving to Abu Dhabi. The price of the ticket is 25 AED for one trip, you can use your RTA card but on return you can only pay cash and get a hard copy ticket.

     

     Abu Dhabi is an interesting island city where you can see the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (A on map, picture →), the largest in the world, the Emirates Palace (C on map), Ferrari World located on Yas island (B on map) and check out the coffee shops and beaches located nearly everywhere around town.

  Dubai and Abu Dhabi were an overall interesting experience which we enjoyed a lot. If you like a more old fashioned concept of genuine culture and architecture, a more authentic experience of interacting with local people and places, please read the post below.

     The return flight from Dubai to Bucharest was a bit more expensive, 130 Euros plus the luggage fee using the same low cost airline, Wizzair.