Girls Getaway to Dubai, UAE

Are you planning a girls getaway to Dubai or maybe even a solo getaway to this most amazing Middle Eastern city? Well, let me share my personal experience of visiting Dubai, my recommendations on where to eat (brunch should be on your list), where to stay (in the Marina) and what activities you should definitely do whilst in Dubai plus don’t forget to bring your water bottle. Travelling to Dubai has been one of my most favourite travel experiences ever and highly recommend visiting this incredible city.

Recently, I went on a girls getaway to Dubai and it was everything and more that I could have hoped for. I have been to Dubai once before for my 30th birthday but I do not count that visit because I barely left my hotel due to the heat and beyond going to the mall and sitting pool side drinking cocktails, I don’t truly recall my visit to Dubai. This time round, I was determined to ensure that I explored the city of Dubai from checking out the night life to sand boarding in the desert.

Girls Getaway to Dubai, UAE

Dubai is an ultramodern city in the United Arabic Emirates and home to the Burj Khalifa, an 830m-tall tower. The first time I visited Dubai, I was absolutely take aback by the skyline, its one of the best I have seen in all my travels. One thing that I did not enjoy too much was the ‘heat’, obviously being a desert it is expected but somehow my mind couldn’t compute just how hot it was. One thing I did find incredibly amazing is just how well ventilated every single establishment I visited were.

The girls getaway to Dubai was an impromptu trip for me as I already have plans to visit Dubai for my birthday next month. My friends know that I am someone who when invited to travel somewhere I will book the ticket immediately after being informed unless I am already going somewhere during the same time. When the girls told me about the plans to visit Dubai for the extended weekend, I knew I was definitely going to go with and explore one of my favourite cities with my girls.

How to get around

Like many cities, getting around Dubai is super easy and very affordable for an expensive city. We had booked airport pick up and drop off before we arrived in the city – this is something I like doing in advance of my travels. Getting around the city we used the Uber app, you can also use their local Uber (Carem) which works just as Uber does and very affordable as well. The majority of our trips were less than £6 (AED 24) which was cheaper than a 2 little bottle of water which were £10+ but then again, it is in a desert.

Where we stayed

The first time I visited Dubai I stayed at the Westin Dubai in the Marina area and this time round with the girls, we stayed in the Marina area which I highly recommend but the Palm is incredible. Depending on what your budget is, you can search for 3* to 5* hotels, our hotel was Wyndham Dubai Marina which was perfectly located near the beach although I must say one side is not so cute. The hotel was a 4* upscale hotel, has a lovely pool, gym, restaurant rooftop bar.

Where we ate

There are so many incredible places to eat in Dubai, since our hotel was situated in the Marina area, we opted to eat majority of our meals in this area. We spent 4 days and 4 nights in the city and during that time we opted for brunch (daily) and for dinner it varied from our hotel to eating out in the desert during one of the all day activities we had booked. Our favourite brunch spots were ‘Eggspectation’ and ‘Buur Brunch & Dinner’, Eggspectation had the most attentive staff ever, the food was delicious and atmosphere were incredible. Buur had the best decor that we saw around the Marina area, the food was super delicious and the price was not bad at all, highly recommend both. For dinner we at at the Five Palm Jumeirah and whilst we enjoyed the food and atmosphere, it was definitely expensive.

Things to do

When you travel to Dubai, you have to decide which type of traveller you will be, ‘beach bum’ or ‘dora the explorer’ unfortunately I am a bit of both. Dubai is a hot city, during the day temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees at night, and this is what we you get for visiting during the hottest months (Jun/Jul). There are so many activities that we wanted to do but since we only had a few days in the city for the girls getaway to Dubai, we decided to focus on doing one major activity and spent the rest of the time chilling on the beach. This is not to say we didn’t explore parts of the city because we did and here is what we got up to.

Explore the Marina and Beach

Depending on where you stay in Dubai, if like us you choose the Marina area, this is where you will spend 90% of your time. The marina has so much to offer and the beach is always jam packed with people unless your hotel is on the beach end then all the spaces are open to everyone. Around the marina you will find a lot of restaurants, cinema and shops.

Rooftop Bars

One thing about Dubai is that you will have to experience the night light and it doesn’t have to be clubbing, we opted for rooftop bars. There are several rooftop bars and most are in hotels, this doesn’t mean you need to be staying at the hotel, you can visit any rooftop bar.

All day Desert Safari

One thing that I highly recommend is doing an all day (or even half a day) desert experience where you go quad bike riding, sand-boarding, camel rides, sand dunes and a BBQ at the end. We had such an amazing and exhilarating experience, trying new things and meeting new people. This is not exactly a cheap experience but it is affordable from ~£70 to ~£100 but prices can vary.

There are so many wonderful things to do in Dubai but I recommend sprawling on the beach or by the pool side and soak in the sun. Those of us from the UK don’t get to experience that level of sun so I truly soaked up all the sun I could and I believe I have my vitamin D dose.