Dubai, for Indians is generally this place to which every family in Kerala donates one member to. And additionally also the place Indians look up to as the last resort in case they don’t find a job in India. But kid I not, Dubai is so much more than that. From sky piercing skyscrapers, giant shopping malls & complexes, beautiful parks, luxury hotels, wild and sandy deserts, to its old souks, towns with an old world majestic charm, dhow cruises, yacht rides, adventure themed parks and mosques, Dubai is absolutely stunning. At every attraction that you visit in Dubai, you will find your jaw-drop in awe of its beauty. Here’s my Dubai 5 Nights 6 Days itinerary explained, for you to draw inspiration and travel away.
Day 1 - Arrive at Dubai International Airport - Check into your hotel - Jumeirah Beach - Global Village Day 2 - Miracle garden - Dubai Frame - Dubai Mall - Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo - Dubai Fountain - Burj Khalifa Day 3 - The Pointe - Atlantis the Palm - Zabeel Palace - Al Fahidi fort - Abra ride from Deira to Bur Dubai - Spice Souk - Gold Souk - Dune bashing - Dubai Desert Safari Day 4 - Dubai Marina Yacht ride - Meena Bazar - Bastakiya Quarter - Dhow Cruise - Dubai Glow Garden Day 5 - Last exit - Ferrari world - Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque - Limousine ride Day 6 - Check out and leave for airport
Day 1
Complete the check in formalities at the hotel, and get ready to head first to the breezy and beautiful Jumeirah Beach, the first attraction on your Dubai 5 Nights 6 Days itinerary.
Jumeirah Beach
Cool breezy wind of the ocean, as it hits your face, believe me when I say this that every cell in your body feels the chills. A super clean white beach with clear waters and of stunning views of the Burj Al Arab, couldn’t have asked for a better start to our Dubai trip. Stay back to witness a spectacular golden sunset, and add to your already amazing beach experience.
Global Village
A unique integrated destination to get a complete shopping, culture and entertainment experience of countries from around the world, Global village’s mammoth size is simply astounding. You can spend an entire day moving between pavilions set up for each country representing its culture, and shop country speciality goods from its several stalls on exhibit. Also find entertainment options, taste international cuisines, and most of all just marvel at the architectural beauty of each pavilion representing a country. Buy Turkish delights & Rose Perfume from Turkey, Leather jackets from Pakistan, Saffron from Iran, Scarves from Egypt and Shea butter from Africa, if you fancy and have set aside a good amount of money for shopping in Dubai. Overall, the Global village experience is one of a kind in the world and will leave you in awe at the end of it (with tired legs).
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Finish your dinner at one of the restaurants at Global village itself and then head back to your hotel. That marks the end of Day 1 on my best Dubai 5 Nights 6 Days itinerary.
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Day 2
Miracle Garden
After a wholesome breakfast at your hotel, on your Day 2, head first to the Miracle gardens of Dubai. A world of floral wonder with over 50 million blooming flowers used across various exhibits, the Dubai Miracle garden is the world’s largest natural flower garden. Take incredible pictures at various Instagrammable spots like hearts passage, butterfly passage, floral castles, Big Teddy Bear, Mickey Mouse, Cabanas, Lake Park, Floating lady, and of course don’t miss the major attraction that has made its way all the way to the Guinness book of world records – the floral rendition of an Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft covered with over 500,000 fresh flowers and living plants.
Dubai Frame
After a breath of fresh air, head next to the famous Dubai Frame – that celebrates the story of Dubai. An iconic structure that gives panoramic views of the Dubai city, with one side view that reminds you and gives you an insight of the rich Dubai past; i.e., the Old Dubai and the other side that represents the New Dubai and the future of Dubai. Absolutely loved the concept, and the thought behind this cultural landmark of Dubai.
Dubai Mall
From the frame, head next to the giant Dubai Mall and strike out one after the other all the items from your extensive shopping list. Find all the luxury brands and shop everything from perfumes, clothes, cosmetics to electronics and toys. Buy the perfume you have been looking for at Bvlgari, that bag you’ve been eyeing forever at Louis Vuitton, that engagement ring for your partner at Tiffany & Co., and those perfect pair of sneakers or those gorgeous heels from Level shoes. Also don’t miss the Pistachio ice cream from Cold stone, believe me after the first cup, you will want for more.
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Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo
The largest suspended aquariums in the world, the Dubai aquarium is a 10-million litre aquarium tank that houses thousands of aquatic animals, which include over 300 sharks and rays that live in the tank. Get up-close during feeding time with ocean’s most fascinating predators at the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, and get the chance to embark on the adventure of witnessing the feeding of sharks. Watch as the Dubai Aquarium Shark Feed Divers lure the sharks with buckets of fish, and witness the feeding frenzy.
Dubai Fountain
World’s tallest performing fountain, the Dubai fountain is a riveting water, music and lights spectacle that is an absolute visual delight. Situated in the Burj Lake, the 900ft length fountain shoots up water up to impressive heights in unique designs to a range of Arabic songs from classic to contemporary, that it is visually breathtaking. And watching this spectacle is absolutely free. Also savour stunning views of the tallest tower in the world – Burj Khalifa. If you want to get a closer look at the fountain while enjoying boating at the Burj lake, you can opt for that as well, but that would come at some price.
Burj Khalifa
From the Dubai fountain, we quickly headed to the tallest tower in the world. Now Burj Khalifa, doesn’t really need any mention. Savour panoramic views of the entire city lit up in various colours and get some cuddlesome pictures with your partner to beat the cold winds blowing in. Now for Burj Khalifa as well, you get views from two observations decks – One is from the 124th & 125th floor and the other is from the 148th floor. The view in the picture is from the 124th floor.
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Now with that, get back to your hotel. Get good rest and charge yourself up for Day 3 of your best Dubai itinerary for 6 days.
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Day 3
If you can’t afford a stay at the Atlantis, no worries, can you not get a good picture with this luxury hotel as the backdrop? Of course you can! On the Day 3 of your Dubai 5 Nights 6 Days itinerary, head first to ‘The Pointe” and read on for more deets.
The Pointe – Atlantis the Palm
A photo op with a stunning view of the luxury personified Atlantis and right before it clear still waters giving it a tranquil feel, The Pointe gets 100 points for being a post-card perfect backdrop for a picture. Get a pretty picture here absolutely free of cost and feed it to your Insta profile for those extra likes.
Zabeel Palace
After a picturesque view of the Atlantis, head next to the Zabeel Palace. Home to the former UAE President, Sheikh Rashid, the Zabeel Palace was built in 1960s in an area that was nothing but barren land covered with sand. Currently, this palace is surrounded by high rise glitzy buildings and from here you get an amazing view of Dubai skyline. The palace also has lush gardens, and it is believed that you get a good view of Dubai Frame from there. You can unfortunately get close to the palace only up to a certain point and beyond that you can’t go any further.
Al Fahidi Fort Museum
Next up, visit the Dubai Museum or otherwise known as Al Fahidi Fort. A former force of defence, a weapons arsenal and prison, the museum is the oldest existing building in Dubai and gives a taste of old Dubai, and everyday life before the discovery of oil. Dubai museum rightly represents the life of old Dubai with the historic old houses, various souks, date farms and marine life. You can also explore the history of pearl diving, and also find the actual weights & scales used at such time. For me, Dubai Museum is a real gem in the class of history preservation.
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Abra ride from Deira to Bur Dubai
Deira is considered as the modernised and new Dubai filled with sky piercing skyscrapers and Bur Dubai is the old Dubai where there was souk/market for each commodity and each commodity was sold in its own respective market. Since the ancient days, from Deira if you wished to get to the other side of Dubai, a boat ride known as Abra ride was used. For each ride the charge is 1Dirham per person. Fascinating part is that, the price so many years after also remains the same. So take an Abra ride and get to the other side of Dubai with the souks.
Spice Souk
On reaching Bur Dubai, you will get the feeling of getting transported to another world. Old souks have a peculiar charm to them. The first market you will come across is the spice market where spices are lined up to perfection making it a visual treat. The aroma of the spices in the air is vivid and if I didn’t have to rush up and keep a tab on the time, i’d would have loved to spend an entire day here.
Gold Souk
All the old souks are connected with the others. Next we headed to the gold souk – from cute little earrings to full dresses in gold, the gold souk will make your jaw drop. The largest gold market in Dubai, you will run out of choices for your gold purchase. Like they say, if you’ve visited Dubai and not brought home any gold, you haven’t visited at all. So take some time out and check off gold shopping from your Dubai bucket list at the gold souk.
There are other souks like utensils souk, textile souk and more, but for lack of time, I didn’t quite get to cover them. But i’d advise you make good time on your itinerary to explore these old souks. I left this place wanting for more and also hoping to find sometime in my itinerary where I could again come back to it and explore more of it. But sigh, that did not happen.
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Next up was lunch, and we were in the mood for some Indian food. The guide suggested a Thali restaurant ‘Rasoi ghar’ that served Gujarati and Rajasthani food. Although we had a desert safari to head to post lunch, we still went ahead with this restaurant and stuffed ourselves to the brim with some lip smacking food. When in Dubai, and you have desi food cravings, head over to this place, and it will not disappoint you.
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Dune bashing
After our wholesome lunch, we headed back to our hotel and got a change of clothes. In no time, the land rovers arrived and we were driven to our desert safari spot. We got there about an hour ahead of our scheduled time and we utilised this time to go dune bashing. Although this picture is just for posing, we went dune bashing post this and believe me, that was more fun that the desert safari itself.
Desert Safari
Right, next up was desert safari. A 30 minute ride manoeuvring through the dunes of the wild Arabian desert, high and low, and feeling the thrill and excitement of the adventure ride is an experience to have and savour. Post the safari, you will have about a good half hour to explore the desert, just take in its beauty and witness a spectacular sunset.
As the sun goes down for the day, you will again board your land rover and be transported to the next spot where you will camp and spend your evening witnessing some amazing performances by artists of immense talent and calibre and also indulge in activities that would mark an amazing end to your day.
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Camel Riding
Indulge in a short camel ride, that would be bumpy, but will give you a nice swaying feeling and complete your desert experience.
Arabic clothing photography
Coming to the most interesting part of the camping, there are clothes that Emirati men and women wear that are available for the campers to put on a click a few pictures with. Also, when in the Emirates, do like the Emiratis do, so a picture with traditional Emirati dressing is a must do. Well, how well am I pulling it off?
There is also a henna application section, wherein you can get yourself a good henna design on your hand. Fancy it? Go give it a try.
Tanoura Dance
An Eyptian sufi dance where in a colourful weighted skirt, with a colour representing each sufi order known as tanoura is worn by the performer who whirls in quick circles creating a visual spectacle with awe-inspiring patterns to the onlookers. It is regarded as a sufi dance that depicts the closeness to almighty. This dance is vivacious and energetic and transmits positive vibes, not to forget also an absolute treat to the eyes.
Fire show
A spectacular fire dance performance wherein the fire performer artist manoeuvres the flames using flaming props to create stunning fiery imagery, throwing every spectator in a state of awe. Flaming torches and hula hoops are used by the artist in this skilfully choreographed act of fire dancing and juggling.
Belly dance
Like they say, save the best for the last. Now, Belly dance doesn’t really need any introduction. A highly expressive dance that involves various steps that include fluid movements and circular twist of the hips and stomach regions of the body, the dance is a pure visual delight.
After all the performances, you can feast on to the dinner at the desert camp and then head back to your hotel. I personally didn’t like the quality of the food and couldn’t eat beyond a spoon. I munched onto some snacks after I got back to the hotel. Now with that, we reach the end of Day 3 on my 6-day Dubai itinerary.
Day 4
After a good buffet dinner at your hotel, get set for an amazing day 4 on your Dubai 5 Nights 6 Days itinerary. First head to Dubai Marina for a luxury yacht ride.
Dubai Marina Yacht ride
Enjoy a short 2-hour private yacht ride from Dubai Marina and savour impressive sights of modern Dubai. Marvel at spectacular views of the Lagoon, take in the vistas of sky-piercing skyscrapers and relish the stunning Atlantis from the water and click insta worthy pictures with the same and beautiful turquoise blue waters as the background. Love to dance? Put on some good music, bring on your moves and dance your heart out with your family.
After our luxury ride, we had some shopping to do, so we headed to Meena bazaar and filled up our shopping bags with boxes of dates and dates chocolates to take home for friends and colleagues. Next, leaving Dubai without buying gold would be a sin, so that was next in the line for the day, we then headed to a store to buy perfumes and finally stopped by Day to Day to get some cute souvenirs.
Bastakiya Quarter
Before I headed to Dubai, I had read so much about this Iranian quarter that I just couldn’t give it a miss. A soothing beauty, this quarter is the oldest standing residential quarter in Dubai and was established in the 19th century by rich pearl and textile merchants from Bastak, Iran. Al Bastakiya is a maze of old world wonders filled with ochre-coloured buildings made of coral, mud, gypsum and palm wood giving it a calming effect. Stop by a cafe for some coffee and fries and then head further to discover the the artistic side of Bastakiya by exploring galleries that display contemporary artworks created by Arab artists. We got here at evening, and it was probably the best time I had in Dubai. I left this place, longing for more of it.
Dhow cruise
Next thing on our itinerary was the Dhow Cruise. Dhow is basically a boat, and the dhow cruise is essentially a sail on this boat that runs on Dubai Creek while enjoying some entertainment. The dhow cruise includes witnessing a fine tanoura performance and ending the sail with a buffet dinner.
Personally, this is the part of my trip that I felt could have been skipped as after a point of time, it starts to get boring, yet you have to wait till the cruise ends as there are other passengers aboard. Also the food is awfully bad and I’d suggest you absolutely skip the dinner at cruise.
Well, the only good thing about the cruise was that I got to try my hands on tanoura and the photographer captured some amazing clicks.
Dubai Garden Glow
The largest glow in the dark garden made of 10 million energy savings bulbs and recycled fabric, this place is beauty par excellence and something you have definitely never seen before. All the models, installations and structures are well thought of and very unique. Feel the magic of bright colours at this attractive environment friendly site that doesn’t fail to leave a lasting impression in the minds of the visitors.
Ice Park
Despite the jacket that they provide, this place is freezing cold. But the installations and structures created by 150 artists from around the world are marvel worthy. It will amaze you how these structures could possibly be carved out of ice. An absolute treat to the eyes, this section of the park is a must visit if you are doing Dubai garden glow in your itinerary.
Magic Park
Magic park takes you into a world of optical illusions. Explore its various exhibits and experience instagrammable optical illusions. At first glance of the exhibit, the optical illusion may not immediately strike and occur to you. But you can read about the same or get the help of an attendant. There is also the dinosaur park which I gave a miss. You can explore if it interests you. And with that the Day 4 of my Dubai 5 Nights 6 Days itinerary came to an end. It was a very long day yet a very enjoyable one.
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Day 5
Coming to Day 5 of my Dubai 5 Nights 6 Days itinerary, we started early after a scrumptious breakfast at the hotel as day 5 was for Abu Dhabi and Dubai and Abu Dhabi are about 1.5 hours away.
Last exit
Just a few kilometers before we touch Abu Dhabi, we stopped at this place known as Last exit. A pit stop featuring retro food trucks, this place inspires awe. Also when we got here, an array of high-end luxury cars were lined up in a flawless fashion. It looked like a scene right out of Fast & Furious. The most creative and jaw dropping part of this place were the washrooms. The door handles to every bathroom was a steering wheel, and for every wash basin, they was a engine oil can in which there was hand soap. Creativity that was mind-blowing.
Ferrari World
The first place we covered in Abu Dhabi was Ferrari world. A Ferrari branded theme park situated in Yas Island, this place is known to locate the world’s fastest roller coaster – Formula Rossa. A roller coaster that blasts into a speed from 0 to 240km/hr in just 4.9 seconds. Feel the adrenaline rush as you scale soaring heights of 52m in this rollercoaster. There are 37 rides in total that you can take experience of based on the time at hand. But mind you, some of them are not for the faint of heart. So choose wise 🙂
Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque
After Ferrari world, we next headed to the most incredibly beautiful attraction of Abu Dhabi – Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque, a pure architectural wonder. A pristine beauty in white built by UAE’s first president and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, it is the third largest mosque in the world. There is a wonderful air of calm that surrounds this majestic mosque. Renowned to house the world’s largest rug, the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque has a handwoven carpet believed to be weaved by 1200 weavers for over a year and a half and weighs about 12 tons. The mosque also houses the biggest chandelier in the world. Words fail to describe the beauty of this mosque, an absolute must visit goes without saying.
Unfortunately we spent way too much time at Ferrari world and hence couldn’t see much of Abu Dhabi. Emirates Palace and Heritage Village were also part of the itinerary, but had our time management skills been better, we could have covered them as well. Post our mosque exploration, we drove back to our hotel in Dubai. That marked the end of Day 5 on our Dubai 5 Nights 6 Days itinerary.
Day 6
After a good night sleep, enjoy a slow breakfast at your hotel and spend some time by the swimming pool. Pack your bags and check out from the hotel and head to the airport to take your flight back to India. That would be adieu to Dubai until the next time!
Liked my 6-day Dubai itinerary? Plan yours and let me know how it went. I pray that you spend a wonderful time following my Dubai itinerary and have a spectacular Dubai vacation. Happy travels!
Read about my Bali travel – Eat, Pray, Love: My Perfect 7 Days Bali Honeymoon Itinerary
impressive. i really like your blog i never comment on blogs but your articles is so convincing that i never stop myself to say something about it your;re doing great job man keep it up
your blog better then another blogs. your blog is easy to read and easy to understand. really i like your blog fantastic post and great work.
thankyou Maya 🙂
Very nicely written. Thanks for this. How did you manage to travel within dubai? Did you use public transport or did you hire a car? Any tips on this & choosing an accomodation would be very helpful.
I had booked my entire trip with Royal Arabian. They had made the car arrangements and so we moved around and saw Dubai in a car. We stayed at Crowne Plaza Sheikh Zayed Road. You can check out various hotel options in Trivago and book the best deal. I’d suggest you book your accommodation in Downtown Dubai so that the travel time to move between attractions can be saved.
This is very helpful. Thanks a lot. Is it like a package trip that you booked? Or is it more like something that we can customize with Royal Arabian based on our choice? Asking this because, I found this itinerary jam packed for 6 days. If we are able to skip few things, then we can get some time for chilling/shopping..
It was an itinerary that I customised 🙂 You can like i have mentioned in the blog probably skip the Dhow Cruise and utilise the time for shopping 🙂
Hi great vlog, can I know how much was the cost for the entire trip
Overall trip cost, putting together everything, it was Rs.80,000 per person.
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Im planning a dubai vacation with my family. And i’m really happy to have come across your blog. It has really helped me plan my itinerary. Kudos! Good work. P.S – Lovely pictures!