Visit Dubai Without Spending A Fortune!

When we think of Dubai we think of glamour and luxury, it comes across as a city where a holiday without burning a hole in your pocket seems next to impossible. However, this is definitely not the case. Here are 10 tips which will help you fulfill your Dubai holiday dream within a budget!

1. Travel during non-peak months: Peak tourist season in Dubai starts from November and continues up to March, when weather is pleasant and almost all activities are open for tourists. However, if you are budget traveller choose the non-peak months. You will definitely end up getting better deals. Among the non-peak months, April and October are more preferable in terms of weather conditions. Days are hot but quite bearable and evenings are cool and pleasant!

2. Use Skyscanner for booking Flights: Using Skyscanner or apps which show you flight rates across all platforms to book your flight and doing it in advance, ensures you get flight tickets at the best possible rates.

3. Book hotels in old Dubai: Stay in Deira or Bur Dubai. You will get really good 4- and 5-star hotels at an affordable price. And do include breakfast, it is better to choose from a buffet in your hotel rather than going out in the morning and choosing a place to eat from!

4. Pre-book sightseeing tours and tickets to tourist places: It is always a good idea to pre-book sightseeing tours and online tickets for tourist places, it not only guarantees you admission (sometimes tickets are sold out if you wait to purchase on site and some places only offer online tickets), but also ensures great discounts! Try sites like Rayna tours, Klook, Trip Advisor and Thrillophilia.

5. Buying Tourist Sim Cards: Your network providers would most certainly be providing international roaming and call/data packs, however most of the times it is costlier than getting a local sim. You can either pre-book a sim from DU, Etisalat or tour websites mentioned above and get it from the counters in the airport on arrival or just buy a sim from the counters at the airport without any pre-booking. The process is faster, and rates are cheaper.

6.Travel by Public Transport: It is wise to get an ‘NOL Card’ which can be topped up from time to time and used for travelling in metros, buses, trams and taxis. I personally have travelled mostly by Dubai metro and it definitely is faster and cost effective. You can easily buy it from counters in the airport.

Make sure to get a Silver NOL card or a Tourist NOL card not Gold. Gold class is a separate compartment and charges are hefty. Also, take the 1 AED government run water taxis when you cross the creek, it is not just cheap, it is a beautiful experience in itself, especially in the evenings.

7. Withdrawing money from ATMs: In some places you need to pay by cash. We carried forex card loaded with AED and no cash, so we had to withdraw some. There are ATM charges for withdrawal, we realised that charges levied on withdrawal from national banks is far more than from global banks, more than 3 times. Withdrawal from global banks would prove to be a wiser option if you want to save on the charges.

8. Food Courts: Finding good and cheaper eating options isn’t really difficult! If you aren’t keen on spending a fortune in high end restaurants, there are ample food courts and eating joints for you to explore and eat from!

9. Souvenirs from Old Dubai: A vacation isn’t complete if we do not take back souvenirs. Again, Deira and Bur Dubai comes to the rescue, you can get everything for a fraction of what you would be paying in a big mall for souvenirs ranging from showpieces, magnets, perfumes and more. And if you are buying from Souks, you can bargain too!

10. Save your bills: Dubai is tax free, however you need to pay VAT. Save your bills, as you can reclaim the VAT paid from airport terminal when you are flying back.

Hope this excites you to start planning your Dubai trip and wish that you are as enamoured by it as were we. Show some love with your likes and comments!