You want to get to know Dubai intensively and enjoy it to the fullest? Hotels, excursions, attractions - Experience Dubai's diversity!
From arrival at the airport, sightseeing, sports and leisure opportunities to cultural events and facilities, Dubai.de presents the great and colorful diversity of the Arabian glittering city. Look forward to a breathtaking city that does not exist a second time in the world and experience the Arabian metropolis in all its facets.
Sights and highlights in Dubai
Whether it's the best restaurant, the most atmospheric bar, the most exciting museum or the largest water park - Dubai sets new records in many areas and delights its visitors with spectacular buildings, ambitious large-scale projects and perfect and luxurious accommodation. See here a selection of extraordinary places worth seeing in the Emirati megacity.
Vacation in Dubai
If you spend your vacation in Dubai, you will quickly notice the incredible abundance of skyscrapers, shopping malls, hotels or artificial islands. In hardly any other metropolis in the world the cityscape changes so rapidly as in Dubai. Every year, the number of sights in Dubai grows, the city of superlatives regularly outbids itself with spectacular hotels, magnificent buildings and new highlights that are getting bigger, higher and fancier. Nevertheless, there are also the "classic" tourist destinations that you should not miss. And what would a Dubai trip be without the famous Dubai weather: Discover with us the city full of possibilities!
The first steps in Dubai always start at the airport. The large airport is not only a major aviation hub, but also a popular shopping and leisure mile - not only for passengers. After only six hours of flight time, you won't have any problems with the time difference in the Arabian metropolis, in Dubai the time is only three or only two hours (during German summer time) behind. As soon as you leave the airport terminal, you will immediately feel the warmth and heat in the city. The weather in Dubai is guaranteed to give you sunny days, but from mid-May to October it becomes rather unbearably hot.
If you want to get to know Dubai from its traditional side, you will find the city's lifeline at Dubai Creek. The natural inlet is a hive of activity, especially in the souks east of the creek in the district of Deira, where people haggle and trade. This should be practiced, because you can save many Dirham - the national currency in the United Arab Emirates and Dubai. The district of Bur Dubai, south of the waterway, is best known for its historic Bastakiya district. There is the Al Fahidi Fort, which houses the Dubai Museum. Also worth seeing is the Heritage and Dining Village with impressive evidence of days gone by and authentic cuisine. The transition from the old town to the modern, skyscraper-influenced new town is marked by Zabeel Park with the brand-new building The Frame, which offers magnificent views on both sides of the city. South of the park, on Sheikh Zayed Road, begins the business district with countless skyscrapers all the way to Downtown Dubai with the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. There, the spectacular water games at the Dubai Fountain take place daily and the huge shopping center - the Dubai Mall - invites here to a shopping frenzy.
A little further north, directly on the coast, you can admire what is probably Dubai's most beautiful mosque, the Jumeirah Mosque. Another landmark of the metropolis is the luxurious hotel Burj Al Arab, which was built not far from the mainland on an artificial island. The adjacent "city within the city" - the Madinat Jumeirah - attracts visitors from all over the world because of its paradisiacal hotel and water landscape. A special attraction is The Palm Jumeirah, a huge man-made island in the shape of a palm tree. From there you can enjoy an enchanting view of the newly created marina area, the Dubai Marina. Look forward to breathtaking sightseeing in Dubai. The possibilities of Dubai are so varied and so spectacular that you will not be able to get out of the amazement.
The weather in Dubai
Longing for sunshine and blue skies? Welcome to Dubai! Here you will find an arid desert climate - or to put it more simply: sun, sun, sun all year round! Precipitation is a very rare exception in the emirate. The climate in Dubai is characterized by very hot summers and pleasantly mild temperatures in the winter months.
The best time to travel to Dubai
The best climate for a vacation in Dubai is between October and April. In these months the weather is perfect for all those who flee from the German winter: During the day it is still nice and warm in Dubai - perfect for swimming - and at the same time the mild nights provide a little cooling. One cannot speak of a winter in the European sense at all: Even in December and January, you can enjoy temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees Celsius in Dubai - and an average of eight hours of sunshine daily. The humidity then averages 30 to 40 percent.
In midsummer, the thermometer can sometimes read 40 degrees, with water temperatures of up to 30 degrees. This is why July and August in particular are the low season in Dubai: during this time it is much quieter in the vacation paradise - and cheaper. Because with the rising temperatures the room prices of the hotels sink. As a desert state, Dubai is well prepared for this weather: Shopping, hotels, restaurants - everywhere life takes place in fully air-conditioned rooms. So if you can't stand the heat, you'll find a cool place to retreat in any climate.
History
From fishing village to megacity
Where once there was only sand and desert, today huge skyscrapers soar into the sky. Hardly any other city in the world has developed as rapidly as Dubai. But how did this astonishing transformation from a former fishing village to a pulsating metropolis come about? What historical events shaped the city in the many centuries before the discovery of oil? We go on a journey through time and take a look at Dubai's history: In the process, we discover a city with an Arab identity that has always been and still is an influential link between Europe and the Far East.
When does Dubai's history begin?
Hard to believe, but true: Dubai's history dates back at least to the fourth millennium BC. Archaeological excavations prove first settlements in the Bronze Age. However, no significant events are known until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 17th century, who opened up important trade routes to India.
Starting in the 18th century, far-reaching political events occurred along the southeast coast of the Arabian Gulf, which are still visible even today. In 1793, the Bani Yas tribe seized political power in the region, settling in Abu Dhabi and creating the emirate of the same name, which at the time also included the Dubai area. In 1833, Sheikh Maktoum Bin Buti Al Bu Falasah settled on Dubai Creek and proclaimed Dubai's independence. The Al Maktoum dynasty remains the ruling family in the Emirate of Dubai to this day.
British influence: Dubai's history in the 18th and 19th centuries
Dubai's history in the 18th and 19th centuries is particularly influenced by the "Empire" of the United Kingdom. As an imperial colonial power at the time, the British also exerted a noticeable influence on the Arabian Peninsula and concluded treaties with the sheikdoms in the coastal areas to protect their trade routes to India. From then on, the British called the participating emirates Trucial States: the sheikdoms undertook not to wage any more wars against each other and not to allow any settlements of other states except the United Kingdom at their ports.
The local population lived mostly from fishing and from the yield of the date palms in the oases. Around 1870, however, pearl fishing rose to become the city's most important economic factor, making Dubai the most important port on the Gulf coast. It received the title of free port in 1904 after Persian merchants settled in Dubai, founded the Bastakiya district, and British merchant ships have been calling at Dubai regularly ever since.
The oil boom and the transition to modernity: Dubai's history in the 20th century
Around 1920, Dubai continued to develop into an international trading center, and the first drilling concessions for oil exploration were awarded. While the pearl trade gradually collapsed, the Trucial States developed into the largest transshipment point in the Arabian Gulf for goods from Persia and India. In the second half of the 20th century, trade in petroleum became the emirates' primary source of income; in 1962, Abu Dhabi exported oil abroad for the first time. Dubai begins oil production and export in 1969.
Following the announcement by Great Britain that it would withdraw from the Gulf region, a decisive turning point in the history of Dubai takes place: on December 2, 1971, on the initiative of the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, six sheikhdoms join together to form the country of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In 1972, Ras Al Khaimah became the seventh emirate to join the federation. The then head of the Emirate of Dubai, Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, decided to expand the city according to a master plan due to economic growth. This included numerous infrastructural measures, such as the construction of bridges, tunnels, roads and desalination plants. Residential and industrial districts were also created, as well as health and educational facilities.
Dubai's present and future as a smart city
Dubai's recent history has been marked by enormous construction projects and the establishment of tourism, both of which have now overtaken the oil sector. The construction of the Burj Al Arab in 1999 and, above all, the completion of the Burj Khalifa in 2010, the tallest building in the world, are impressive proof of this development.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has ruled the emirate of Dubai since 2006. He is also prime minister and vice president of the UAE and is regarded as the architect and pioneer of Dubai's transformation into a luxury and high-tech metropolis.
For the future, Dubai is tackling the transformation into a so-called smart city: The digitalization of many urban and infrastructural areas is imminent - from driverless and climate-neutral local transport to cab drones and police robots, Dubai is ideally equipped for the future.