Dubai is served by a number of scheduled airlines and although there are currently no charters, the airlines do offer cheap flights and promotional airline tickets at certain times of year.

Shopping:

Opening Times - Varies 09.00 to 13.00 hrs then late night 16.00 to 21.00hrs.
Market traders normally open from 10.00hrs and mosts supermarkets are open 24 hour a day. All shops are closed early Friday morning for prayers.

Recommended Stores - try the souks and shopping malls. Goods can be purchase from specialist outlets such as the gold souk in Deira, carpet souk at Bani Yas Square, textiles at Cosmos Lane in Bur Dubai and electronic appliances at Khalid Bin Walid Road toward the Falcon Roundabout.

Best Buys - Arabian coffee, gold and silver, persian carpets and spices (saffron at a fraction of the price compared in the UK). All items are tax free.

Travellers Tip - to get the best deals always try to barter with the seller

Sightseeing Attractions:

Dubai Museum - an intruiging insight into Dubai's cultural development. Admissions DHS4.

Dubai Zoo - this is a popular attraction for families. See the rare Arabian species, tincluding the Arabian Wolf, no longer breeding in the wild and Gordan's Wildcat, the world's only captive breeding of Socotta Cormorants. Other wild animals include a large collection of birds, cats, mammals and reptiles. Admissions DHS3.

Sheikh Saeed Palace - dating from the late 1800's, built in a commanding position overlooking the sea.

Archaeological Sites - there are three main excavation sites at Al Ghusais, Al Sufooh and Jumierah. The first two sites are graveyards and the latter houses 7th to 15th century artefacts. Although not open to the local public, tourists or tour operators can obtain special permits to view the sites.

Bastakiya - is part of the old district of Dubai and provides a tantalising glimpse of the past with its fine concentration of ancient courtyards.

Souks - one cannot visit Dubai without seeing the spectacle of traders selling their wares of gold, rich spices and textiles. Gold can be purchased at up to 60% cheaper than the UK.

Dubai World Trade Centre - visitors can enjoy the paramount views over the city from the tower viewing deck .Guided tours operate daily at 9.30am and 4.30pm

Recommended Sport & Entertainment:

Beaches - there are many great beaches within walking distance of the hotels.

Wadi-bashing - try exploring the wadis in a four-wheel drive. A popular past time with locals, wadis are the hard dry beds that appear when there is no rain fall. Other desert recreational activities are sand-skiing and dune driving. This gives you the opportunity to test your skills against the tough terrain of the desert.

Camel Racing - a popular sport during the winter season with races taking place on Thursdays and Fridays.

Horse Racing -The Dubai Racing Club at Nad Al Sheba holds regular race meetings and is host to one of the world's top horse racing events, the Dubai World Cup.

Golf - courses such as Emirates Golf Club, Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, Dubai Golf and Racing Club and Jebel Ali Hotel Golf Resort all provide excellent facilities. For those looking for something different the Dubai Golf Club also has a sand course.

Family - The Magic Planet at the giant Deira City Centre shopping mall provides plenty of indoor entertainment with ten pin bowling, a crawling bungle-jungle, electronic games, a mini pitch and putting green. The 18-hectare

Wonderland Family Fun Park features a range of water attractions, such as speed slides, surf hills, twister, water cinema, wave runner and Caribbean cruise attraction.

The Wild Wadi Water Park - next to the fabulous Jumeirah Beach Hotel is an exciting state of art water park featuring one of the world's highest free fall slides. Here you don't need to climb steps to take the chutes, you are simply blasted up to the top of the ride by powerful jets of water in an inflateable ring! We guarantee that you'll never have experienced anything more exhilarating.
Films - there are approx eight cinemas within the city showing a variety of films.

Bars and Night Clubs - Nearly all night life is based around the international hotels, as only they, plus a few ex-pats clubs, are licensed to sell alcohol. Most of these hotels feature discos/nightclubs with varying entertainment.

Eating Out - nearly all the hotels serve a wide range of international dishes plus traditional Arabic fayre such as humous, tabbouleh, wara enab, koussa mahshi. Small local restaurants can be found around the city specialising in local dishes such as matchbous, hareisi and many more specilaties. Here you can eat from just £5/person.
Alternatively try a desert BBQ excursion held at a Bedouin tented village. These usually include camel rides and belly dancing complimented by Arabic fayre. Your hotel, or travel rep will have prices and details.