[Arun_S]

Like everyone stuck in this pandemic , wanted a much needed escape from 4 walls and laptop. Additionally my company gave enough indication 2022 would be hectic, all this made me plan a year end get away, particularly outside India.

In this trip i was accompanied by my wife and our 5 year old kid.

I would like to let you know, me being poor photographer, the photo's attached won't be looking good in this travelogue. If they are good, then it should have been taken by my wife .

This post is more about the shortlist process, COVID related regulations in UAE and feedback on the places i visited.


Shortlist
First we decided it would be within Asia.
Dates : Dec-21 Last week, considering that it would be less work plus school holidays.

Following are the places we shortlisted
Maldives - Considering that lot people were travelling, this was our P1.
Dubai - Lot of places to visit, plus the Expo
Srilanka - We considered it, as it is pretty near, dropped it, as I read in news lot of food shortage is there.
Singapore - When we were shortlisting it wasn't open to travel from India
Mauritius - They were just reopening for outside visitors, dropped it as COVID cases were raising.


Final tossup
Dubai vs Maldives
Decided to go ahead with Dubai, reason lot of places to visit with a 5 year old kid. We felt kid might get bored just seeing beaches.

Now that we decided to go ahead with Dubai, it was now the time to figure the exact dates based on flight availability and accommodation.

Passport for Kid
Before we could go ahead with flight booking, key issue was passport for our kid. The easy way to get passport for kid was submitting Aadhaar as proof. Major bottleneck in that was, eventhough we had Aadhaar, as our kid was over 5, needed to update the biometrics else the Aadhaar is invalid.
For Aadhaar updates the best place to do them is designated Post offices, as Aadhaar Enrollment Centers ask you to be there by 5.00 AM to get the token which will be issued at 9:00 AM. Post offices give only 15 tokens per day, so if you want to update be early.
Once the Aadhaar with Biometrics was updated, getting passport was a breeze. My recommendation don't go for tatkal for kids Passport as getting appointment for that is difficult, for us regular itself took only 4 days to get the passport in hand.

Note: Atleast one of the parents address either in Passport or Aadhaar should match the address kids, Passport is being applied.

Flights
As it was Dubai first option to search was Emirates.

Emirates: Looks like Expo plus less flights has made prices skyrocket. A return ticket from Chennai to Dubai was costing 1.6 L. Dropped it.
Etihad : Thought of going to Abu Dhabi and then driving to Dubai. Same reason as above was costly they quoted upwards of 2L. Dropped it.
Fly Dubai: They were asking somewhere around 1.25 L
Air Arabia : They fly to Sharjah, and they costed around 1.15 L
Indigo: They had a layover of more than 7-8 hours in Delhi
Air India: Didn't consider them initially, finally was surprised they gave round trip to Abu Dhabi for 86k. Plus baggage allowance of 30 kgs \person.

Finally booked Air India, onward journey on 23-Dec and return 30-Dec

Hotels
Due to the Expo, all the hotels were showing sky high rates in Agoda, Booking.com. Finally got the booking done via travel agent in Sheraton, and he was able to get a good deal. The only problem in that was, for 30-Dec, Sheraton was asking 45k, the agent suggested to book at a different hotel in Dubai, via travel sites.

UAE Visa Process
Tourist visa for UAE is simple process, find a travel agent who processes UAE visa, share your passport copy, PAN card copy they will share the paper visa within couple of days. The cost if 7200 Rs\Person with 58 days validity from the date of issue.

Note: COVID Travel Insurance is mandatory for visa approval.

Forex
It was advised to convert and keep sufficient UAE Dirhams in hand as taxi's would prefer taking cash only. For Indian Cards swiped abroad, the charges are 3% conversion charges plus 18% GST.

Note: If you are planning to buy Gold, better take sufficient cash as some shops say, they will be able to refund the 5% tax you paid only if it is cash and if it is card they won't.

COVID Regulations in UAE
Eventhough UAE is a country, every Emirate has a variation to the COVID regulations. Abu Dhabi being the strictest while Dubai being lenient. Everybody entering UAE has to upload their Passport, vaccination details and the trip details in their website Smart Services atleast 5 days prior to your travel. Once the details are uploaded you get a QR Code which you need to have a print out.
For kids less than 12 years, the mail comes as Approved for others it doesn't come.

All the details are transferred to an App called Alhoshn which needs to be installed in your smartphone. For anyone who stays in Abu Dhabi it has to be green, they call it Green Pass. Dubai is lenient they don't bother that much. When I tried to upload my details, Covaxin has just been approved by WHO, so it was not listed, so had to choose Covisheild. Now it has been updated though.

You need to COVID‑19 PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at an approved facility within 48 hours of departure. You need a negative COVID‑19 Rapid or Real Time PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at the departure airport within 06 hours of departure. Must undergo COVID‑19 PCR test on arrival, if you are planning to stay in Abu Dhabi until the result comes you can't travel out of the airport but if are staying in Dubai you can leave the airport. They will send the report via message.
If you are planning to stay in Aby Dhabi you need to do a follow up test on the 4th and 6th day. This is the reason I mentioned Abu Dhabi being strict. Dubai no such regulations

Note: Please try to get a some UAE contact number as they are insisting that in COVID Testing in UAE.
Also please keep checking Etihad or Emirates sites for the travel regulations as they were more prompt in updating their sites.


48 Hours before Travel
Me and my wife got the RT-PCR done in Metropolis as it was in the ICMR approved labs list. Kids less than 12 it is not needed.

Day of Travel - India
We were there in the airport 3 hours before. They asked us to get PCR tested even before entering airport. As I didn't fill the details for testing in online form before, it took some time to get it done. The cost is 2900 Rs\ Person. They told it would take 40 minutes to share the report as the crowd was less they shared it within 25 minutes.

Note: Please register online if possible and pay it before going to airport as it saves lot of time. I would suggest it would be good to be in airport atleast 4 hours before.

On Arrival in Abu Dhabi
There were no major immigration concerns in Abu Dhabi. As, I mentioned before, they did a on arrival COVID test, it is free of cost. As we were not staying Abu Dhabi we were asked to go ahead. Took a cab to Dubai, no major Issues there.

SIM Card
There are only 2 players Etisalat and Du. Both of them offer something called Tourist Packages almost the same rate around 130 AED.

Note: If your port of entry is Dubai and if your are on a tourist visa, the immigration officer can offer you a Free Du SIM with 1 GB data valid for 1 day. In Abu Dhabi we were not offered.

First Part Ends here...

In the second post will share the feedback about the places we visited and the return journey.

[Arun_S]

As mentioned before in this post would cover the places we visited, how to reach them.

Disclaimer: All the feedback and recommendation is purely my opinion, please do check the place before you visit. The primary requirement for choosing places our kid doesn't need to sit out in most of them.

Feedback: For all the places which we visited i found that if you directly book via their own site, they offer a better deal compared to that of Ticket Deals sites like Cobone. I have provided the info in Cost of Tickets section for each location.

Places we visited

Dubai Miracle Garden
This is one is a good place to visit, it is a natural flower garden which remains open only during winter months. Kids and Elders enjoy this place a lot. I was amazed to see how they are able to maintain all the flowers so fresh. Despite the high volume of visitors the place was pretty cleanly maintained.

Food:
This place has lot of good places to eat including Indian Food and the price is also nominal.

Time:
It takes minimum 3 hours to cover this place.

How to reach:
Only option to reach here is via Taxi as it is far off from metro station.

Cost of Tickets:
40 AED\Person

Recommendation:
Must visit place with the family.

















IMG Studios
It is a fully air conditioned indoor theme Park. 3-4 rides are pretty good rest are all VR based ones. The minimum height for kids in most of them is 105 cms some them it is 125 cms.

Food:
Couple of options are there, most of them bear a deserted look.

Time:
It takes minimum 4 hours to cover this place.

How to reach:
Only option to reach here is via Taxi as it is far off from metro station. Please plan and book a taxi for return, and don't stay late until 8:00 PM closing time. You don't get taxi's there. I had difficult time getting a return plus we went on Friday which made things even more difficult.


Cost of Tickets:
335 AED\Person. Kids above height 105 cms are charged full price.

Recommendation:
Considering the high ticket price, I didn't find it worth the cost paid. If you are time constrained it is a place worth the skip.



Motion Gate Theme Park
This theme park has 4 sub parks within it
Legoland
Legowater Park
Bollowood Park
Motion Gate Park

We had the booked the option of cover 2 parks within a day. We chose Legoland and Motion Gate as the 2 things we would cover in a day. Due to COVID didn't go for Legoland and Legowater Park option, even though lot of people had given good reviews for Legowater park.

Legoland
It is pretty good for kids, the rides there are primarily designed for them. Adults it would be boring. The thing I liked the most was, they have built the lego model for most of the iconic buildings in Dubai plus couple more from around the world.

Burj Khalifa in Lego Blocks

Other Buildings as Lego Blocks


Motion Gate
It has sub sections based movie studios\franchises like Dreamworks, Smurf, Lions Gate etc. Lot of VR rides plus couple of regular rides.

Food:
Due to COVID lot of restaurants were closed, only option we had was unlimited Pizza and Pasta for 95 AED\Person. It was difficult to fathom the idea at first having unlimited P&P for lunch, considering all the long walks turns out it was good .

Time:
It takes entire day to cover both the parks.

How to reach:
Only option to reach here is via Taxi it is almost Dubai - Abu Dhabi border. Taxi to here itself will come around 120 - 150 AED.

Cost of Tickets:
Book the tickets via Dubai Parks anytime before the day you go, they offer the 2 parks\one day ticket for 235 AED. If you go directly it is 275 AED\Park. Kids under 3 only go for free, rest all same price.

Recommendation:
It is a good place to visit considering that you get to visit 2 parks at a nominal price.





Ski Dubai
It is a indoor Ski resort located within a mall. They have Ski Slope, Ski training school, Penguin Cove and some small snow rides. They provide Snow wear dresses, gloves, socks and snow boots.

I have skied in the past was excited to be back in snow. But the option they provided was access to ski slope or visit the Penguins.
I was voted down , as my wife and kid wanted to visit the Penguins. The ski slope is of decent size and the difficulty of the trail when i looked is more like easy to intermediate. The Access to penguins is good, They have Gentoo and King Penguins. The instructor has a briefing before hand, they take you to visit Gentoo first and then the King.


Note: We return Snow wear dresses and boots, the gloves and socks are use and throw.

Food:
As it is located within a mall, we had lunch in the food court.

Time:
It takes minimum 3 hours to cover this place.

How to reach:
You can reach it via the metro, the stop is Mall of the Emirates.

Cost of Tickets:
290 AED\Person for anyone aged more than 3 yrs. They take photos of us with Penguins cost of it is 150 AED\Photo.

They allowed us to download online only the photo we bought.

Recommendation:
If you love skiing or atleast interested to learn via classes then it is a good place to go. Without Skiing you might not like it that much.




Will continue the places visited in the next post

[Arun_S]

As mentioned before in this post would cover the places we visited, how to reach them.

Places we visited

Desert Safari
One of the must do activities for everyone visiting Dubai is Desert Safari.

There are 2 options morning and evening Desert Safari, almost everyone does the evening one only. They offer various packages most of them is like this, Pick up from the hotel around 2-3 PM, Dune Bashing for 15 Minutes in a 4*4. From there they take you to place were there is some entertainment along with food. Drop you back in hotel around 9:30 PM. Additional packages is ATV Ride, Camel Ride etc. Pack some warm clothes, as you feel the cold in the evening due to the desert. Almost all of them take you to place near UAE - Oman Border.

Food:
The tour operator has some understanding with a place operator in the desert who provides entertainment\Dinner. The one we went had decent food and entertainment.

Time:
It is a 6-7 hours package.

How to reach:
Hotel Pick up and Drop is provided by the Tour Operator

Cost of Tickets:
100 - 150 AED\Person varies on the package. Don't book via travel desk via hotels, Cobone deals helps here.

Recommendation:
Must do, it was thrilling. Look at the tour operator for his punctuality and Food.
Pajero's Rushing for Dune Bashing


Dubai Frame
This place looks like giant photo frame in gold. Its height is about 500 ft. One side of the frame you see old Dubai while in the other side you see new Dubai. In the top, middle section of the floor is glass, so it was fun to walk on it.

Food:
NA

Time:
It takes 1-1.5 hrs, based on the queue for the elevator to the top.

How to reach:
It is within the Dubai City, cab\metro can be used to reach here

Cost of Tickets:
50 AED\Person. I used the site VisitDubaiFrame.com, to get a combo tickets for this along with Dubai Aquarium, together they offered it at 140 AED, if bought separate it would have been 219 AED. Additionally they are skip the line tickets so it helps if it is a long queue.
Photos: They charge you 100 AED for a Photo.

Recommendation:
It is good place to visit with the family, the queue's move fast, so you need not wait endlessly.

View through the Glass Floor at the top

Old Dubai


New Dubai


Dubai Aquarium
This place is located in the Dubai Mall. They have a giant glass window from which itself you can see all the aquatic animals without any ticket. The reason we take the ticket is to see them via a underwater tunnel plus visit other species which are located in the second floor. They also provide a option to go in a cage which gets dropped into the tank or you can scuba\snorkel. They have 16 penguins to visit them they charge extra

Food:
As it is located in the mall, you can manage within the food court.

Time:
It takes 1.5-2 hrs, based on the queue to enter.

How to reach:
It is within the Dubai City, cab\metro can be used to reach here. The Metro stop is Dubai Mall\Burj Khalifa.

Cost of Tickets:
I used the site VisitDubaiFrame.com, to get a combo tickets for this along with Dubai Frame, together they offered it at 140 AED, if bought separate it would have been 219 AED.
Photo: They charged 150 AED for the photos, didn't take it as the blue background made the photos dark and the faces were even not visible clearly.

Recommendation:
My kid was excited. For Adults it would be okish kind of experience.


Burj Khalifa
This place needs no introduction. Like anyone visiting Dubai, any visit without visiting Burj Khalifa would be a strict no. We also joined the bandwagon. This is located in the Dubai Mall. Please be prepared for a long walk to join the queue. They take you all the way upto 124th floor within a minute, fun part nobody utters a single word in it, you could hear even elevator moving sounds.

The open deck in 124 is good, from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM they run the musical fountain every 30 minutes in the Dubai mall , which you could look from there. The fountain uses various popular songs from around the world. We looked the fountain 2 times from the top and then one in the ground. In floor 125, they sell souvenirs and you can view the other half of Dubai, but is it not a open deck, but a closed floor.

Food:
As it is located in the mall, you can manage within the food court.

Time:
It takes 3-4 hrs, based on the queue to enter.

How to reach:
It is within the Dubai City, cab\metro can be used to reach here. The Metro stop is Dubai Mall\Burj Khalifa.

Cost of Tickets:
224 AED\Person, 132 AED for kids, I used the site burjkhalifa.ae to book the tickets. I booked only for visit to 124\125 floors.
There are multiple options, the peak time is 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM for which only the above cost. If not then it is 149\114 AED. The other packages are visit to floors 148, 124 and 125 or 154, 153 and 152. As the floors go higher so does the charges.

Photo: They charged 250 AED for the photos iwhich was taken in the observation deck in 124th floor. One good thing, if you buy one photo also they allowed as to download the rest 6 photos from their site.

Recommendation:
Good place to visit with the family.

View from the Burj


Sorry, still some places are left will continue in the next post.

[Arun_S]

As mentioned before in this post would cover the places we visited, how to reach them.

Places we visited

Dubai Expo
The Dubai Expo is happening between 1-Oct-21 - 31-Mar-22. This was supposed happen in 2020 but due to COVID moved to 2021.
More than 180 countries have put their pavilions, they are primarily grouped into Sustainability, Opportunity and Mobility Districts.
Looked for reviews for various countries pavilions, identified only the key ones to be visited.

Following are the ones we shortlisted UAE, Japan, South Korea, India, Netherlands, Singapore, Saudi Arabia Plus the main Pavilions of the districts.
Sustainability Main Pavilion - Pretty Good
Saudi Arabia - Lines Move fast, Good
India - 30 minutes wait time, try skip the line, you might be able to get a slot. First Floor was good, could have been even better.
Netherlands - 45 Minutes was the time we had to wait. Must Visit ,for their innovative thinking.
Singapore - 1 hour was the wait time. Must visit, had entire pavilion full of plants
New Zealand - Good, lines move fast
Opportunity Main Pavilion - Pretty good, no queues
UAE - 1.5 hours wait time, so skipped it
Japan - 2.5 hours wait time, so skipped it

My suggestion be there by 10:00 AM when expo opens, you might be able to visit important ones before the crowd builds up. You need to be prepared for lot of walking . Please have copy of your vaccination certificate as they would ask in the entry, else you need to do a PCR test for entry.

Food:
Each country has it's own food stalls available.
In India Pavilion they have
Taj - Please don't go here, horrible food exorbitantly priced. Went for lunch, came back disappointed.
Khana Khazana - For lunch there might be some queue, don't think that you need to wait long time, they have packed lunch, you take it from there, go and have it outside. We had dinner here, decent food.
Sweden Pavilion
Ikea - Pretty good, reasonably priced, both Veg and Non-Veg options are available.

Time:
Entire Day, most of the pavilions open at 10:00 AM and Close at 10:00 PM

How to reach:
Dubai Metro - Red Line, Stop is Expo 2020.

Note: Red Line has 2 end points, please choose the Red Line with Expo 2020 as the End point.

ExpoRider Bus which operates from Certain Metro Stations, it is free of cost if you show your Expo tickets.

Cost of Tickets:
95 AED\Person . Kids under 17 it is free. I had chosen the weekday but chose 95 AED one as they allowed 10 skip the line bookings. Due to year end lot of good Pavilions cancelled the skip the line, so it was waste of money. There is a weekday offer which is for 45 AED.

Please explore more for ticket options, for me for buying a Etisalat SIM they gave one day free pass for visiting Expo. As I had booked my tickets earlier i had to give it away. All tickets booked via Expo2020.com

Recommendation:
Expo's like these you don't get to visit too often, Good place to visit with the family.

Expo Main Entrance

Saudi Arabia Pavilion

UAE Pavilion

Netherlands Pavilion

Singapore Pavilion

Sweden Pavilion

Al Wasl Plaza - The Main Pavilion




Ain Dubai
This is one of the newest attractions in Dubai, which was opened in Oct-21. It is world's biggest and tallest Ferris wheel. The height of it is 820ft. You would really enjoy the breath taking views it offers. This entire place has lot of shops and they do have a bridge were you can walk across the bay.

Food:
NA

Time:
Open Time is 12:00 PM - 9:00 PM
The ride time is 38 minutes, It takes 1- 1.5 hrs, based on the queue to enter.

How to reach:
It is outside the Dubai City, cab has to be used to reach here. For metro I was told, need to take a cab from the nearest station.

Cost of Tickets:
I booked the ticket via www.aindubai.com.
For 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM - 180 AED
5:00 PM - 250 AED
Rest others - 130 AED.
My suggestion, book for the 4:00 PM, you would be able to get atleast some evening views.
Photo: They asked 300 AED for a single photo, this one was taken in the ground and not in the observation decks, so didn't buy it.


Recommendation:
Must visit, try to book the evening slots. You get to view Dubai, the coastline, Plus the Palm Islands.





Dubai Dolphinarium
This is a Dolphin and Seal Show. The showtime is about 45 minutes.

Food:
NA

Time:
They has 11 AM , 2 PM and 6 PM are the show times

How to reach:
It is located inside Dubai Creek Park, cab has to be used to reach here. From nearby metro station you need to take a cab to reach here.

Cost of Tickets:
I booked the tickets via dubaidolphinarium.ae
They have VIP and Regular seats
VIP - 125\85 AED
Regular - 105\50 AED.


Recommendation:
Having not seen any Dolphin shows before, it was good to watch. Kids enjoy it a lot.



Dubai Gold Souk
Not much introduction is needed on this. You will be amazed to see so much jewelry shops in that small area. Please do enquire with anyone who has already purchased there, so that they can guide you better. All the famous Indian jewelry brands have shops there.

Anybody buying gold will know that, the shops put 5-20% of the total weight as wastage, this only pushes the cost up. In Gold Souk there are certain shops which don't put that. They just calculate the weight of the gold and the current gold rate. If you buy from these places only you have real savings, else you end with a saving of just 300 INR\gm.

Note: As mentioned in the first post, if you pay in cash, you can get 5% you paid as VAT when you show the bills in Airport. I will explain the process in the Return Journey Post. Have your passport copy handy, they would need that to enter details in the bill.

Food:
NA

Time:
The shops are open from 10 AM - 12 Midnight.

How to reach:
Better to use Metro, as this place pretty crowded it takes long time to reach via cab. The Metro stop is Gold Souq

Cost of Tickets:
NA

Recommendation:
Even if you don't buy, you can visit the place in the evening just for fun.

[Arun_S]

This is the Concluding part of my Trip.

Return Journey

72 Hours before Travel
As per the Indian government COVID Travel Rules, which was there last month. All the passengers aged 5 or above should have RT-PCR negative certificate. Due to this rule, for our kid also we need to do a RT-PCR test which was not needed in the onward journey.

COVID Testing in Dubai
There are lot of private clinics which do that. You can call them to setup a appointment to go to their clinic and provide a sample at a certain time. I made this mistake, thinking it would be less crowded, but there is huge crowd in these locations for testing.

I would suggest check with your hotel first I should have done this, in the first place, if they have tie up with any provider, most of them have it. Other option is, you itself can ask these clinics to come and collect the sample at hotel, they do it at little extra cost. But schedule it soon.


Air Suvidha
After your get your RT-PCR reports, you need upload all the details in https://www.newdelhiairport.in/airsu...o-registration for all the travelers. Please take printout of the PDF which you will get, at least 2, preferably 3 copies.

Last Minute Twist
As our return flight was from Abu Dhabi. When we checked with the cabs none of them was ready to ferry us back to Abu Dhabi Airport. The Primary Reason, Abu Dhabi had put a new rule that morning, anybody entering the emirate, should have RT-PCR Negative report, Dubai Cab Drivers usually don't have RT-PCR hence they were not able to drop us. Finally one cab driver agreed saying he will drop us near the Abu Dhabi border, we should be able to find a Abu Dhabi cab from there.
All the Abu Dhabi cab drivers are given free RT-PCR test every 14 days, so they can come and pick passengers outside of their borders.Couple of kms before Abu Dhabi border there was mad rush to find Abu Dhabi Taxi's, fortunately were able to find one. Moved our luggage's into that and proceeded to airport. In Abu Dhabi Border they asked to show our RT-PCR Negative report, once we showed no major concerns were there.

Note: The mistake I did was, I should have called a Abu Dhabi Taxi Company and asked them if any cabs are there in Dubai. They would have sent one and all this hassle could have been avoided.


Tax Claim
As I mentioned before, if you are on a Tourist visa for any Gold\Electronics purchase the 5% VAT which you paid can be redeemed when you leave the country. There are designated Kiosk in Green Color, saying "Tax Free". Show the receipt and an Debit Card they will transfer the amount to your account in 10 working days.

Note: Along with the bills, please keep the items you purchased also handy, the officer asks to show them.


Abu Dhabi Terminal 2
If you are flying out of Abu Dhabi Terminal 2, please take some packaged food in your hand specifically, if you are travelling with a kid. There is no food available in this entire terminal.

Back in India
There were no major concerns in Chennai Airport. Right at the exit, they asked to share the Print-out of the Air Suvidha form which we did, we were asked to go.


Thank you for patiently reading through this really long travelogue.

Now that lot of COVID restrictions have been lifted, it should be even more easier.

If you have any specific questions, please reach out.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

[BhaskarG]

Thanks for this really useful thread. The procedures, costs etc. are explained in such a precise manner. I am bookmarking this thread. It will be useful as a quick reference guide for us.

I would have loved to see more dune bashing photos, though.

[sukhbirST]

Thanks a lot for sharing. The complete guide is really very helpful and appreciate the tips/notes. Such details save lot of effort, time and money. My heartfelt gratitude for giving the detailed procedures ,especially these painful RTPCR tests.

[Amrik Singh]

Beautifully presented. Just one doubt only. The Air Ticket prices - I hope you totalled up for the family. Should indicate per person.

[yatesh.92]

A very well written thread. Brings back memories from my Dubai trip back in 2018. It was a really fun trip.

[narmad]

Wonderfully detailed thread.
No need to make a separate itinerary !! I will just blindly follow this !!
Thanks.

[Sach_511]

Thanks for writing everything in detail, my BIL is in Dubai right now and I will convey him most of spots you mentioned in your post. Thanks.

[RaviKBobba]

Additionally, there are Half/Full Day guided tours available which can be purchased through various booking sites. This makes it easier to cover the Old & New Dubai + few attractions as well.

We did it the same way, back in 2019.

Note: If your passport is having a valid US Visa, then you can also opt for On arrival Visa which works out to ₹2000-2200 per person for Visa cost. This was applicable for Dubai Airport, not sure of the Abu Dhabi though.

[top_gear]

Thanks a lot for sharing. Detailed step by step log is certainly useful. Just want to add, all taxis in Dubai accept credit cards. Dubai metro and public transport buses offers very good connectivity to major tourist places.

@RaviKBobba, With valid US Visa, Indian passport holders have visa on arrival - 30 days. You can enter in any emirate including Abu Dhabi, Sharjah.

[coolmind]

Thanks for the crisp and precise travelogue. Gave away my 5-stars.
Did you miss the sky dive intentionally? It is on my bucket list.