Last year during my return trip from the UK, I managed to sneak in a 9 hour layover in Dubai. I’ve been dying to visit this legendary city so I seized this opportunity to sign myself up for a 4 hour private city tour with Milan Tours LLC.
My tour started at 09:30am and the driver drove over to pick me up from the airport. I was provided with an English-speaking tour guide, so communication was not a problem. She provided me with informative history of each attraction we visited during the tour.
We started off by visiting the Gold and Spice Souk. To me, it was just an average market with rows of shops selling gold / jewelry at an inflated price. I was not intending to buy any, so I just made a quick stroll around the market and left.
Following this, we went for an Abra ride (water taxi) to check out the modern / luxurious side of Dubai. Our first stop was at the Jumeira Mosque, it was a quick snap shot and go kinda visit. Then we drove over to Burj Al Arab and this was definitely my highlight of the trip. I’ve been to a number of beaches now, and this was, hands down, one of the nicest ones I’ve seen to date. Crystal clear, turquoise coloured water with soft silky white sand. I refused to leave. Of course, the 7-star hotel in the background was a bonus. But given that I wasn’t ballin’enough to stay there, I much rather focus on the beach.
Once they managed to drag my body back into the car, we drove over to Jumeira Island to visit another unaffordable hotel – Atlantis Hotel…
Check out their ridesss 
We winded down the trip with a visit to Dubai Mall to take pictures of the … ta-da.. Burj Khalifa – World’s Tallest Building.
At the end of the tour, the tour guide drove me to a local restaurant (that obviously was affiliated with the tour company) for lunch and I got to try some of their local food before heading back to the airport.
The tour wasn’t cheap (info below).. and it was my first time joining a tour like this (I’m usually not a fan of tours). But I didn’t have much time to do my research on Dubai and wasn’t sure how safe it was for a female to travel alone, so I had to do it. Overall, I guess this gave me a good taste of Dubai is like, and what I would like to focus on/bypass next time I’m back – head straight to Burj Al Arab, chill and do nothing.
Tour Info:
Company: Milan Tours LLC
Cost: 159 USD / 580 AED (Visa or Mastercard at the start of tour)
Tour Name: Dubai City Tour
Duration: 4 hours
Website: http://www.milantoursdubai.com/
Trip Advisor: https://en.tripadvisor.com.hk/Attraction_Review-g295424-d2510773-Reviews-Dubai_Private_Tour-Dubai_Emirate_of_Dubai.html
that-itch.com 