"DesertRat's new United Arab Emirates page" United Arab Emirates by DesertRat

United Arab Emirates Travel Guide: 4,987 reviews and 14,397 photos

Shopping is almost as much of a national pastime as camel racing, football (soccer), or cricket. The suqs are full of everything imagineable. Charter flights from the former CIS states and Iran converge on Sharjah and Dubai for that reason alone. And Europeans and North Americans are not immune to the temptations, either.

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<b>VISA NEWS!!!</b> The UAE government has just announced that effective 16/03/2001 nationals of Western Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia may enter the country <b>without</b> a visa.

N.B.: This does <i>not</i> include Czech, Polish, or Hungarian nationals despite their membership of NATO, which would ostensibly place them within the category of "Western Europe."

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Pros and Cons
  • Pros:Cosmopolitan atmosphere, good food, great shopping, cheap gold, wonderful weather in the winter (November through March)
  • Cons:The heat in summer: 50C (122F) is not uncommon. Hotels are mostly expensive but good value for money.
  • In a nutshell:There's more to the Emirates than just oil and camels.
  • Last visit to United Arab Emirates: Apr 1998
  • Intro Updated Jan 13, 2003
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