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

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

Carpet shop in the Sharjah Suq - United Arab Emirates

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.

<HR>
VISA NEWS!!! 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 without a visa.

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

<HR>

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
Add to Trip Planner (?)
Report Abuse

Reviews (11)

You won't need much Arabic... - United Arab Emirates

You won't need much Arabic... Local Customs (1)

You won't need much Arabic when you're in the Emirates, but you do need to read the numbers. Note that the upper row is... more travel advice

For the past four or five... - United Arab Emirates

For the past four or five... Tourist Traps (1)

For the past four or five years, Dubai has hosted something called 'The Dubai Shopping Festival'. They bring in Disney... more travel advice

A walk along the Corniche in... - United Arab Emirates

A walk along the Corniche in... Things to Do (3)

A walk along the Corniche in Sharjah not far from the New Suq is a very pleasant interlude after a mad day's shopping in... more travel advice

Emirates Airlines win... - United Arab Emirates

Emirates Airlines win... Transportation (1)

Emirates Airlines win hands-down. Few other airlines offer economy passengers their own LCD screens and 17 channels of... more travel advice

Travelogues (3)

1 - 3 of 3

Comments (51)

Reply
- Report abuse
tiganeasca Feb 4, 2004 at 10:21 AM

Fascinating, in its way. Sounds not so very different from my experience in Qatar. Thanks for sharing your pics and tips--I look forward to visiting many of your other pages!
Reply
- Report abuse
waffs May 4, 2003 at 8:23 PM

nice :-)
Reply
- Report abuse
Deefstes Feb 28, 2003 at 4:57 PM

You've got a way of making me itch to see these places. Thanks, your pages are super.
Reply
- Report abuse
Nanumi Jul 17, 2002 at 4:15 PM

a beautiful part of the world...
Reply
- Report abuse
maykal Jul 8, 2002 at 1:25 PM

impressive new architecture! good page...
Reply
- Report abuse
Faiza-Ifrah Jun 29, 2002 at 4:04 AM

your advice on traffic hazard is good.
Reply
- Report abuse
asturnut Jun 11, 2002 at 5:19 PM

Thank you for your advice & info!!!
Reply
- Report abuse
CandyBear Apr 19, 2002 at 10:58 AM

Great infromation cool number sysem 2 bnad school teachers do
Reply
- Report abuse
croisbeauty Mar 27, 2002 at 9:53 AM

Another nice page
Reply
- Report abuse
Knoto Feb 24, 2002 at 12:45 PM

Great page!