Things I Wish I Knew Before Visiting Dubai With Family, From American

For a recent spring break, my husband, three kids, and I skipped our usual Disney and beach vacations and instead headed to Dubai for eight nights.

The local culture was very different from ours back home in the United States, which provided my family a unique perspective on respecting differences and embracing commonalities.

Even so, we had an incredible experience visiting the fast-growing, futuristic-looking United Arab Emirates city. However, there are a few things I wish I’d known before we left.

I didn’t realize how affordable our trip to Dubai could feel

Although our flights to Dubai weren’t necessarily cheap, once we arrived, the trip was less than I had budgeted.

Given Dubai’s reputation for luxury, fancy cars, and high-end experiences, I was even more pleasantly surprised by the reasonable cost of our trip.

For example, it cost us less than $225 a night to stay at a five-star luxury hotel that’s within walking distance of the metro, 15 minutes from the airport, and close to local gold and spice souk markets.

Many of our meals, including breakfast, were also included in the price of our stay.

On top of that, a lot of our favorite activities cost nothing or were fairly inexpensive. We enjoyed walking through the vibrant spice souk markets and window-shopping at the gold shops near our hotel.

One of our favorite parts of the trip was seeing the Burj Khalifa lit up at night with a choreographed fountain show — for free.

Imagine a larger fountain show than in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, with the backdrop of the world’s tallest building lit up and choreographed to music.

We also purchased an all-inclusive activities pass that enabled us to have many experiences at a fraction of the retail cost.

For just a few hundred bucks per person, we rode camels in the Arabian desert, skied in a shopping mall, and visited the Museum of the Future.

Between the hotel, food, transportation, and activities, we had an upscale trip abroad for less than what we spend on our typical US vacations.

As an American woman, I wasn’t totally prepared for how I might be treated differently from men

The tour books I read didn’t completely prepare me for my experience as a woman visiting Dubai.

As our trip went on, I became more aware of many differences in gender roles and social norms between the US and the UAE.

I noticed it was common for staff members to defer to the guys in my family rather than to me. For example, the tour guide I hired to show my family around the city would mostly only make eye contact with my husband and sons. At the end of the tour, he’d only accept his tip from my husband.

In addition, even though I made the hotel reservation under my name and on my card, at checkout, the front-desk manager assumed my husband would be paying, not me.

While in religious and traditional settings, I also encountered different standards for men’s and women’s dress codes.

For example, when we visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque — about an hour’s drive outside Dubai in Abu Dhabi — my husband and sons were allowed entry wearing shorts and short-sleeve shirts.

Meanwhile, as a woman, I had to cover my hair, ankles, and wrists to visit the mosque. I ended up purchasing a head wrap and wearing a conservative outfit.

In the most touristy areas, I felt like I could wear what I wanted, but in more local places, I made sure to dress more modestly and fully cover my arms and legs out of respect for local customs and norms.

We weren’t prepared for unexpected rain

Here, the government can help trigger rainfall through cloud seeding, a weather-modification technique that addresses water challenges across the country.

So, when conditions allow, the United Arab Emirates National Meteorology flies planes into the clouds to release materials that help produce rain.

In part because of this, although rain was not in the forecast, it still fell on us unexpectedly. If I were to return, I might try to keep a rain poncho and umbrella in my bag at all times.

I hadn’t thought to check ahead of time to see if we’d be visiting during local holidays

We traveled to Dubai during Ramadan, a holy month in the Islamic calendar that consists of fasting, communal prayer, reflection, and community. I had no idea this was happening until we arrived.

Though many places were still open, some had adjusted hours for the month or ceased activities during daily prayer times. To be respectful, our tour guide also advised us not to eat or drink anything (not even water) in public from sunrise to sundown.

None of this was a huge deal, but I wish I’d been aware that our travel time coincided with this period before we left.

All that said, even knowing what I know now, I’d happily visit Dubai again in the future — and next time, I’ll feel more prepared.