We’ve been wanting to visit Dubai for years, but flights from Atlanta were always so full we never managed to make it happen. We decided visiting Dubai over Thanksgiving would be a much needed escape from the rain and cold of Amsterdam. The flight is relatively short (at least compared to the 16 hour ATL to DXB flight!) and we flew out on the red-eye after work on Wednesday night.

We arrived bright and early at 7 am and had 3 full days to soak up the sun and see all the sights.

We stayed in the Marina one night and one night out in the Palm for a beach retreat. The InterContinental Dubai Marina recently opened and did not disappoint. We spent our first day sleeping off the jet lag at their beautiful pool that overlooked the Marina’s skyscrapers and enjoyed the spa. When we had rested up enough, we ventured into downtown to check out the cities iconic sites such as the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, and the fountain show.

The following day we switched hotels to check out the iconic “Palm” island of Dubai. We stayed at the Anatara and had an amazing view of the Burj Al Arab from our room (one of the iconic Dubai buildings that is also the world’s only 7 star hotel).

Our last day included a bit more relaxing by the pool before we ventured off on a Dubai desert safari consisting of dune rides, camels, belly dancing and lots of sand (I am still trying to get the sand out of my converses)! While a bit touristy, it was a great way to end our trip to Dubai and we both loved roaming around the sand dunes in the 4 by 4. It felt like you were riding on a roller coaster – although a few times, I legitimately thought we were going the entire car tip over.

Overall Dubai felt a bit like Disney World – everything was new, clean and a bit extravagant. Our next trip to the UAE, We hope to make it to Abu Dhabi to get a bit of a different experience!