Disclosure: This is not a full complete list and some things may be only our impression, but I didnt find anything w/all this info before we went so thought others could benefit.Wizz air TLV-ABU $140 p/p r/t. Includes just a personal item but they werent too makpid on extra shopping bags.
Landed in
ABU, slow lines for passport control, they take face pics and full hand fingerprints of everyone. Golan wasnt working on my phone so we bought a local sim for 50ils. Restarted the phone and golan worked… Maps worked much better w/the local sim than Golan’s.
Departed ABU, wizz checkin had 2 lines priority and non-priority but they both seemed to move the same speed. After passport on the right is the priority pass lounge. Lots of lounge chairs and not too full but not updated. Free showers.
Hertz 1 week SUV rental - 600ils. Pick up smooth and easy. Highways have lots of cams and most tourists we met got speeding tix. 200ils for going less than 20km over. No Ezpass, I guess they scan your plate, hertz charged us for 1 toll, 4aed plus 1aed fee.
Almost every bathroom we were in, in a hotel or home, had a toilet and a separate bidet. Public toilets in malls or stores all have a bidet hose next to the toilet. Some have latrine style w/the hose bidet and no toilet paper.
UAE weekend is Fri-Sat so they say things may be more busy Fridays, but we didnt find that.
Several Huge malls that have lots of free parking and attractions or theme parks in them.
Highways are wide and overlap a lot. We used google maps and still found it confusing when/where to exit or which way to go at the fork.
Most people were very nice and friendly especially once they hear you're American or from Israel. We usually felt like they wanted to treat us well as if we were flying first class. Never felt any fear or discomfort from any locals (like one may feel walking in arab parts of Israel)
K-mart type
cheap chain stores w/tons of junk, ie Jalabiya for 11ils, 3 suitcases for 80aed.
souvenirs for 1 2 5 10ils. Some are open 24-hours
One To Ten Gifts 75 Al Suhiliyah St - Zayed Port - Al Mina - Abu Dhabi - near the promenade.
https://1-to-10-center.business.sitehttps://daytoday.aeGifts Village
https://linktr.ee/giftsvillage +971526854729 (
https://g.co/kgs/uiNj4L accross from Dubai Frame)
Abu Dhabi:
- www.szgmc.gov.ae/en/Home Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre. Free to visit, free parking. Book a time slot on the site. We parked underground and entered through a mall, then a long walk in tunnels to reach the Mosque. (there’s an option for golf-cart rides). Very hot even after dark (in Aug) but there are indoor AC parts too.
- www.abrahamicfamilyhouse.ae/ mostly just a tourist thing. 3 buildings next to each other, 1 shul, 1 mosque, 1 church. Free entrance, schedule online. Bring passports.
- www.qasralwatan.ae/ Palace 60ils entrance. Valet or free parking. Security and then ride a bus to the palace. No one lives there. Very beautiful, high ceilings and detailed. Walk through 3 short hallways to see a few rooms.
- http://www.yasmall.ae/
- www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com Indoor ferrari themed amusement park in the yas mall 300ils p/p. (11am-8pm) About 5 thrilling roller coasters. Very short lines (10 min or less, compared to 6 flags chol hamoed, that’s amazing) Their map wasnt so great and didnt list those rides separately. They give you a bracelet w/a qr code and after each ride they can scan it and put the pics they took on so they’re all together at 1 link.
The mall also has a few other parks. Some buy 1 ticket to all parks like disney hoppers. - Warner brothers https://www.wbworldabudhabi.com,
- Sea World https://www.seaworldabudhabi.com
- https://www.yaswaterworld.com/
- The "Promenade" of Abu Dhabi - The Corniche
- https://reemmall.ae/en/snow-abu-dhabi
- https://thenationalaquarium.ae/
Dubai- www.thedubaimall.com plenty of parking, huge mall maybe 1200 stores, so a little tricky to find the Fountain Light Show http://thedubaimall.com/en/entertain-detail/the-dubai-fountain-1 , maybe 5 minutes of water sprinklers and lights w/music w/the burj-k in the background. Pretty crowded. Runs Daily 6PM to 11PM (Every 30 minutes).
- www.malloftheemirates.com/en 600+ stores.
- https://www.groupon.ae/deals/amazon-travel-tourism-l-l-c-1 Got 50ils tix for a boatride (and 25% off 1st purchase) (similar to NY’s circle line but smaller). There were only 3 other passengers on the boat. It was hot but we got nice pics and basically a private 1 hour boat ride by sunset. We parked in https://www.dubaifestivalcitymall.com/home/ but it was a little tricky to find the waterfront promenade.
- Light show at this mall www.dubaifestivalcitymall.com/home/whats-inside/Entertainment/imagine, also runs every ½ hour for about 3-5 minutes.
- Water activities - many websites and whatsapp that want you to buy through them. We went to one of the marinas and bargained w/them… 200ils for 30 min 2-seater jet ski. 270ils for 30-minute flyboarding. Parking in that marina https://www.google.com/maps/search/Yoush%20Water%20Sports/@25.152511596679688,55.19884490966797,17z?hl=en is 150 but across the st public parking is a 5aed for 2 hours, in the lot was a little more.
- “Safari” https://www.klook.com/activity/2162-evening-desert-safari-dinner-dubai/ +917557877034 we did red dune eve for $30 each in a shared 4x4. Guy picks you up around 4pm and drives out to some dessert spot where you can pay extra for quad bikes and stuff. www.javidbuggy.com +971527229909 . He meets up w/some friends and then we go sand bashing (driving in the dessert on hills and curves and blowing up sand), then take some pics and then sand-boarding (like snow-boarding but no gear or boots, just barefoot stand on the foot spots on the board and slide. 2 times down and walkin up and we’re tired… Then drove to the ‘camp’ where they served a non-kosher meal and had some shows from 730-9pm. Fire show, belly dancing (we went out to do free camel rides) and a show w/a guy spinning in flying skirts. (There is a Kosher meal one for about 350ils on Wed’s, there's an $18 option on a bus and for more you can have a private car.)
- https://www.dubaiframe.ae/en/plan-your-visit 10ils to park, 50ils entrance. A little museum type thing about old vs new dubai. Elevator to the top bridge level w/a glass floor and views. Go around shkiya so you can see the view during the day and it’s dark when you leave to see the lights.
- Dubai Gold Market. Google says it closes at 9, but at 10pm it’s still busy. You can buy gold or get brought into some back store w/fake gucci and louis vuitton bags or t shirts shoes etc.
- Dubai Spice Market
- www.visitdubai.com/en/places-to-visit/abra-creek-crossing free parking overnight. Even at 12am there are boats crossing. You can rent a driver w/a boat for 100 an hour or pay 1 to cross to the other side and then 1 to get back. They fill will about 15 passengers and cross every few minutes.
- www.burjkhalifa.ae
- www.jumeirah.com/en/stay/dubai/burj-al-arab-jumeirah 7-star hotel, You cant really get up to the top without a paid tour but the lobby and inside are something to see.
- https://www.xdubai.com/en/xline/experience +971-56-5076366 .650aed per adult (there are more/other ziplines too)
- www.skidxb.com/en-ae/ski-dubai They actually have nights w/separate men/women skiing and other snow activities for the younger or non-skiier.
- https://museumofthefuture.ae/en needs advance booking 150ils p/p, 10am-930pm
- https://theoutletvillage.ae/
- https://dubaioutletmall.com/
- https://www.dragonmart.ae/
- https://aindubai.com/en
- https://www.thedubaiaquarium.com/
- https://www.atlantis.com/dubai
- https://www.dubaimiraclegarden.com
- https://www.dubaigardenglow.com/
- https://www.globalvillage.ae/en/
- https://www.theviewpalm.ae/
Kosher
Groceries:
Rimon kosher supermarket +971545848867. They say that’s the main kosher grocery - cheese deli frozen meats etc. Not so much variety and each item costs like a souvenir. Maps sends you to the back so it looks like it’s closed but I think it’s open till 9pm in the summer.
https://www.malloftheemirates.com/en/find-a-store/carrefour Imported Kosher food like hagen daaz, chex mix, mayo, ketchup, frozen bagels, waffles, potato chips, veggie stix etc.
www.luluhypermarket.com/en-ae in Dubai festival city mall has imported Kosher items. Herr's chips cheese curls, Essential brand and Kellogg cereals, canned Tuna corn diced tomatoes, coco powder, Pringles, ronzoni pasta, vegan hard cheese BKKosher, Ben and Jerry's, turkey hill ice cream, frozen sweet potato and regular fries, Dr Prager's veggie burgers, oatmeal. Duncan Hines and blue diamond cake mix. Mott's applesauce, baby carrots.
Some
Eateries:
www.thekosherplace.ae/abu-dhabi, it’s in the ritz carlton, good food. Fair price. Fleishig. Very busy at 10pm but lots of seating.
www.elliscafe.ae in Abu Dhabi it’s in a mall and you need to order 24 hrs prior. In Dubai it’s open as a restaurant.
www.thekosherplace.ae/dubai www.instagram.com/cafebibidubai/ Cafe Bibi
www.mosaicadubai.com/ Mosaica
www.kingdavidkitchen.com/www.kosherarabia.com/Mul Hayam Dubai +972503458100
Armani +97148883666
https://kosherworldubai.com/https://treatkosher.ae/ order shabbos food/package
https://mazalkosher.ae/Shabbos.
In
Abu Dhabi there’s a Taymani guy who puts people up to sleep and has great taymani food. They say the prince/king helped get his parents and 100 yr old grandmother out of Yemen and gave’m a place to live in Abu Dhabi a few yrs ago. The dad’s living room is the shul. His brother lives across the road. They have a torah they brought from Tayman. He speaks Hebrew and tayman-arabic but his wife is from UK and speaks English too. Some stay at
www.alseefresort.com/en/ and eat or daven by him. (PM me for his contact)
I heard there’s also a chabad in Abu Dhabi in another area.
In
Dubai shabbos minyan and meals:
https://chabad.ae/ Chabad in the Address Marina 14th floor.
www.minyan.ae/ Minyan on the Palm
Sefardic Minyan rabbiyona.ordavid@gmail.com +971547548121
Hotels booked on orbitz near the Address hotel - Chabad’s 8am shachris on the 14th floor (free valet parking at the address). Probably 50 ppl there.
www.rovehotels.com/en/hotels/rove-dubai-marina $50. Hotels all charge 10-20aed extra tax or fee not included in the reservation. Free underground parking. Rooms small, double bed and couch that opens to a twin. High floors have some view of the Marina.
www.signature1hotels.com $50. Free underground parking. Some rooms w/porch and view of the marina. Kitchen w/Washing machine. 200aed deposit that's returned in cash on checkout. You can go out the hotel’s back door and you’re by the Marina and can boat/jetski there too. Not updated. No usb outlets.
www.marinaviewhotel.com $50 for studio, large space, double bed couch, kitchen. 80aed extra for a rollaway bed. some people at checkin were nice, some were not. top floors are smoking.
