Avoid Dubai from June to August, they say. It’s too hot, they say. Well, if I can do it with one leg, with all of the faff of prosthetics, then you can too!
Yes, it’s hot, and I mean SO HOT in the summer (I went at the end of August!) But everywhere has air conditioning. You step off the plane into the most gorgeous of airports with the coolest of air conditioning and the very best signs.
There are no queues anywhere and your luggage is waiting for you on the baggage belt. You then get into a gorgeous air-conditioned taxi and travel along the pothole-and-roadwork-free 7-lane highway to your destination. It’s honestly like you’ve arrived in a parallel universe where everything just works and looks stunning as well.
We stayed at The Waldorf Astoria on The Palm. Please make sure you completely ignore the people who tell you not to stay on The Palm because it’s difficult to get on and off… it’s not, it’s just a slightly longer taxi ride. You’d never be walking anywhere in Dubai as it’s just too hot, so taxis are the way to go and they’re really reasonably priced so the slightly longer journey to get to a hotel on The Palm is absolutely worth it.
The one thing you must do when in Dubai is go up the Burj Khalifa. We booked the ‘At The Top – SKY’ ticket here and it was so easy as an amputee. Again, everything was air-conditioned and there was a short walk to the lift and that’s it, you’re up. We decided to head up around 5.00pm so we could see the sun as it started to set and then went back down to the boats on the lake so we could watch the fountain show with all of the glittery lights. You don’t need to book the boats, you just turn up ten minutes before the show that takes place every fifteen minutes.
Another thing I’d recommend is a speedboat trip around The Palm. We met up with a friend who’s part of the Captain’s Club, but it’s really easy to book, and again not expensive at all, in fact it was cheaper than a 1-hour trip I took earlier in the summer down the Birmingham Canals!
That was something that was interesting coming from the UK, everyone said Dubai would be too expensive, but it wasn’t, in fact it was probably a bit cheaper. A three-course-meal in a stunning restaurant at the base of The Burj Khalifa cost less than our local Pizza Express, and the service was so much friendlier too. The malls are just sensational for anyone who likes to shop like I do and everywhere feels safe.
As an amputee, and just a teenage girl who loves to travel, see the sights and shop, I one-hundred percent, recommend Dubai.
