← All articles · United Arab Emirates · 20 February 2026

Dubai

Dubai across two trips: gliding under the Burj Khalifa in August 2024, pharaohs at Wafi, then Global Village and a Ramadan drone show in February 2026.

Dubai got us twice. The first time was August 2024, when the city was a shimmering oven and we did most of our sightseeing from air-conditioned places. The second was February 2026, when the weather was perfect, Ramadan was beginning, and the city put on a show for it. Different seasons, same verdict: Dubai never does anything by halves.

August 2024: the summer visit

View through a car windscreen of the Downtown Dubai skyline on a hazy day, the Burj Khalifa rising above the other towers — Driving into Downtown in August 2024. The Burj Khalifa makes every other skyscraper look like it is not really trying.

In summer you learn Dubai's real rhythm: do things in the morning, hide from the afternoon, come back out after dark. Which is how we ended up at the Egyptian-themed Wafi complex at night, standing between two pharaohs several storeys tall.

Inga and Dileep standing at night between two giant illuminated pharaoh statues in front of a wall of hieroglyphic reliefs at Wafi, Dubai — The pharaohs at Wafi. For scale, we are the two small figures at ankle height.

The other summer trick is the water. Down on the creek the abras kept shuttling between Deira and Bur Dubai, past a waterfront that still remembers what the city looked like before the towers.

A wooden abra ferry carrying passengers across Dubai Creek, UAE flags flying over the moored boats and old Deira buildings behind — An abra mid-crossing on Dubai Creek, flags flying. Still the most honest ride in the city.

Coral-stone buildings, wind towers and a slim minaret glowing at dusk along the old Shindagha waterfront on Dubai Creek — The old town side of the creek at dusk: wind towers and a minaret instead of glass and steel.

Indoors, because August, we also ended up in a pool with a dolphin. This is a sentence we stand by.

Inga and Dileep in wetsuits kneeling in clear blue water with a dolphin resting across their arms at the Dubai Dolphinarium — The Dubai Dolphinarium. The dolphin was extremely professional about the whole thing.

The evening that saved the summer visit was the desert safari: out past the city limits, up a dune for sunset, then dinner at camp with the entertainment.

Inga sitting alone on a rippled sand dune in the Dubai desert, a line of footprints leading up to her — One dune, one sitter, one incriminating trail of footprints.

Inga in a white top and sun hat with Dileep wearing a white kandura and red checked ghutra headdress, standing on the dunes at golden hour — Golden hour on the dunes, August 2024. One of us committed to the local dress code.

A dancer in a black and gold costume with a face chain veil balancing a curved sword across her head at a desert camp show — The desert camp show: sword balanced, audience silenced.

February 2026: the return

A year and a half later we came back in winter, which is when Dubai is at its most likeable. This time our window did the sightseeing for us.

Inga looking out of a hotel window at night towards the illuminated Burj Khalifa and the towers of Downtown Dubai — The view from our room in February 2026. Hard to close the curtains on that.

The big evening out was Global Village, the enormous fairground-meets-world-expo on the edge of the city, where dozens of country pavilions sit behind a gate that looks borrowed from a fairy tale. We arrived at dusk, which turned out to be perfect timing.

Inga and Dileep in front of the ornate domed and turreted Gate of the World at Global Village, Dubai, lit up at dusk — The Gate of the World at Global Village, just as the lights came on.

Ramadan had just started, and Dubai marked it the way Dubai marks everything: with hundreds of drones rearranging themselves in the night sky. Watching the words assemble themselves letter by letter above the crowd was one of those very Dubai moments where you stop being cynical and just look up.

A drone show spelling out a glowing Ramadan greeting in the night sky above Global Village in Dubai, with Inga in the foreground — Drones spelling out a Ramadan greeting over Global Village. The future is a very tidy fireworks display.

If your Gulf trip continues west, our Jordan stories start in Amman and run through Petra to Wadi Rum.