Work trip to Dubai, travelling alone

[Hoppitybobbins]

Hi everyone I have a work trip planned for the autumn and am a female travelling alone. I was hoping that anyone with experience if Dubai can advise on how to spend 5 days/evenings. I am a bit anxious as tend to get extremely home sick on business trips and I could do with knowing some fun, safe things to do on my own to take my mind off things. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

It is so so so so safe there.
You can go to some ladies nights and also walk around the Dubai mall and watch the Dubai fountain display.
There is also soul madinat which is lovely market and lots of dinner spots along a creek. I went alone to all these places and had a great time!

Ladies nights? What happens there. Plus, were people friendly?

You'll enjoy it, as pp said, extremely safe, lots to do in the evenings and plenty of food and drink options

I'm travelling there tomorrow, alone and have always been there alone in excess of 30 times. Its probably one of the safest places in the world. I love it!

Do you mind me asking how you spend your time there @robinsnest1967 ? Do you know people there or do you generally do your own thing?

It’s super safe, I wouldn’t take public transport though, got groped once. Stick to taxis (use uber or careem) there are ladies nights but also there are comedy nights etc so check timeout dubai. It’s frankly safer than the UK for a woman out alone.

I used to love wandering around the malls in the evening and sitting with a coffee people watching

The Dubai metro also has a woman only carriage on each train. If you use the metro travel in one of those or use the Gold car carriage (there is a separate area on the platform to board this).

Thank you for your responses. I am starting to think I’ll like it there. Clothes wise. What is best? It’s hot I know, but do they switch up the aircon in malls etc so it’s important to bring a covering? And is the vibe quite smart and glam as I imagine it is or are people just walking about in beach gear? And would you bring a hat?

@hoppitybobbins My daughter and grandchildren live there but they aren't always here when I come. I go shopping (window), walk along JBR (beach), sit in coffee shops, go to the cinema etc. I do have friends there now but 60% of the time I'm alone.

You can wear what you like but just be mindful that it is a Muslim place. You'll be fine in shorts and t shirts etc. if you want to you can try and keep shoulders/knees covered but it certainly isn't expected. It is cold in the air con.

If I was there on my own I'd use the metro, second the recommendation for the ladies carriage, just because it's a bit nicer. Metro is super safe and cheap. You can't use the gold carriage unless you have an emirates id (which you won't)

The cinema at mall of the emirates is nice. There's a ski slope there too if you fancy a lesson. You could take days wandering round Dubai mall. There's the burj khalifa and fountains there too. I've not been for a while but I used to like a trip down to ibn battuta and up to Dubai creek. The marina is lovely and you can walk to jbr from there. There's a few nail and beauty places in jlt that you could try.

Overseas citizens can use the gold car carriages on the metro, all that is required is a gold car ticket which can be purchased at the station.

It’s quite a conservative place so I would suggest you keep knees and shoulders covered at the malls.