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LIVING IN DUBAI
A Life Worth Living
Dubai today means great city living. All kinds of entertainment and convenience is at your doorstep, be it shopping, cinema, eating out or sport
All villas and flats have excellent facilities – from high speed Internet connections to covered car parking. Some complexes provide a daily maid service, shared or private swimming pools, squash and tennis courts. Every kind of furniture or household device is available in Dubai's excellent shopping malls and arcades.
Children have a lot of fun in Dubai. From water parks, skiing and go-kart racing, there are things to do for every age outside of school. Schooling itself is excellent. Dubai has a thoroughly modern network of 85 private schools offering education of a high standard to the curriculum requirements of the UK, USA, Italy, Japan, Iran, India and Pakistan. Similarly, the Government provides quality, subsidized medical care to all visitors and residents, while there are several extremely good private hospitals offering high quality health and dental care.
Cars in UAE are far cheaper to buy or rent than most other countries, due to the low taxes. Driving is on the right hand side of the road.
The overall cost of living in Dubai is similar to that in most European countries, if you're living in the style of the average western expatriate.
But the general lack of taxation has a significant impact on the cost of certain items, e.g. cars. On the other hand, the cost of accommodation is sometimes high, as is that of certain food items, particularly imported foods. If you buy internationally recognised branded foods and household goods, you might pay higher prices than in your home country, but there are usually plenty of cheaper locally and regionally produced alternatives that are of excellent quality. The price of wines and spirits, where these are permitted, is slightly higher than average European prices. Electronic goods, such as televisions, , DVD players, photographic equipment and computer hardware and software, are generally less expensive than in Europe, mainly because of lower import duties.
Utilities, such as electricity, water and gas, are subsidised to some extent by the region's governments, which own the services (except for bottled gas supplies) in order to provide inexpensive electricity and water, mainly for the benefit of the local population. Utilities are therefore cheaper than in most European countries. However, at the height of summer, air-conditioning costs will escalate, rather as the cost of heating increases in winter in colder climates.
Getting Around
The Big Bus Company’s tours of the city and beach area may well be the ultimate touristy thing to do but they are also the only way to see half of the delights of Dubai and even seasoned expatriates living in Dubai sometimes welcome visitors because it gives them another excuse to hop on board!
For those who would like to learn more about Dubai than merely where to shop for the best bargains, the Dubai Museum is a great place to start. Also, the Dubai Heritage and Diving Villages are not to be missed. The centre covers Dubai’s development in terms of architecture, pearl diving and various maritime themes and the displays are informative, visually dramatic and well worth a visit. For a cultural experience the theatre, music and fine arts are all well represented in the emirate,
A 4x4 desert safari is yet another great tourist activity – or for the more romantic among you why not go for a sunset picnic in the desert dunes? Be sure to take a camera to capture the stunning sunset, the vibrant colours and the dramatically changing aspect of the desert as the sun goes down and the moon rises.
Family Fun
Until ‘Dubai World’ Dubai’s giant theme park is completed, the family favorite destination is probably Wild Wadi Water Park which is the world’s most advanced and innovative water theme park and a water theme park like no other you will have ever experienced
There really are so many things to do in Dubai that this article barely scrapes the surface – but hopefully it gives you a few suggestions of where to start when planning the itinerary.
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