What comes to your mind first, when you think of Dubai? Probably high skyscrapers, luxury shopping malls and breathtaking resorts? Dubai is a lot more than a home to human-made attractions. If you are enthusiastic and inspired by nature, there are several places to visit and unusual things to do in Dubai you would definitely love to indulge in.
Are you ready to create memories in Dubai━ a place surrounded by beautiful beaches and scenic gardens? Plan with your friends or family; the Dubai experience is undoubtedly amazing and remarkable. If preparing an itinerary seems confusing, we have curated this post containing some useful tips. Stay tuned!
1. Dubai Miracle Garden
At the Dubai Miracle Garden, the Middle Eastern city has created what is possibly the world’s largest flower outdoors. Planning a day here is one of the unusual things to do in Dubai. The recently opened Miracle Garden, like every other grandiose undertaking demonstrating that Dubai can aid any mission the rest of the world can and bigger, may also be the city’s most daring undertaking yet.
Planted on over 775,000 square feet of land, the garden creates massive designs and shapes by utilizing fields, flowerbeds, and a reputedly impossible 45 million separate flowers. The incredible development venture is incredible in that it exists in Dubai’s harsh desert climate. The outdoor caretakers claim that the expansion is feasible due to the careful reuse of wastewater and irrigation that employs the drip method as opposed to the more wasteful spray method. Visiting this garden is one of the unusual things to do in Dubai.
The staggeringly colourful fields of blooms, shaped like hearts and igloos, and trellises built to look like famous buildings, look like something out of a fairy tale. This effect is very deliberate, perfectly accentuating the city’s distinctive, superbly over-the-top duties. The Dubai Miracle Garden is also not finished. There are also plans to build a shopping centre and a full-service nursery.
2. Elephant Clock
The elaborate elephant-shaped water clock at the Ibn Battuta mall in Dubai, built over five months to exact diagrams in an original 13th-century manuscript, is a tribute to 800-year-old engineering brilliance.
The Elephant clock was just one of many inventive devices created by the polymath inventor Al-Jazari. Al-Jazari described in detail 50 machines of varying complexity in his famous manuscript, known in English as the Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, published in 1206 and illustrated with beautiful colour miniatures. Exploring Elephant Clock is one of the unusual things to do in Dubai.
His work and book differ from many other early treatises on mechanical devices in that he was a gifted mechanic, and the book is more of a practical guide than a theoretical book of engineering concepts. Devices such as automatic gates and doors, animal and humanoid automata, and clocks were among his instructions. He would become best known for his clocks. These were not merely mechanical toys. His 11-foot Castle astronomical clock is so complex that it is considered an early programmable analogue computer.
3. Dubai Gold Souk
It should come as no surprise that Dubai, the country’s largest city, is home to one of the world’s largest gold markets. Purchasing gold is one of the unusual things to do in Dubai.
This sprawling bazaar of gold traders, diamond merchants, and jewellers is known as a souk, and it loops through a series of galleries that are covered at the top but retain the feel of an open-air market. The UAE government strictly regulates what is offered, ensuring authenticity—something that is frequently lacking from street vendors outside.
In the early 1900s, there were only a few local jewellers. It grew significantly in the 1940s as new trade policies encouraged Iranian and Indian entrepreneurs to set up shop, but the oil boom of the 1970s cemented the Dubai Gold Souk’s status as an icon. The market has grown and gentrified over the years, but it has retained the charm and atmosphere of an Arabian souk. Being in the extensive gold marker is one of the unusual things to do in Dubai.
4. Queen Elizabeth 2
Queen Elizabeth 2 has begun a new chapter in her life after being rescued from retirement and the breaker’s yard after nearly 40 years of service. The ship was permanently docked in Dubai’s Mina Rashid district in 2008. It was later converted into a 224-room floating hotel. The refurbished ship is open to anyone who wants to spend a night or two on a historic ocean liner. Staying in a room in a floating hotel and relaxing amid a picturesque view is one of the peaceful and unusual things to do in Dubai.
There’s a lot to like about the floating hotel. Inside the ship is The Golden Lion, a British pub that is said to be the oldest in Dubai. The Chart Room is a true time capsule with the original nautical interior and furnishings.
The original glass route map, where passengers could track the progress of the ship’s Atlantic crossing, is displayed at the bar. The Grand Lounge is a red-curtained showroom where you can eat and watch a show. The QE2 had one of the most extensive libraries at sea, with over 6,000 books.
With its taste for opulence and the fact that there’s sunshine nearly every single day of the year, it’s no surprise that Dubai is home to some of the most beautiful swimming pools on earth that you can’t miss out on the list of unusual things to do in Dubai.