Burj Khalifa

If you are going for a holiday in Dubai, I am sure you will do a proper research for your visit. But last year (2015), when we visited South India, we had 7 hours stop over in Dubai and we had the chance to visit Burj Khalifa very briefly as it wasn’t very far away from the airport. So this post give you a quick idea of how to get the visa, getting around from the airport to city etc. You don’t want to rush back to the airport as the city is always buzzing and the airport is one of the busiest in the world, therefore leave plenty of time to check in. We didn’t go on top of the Burj Khalifa as we didn’t have enough time and we had some family to visit. Instead, we walked through the Dubai Mall which was very quiet at the early hours of the day, grabbed a nice coffee and walked around the Burj counting the skyscrapers!

Visa requirement for Dubai 
Dubai allows citizens of certain countries free visa on arrival(VOA). Check here for visa requirements. If you are eligible for VOA (visa on arrival) , head on to immigration line, your passport will be stamped with 30 day visa free of charge by the immigration officer.

Moving around in Dubai
Travel from Dubai Airport:-
Taxi- Taxi is the most convenient way of transportation and it is affordable.
Metro- You can also use Dubai metro, there is a metro station in all of the Dubai airport terminals. If you have an android based phone you can use the app( download Dubai Metro app here) . To get the metro map as an image, follow this link (download Dubai metro map).
Train services start 5.50 am (5.30 am on Thursday), and stop at 24:00 (except Thursday &Friday at 1 am). Service on Friday only starts at 1 pm.
There are just two lines – Red and Green. Most stations have linking buses and taxi ranks for forward travel. You can find a metro station at walk-able distance from most of the major tourist attractions.
Tickets for metro:
You can buy your ticket at the airport stations from the ticket machine. The cost depends on how many zones you travel, but is always extremely affordable. For a small premium price, travel on the front of the train (gold class), from where you can enjoy the wonderful view of Dubai through the glass window at the front of the cabin!
Simcard
A local sim card is useful if you are staying for many days,else you can just use free WiFi that is available in most of the places. There are only two mobile provider in dubai – Etisalat and Du. Get a sim card by proving a copy of your passport/visa and a photograph from most of the shops in the airport, if needed.