Lonely Planet Dubai Encounter [With Pull-Out Map]

We used this guide extensively during our recent trip to Dubai. We found the information to be accurate and comprehensive. We tried a few or the reviewed restaurants, shops, and excursions and were very pleased.

Not know much about Dubai when I was first asked to go, I learned a great deal from this book. I learn about different areas, where to go and what the culture was like. Specificly I found the section on "women traveling to Dubai" very helpful. It pointed out how to expect to be treated when going out to eat, what to wear, and where to stay. I highly recommand this book and even more so if you're a woman.

LP hits another grand slam. I have not bought one LP that wasn't great. I own about 12. Keep up the good work. This one has alot of great information on this amazing city. The maps are a little dated, but what can you expect when youa re mapping the fastest growing city in the world.

My '5 stars' are for Dubai. I'm one of the authors and lived in the UAE for almost 8 years. I guess we do believe the hype, because we've lived it. Dubai is an extraordinary city, the country offers one of the best lifestyles in the world, and the Emirati people - Dubai locals in particular - are incredibly dynamic, funny, laidback, hospitable and tolerant. Having travelled all over the world (to over 50 countries) and recently moved to Europe, Dubai remains one of my favorite cities. I'd rather not risk repeating what's in our books, but it's true that Dubai has glorious year-round weather (if you like it hot), access to some truly spectactular desert and mountain scenery, some of the world's best shopping (souqs, malls and a growing number of independent stores), restaurants, bars and hotels (and I'm not referring to Burj Al Arab), and a culture that is comprised of both the local and traditional, contemporary and multicultural, that is hybrid and mobile, fresh and alive. Unfortunately, however, we've been just as guilty as the next writers in focussing too much on the city's sun, sand and shopping. Fed up with people criticising the city as being souless (which we know it isn't) and without culture (which we know it has - many complex layers of local, regional and world cultures, in addition to a growing and buzzy arts scene) - in our update of this guide, we try to introduce people to the 'real Dubai' and 'backstreet Dubai' via boxed texts and walking tours that will take visitors off the beaten track. We're hoping these will guide travellers to get beyond the hype and experience more than the beach, desert safaris and malls, and taste a little of the real Dubai - the Dubai that keeps many expatriates in the city so long, and lures vistors back to the city time and time again.

This books brings a good overview of the city (although I haven't been there yet) with nice quick tips and facts that usually go unoticed on other travel books. It lacks however a better map and visual image of the city as a whole.