Vacationing for Christmas in Dubai doesn’t mean you have to give up a traditional Christmas. You can do everything in Dubai you would typically do at home during the Christmas season.
Church
Although Dubai is a Muslim nation, they are incredibly tolerant of other religions like Christianity. There are Christian churches in Dubai that you can go to church to for Christmas. You will find St. Mary ’s, one of the largest in the city is in Oud Metha. Or you might want to go to St. Francis if you are on the southern side of Dubai. There will be a number of services leading up to Christmas Day.
Festivals and Fairs
There are lots of school festivals where you will have fun attending and find delicious things to eat and great gift ideas for those on your shopping list. Two of the biggest ones are the Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah, and Winter Festival are two of the big ones. You will want to check out the Fairmont at the Palms in Palm Jumeirah where you can take the kids to see Santa and decorate gingerbread houses. Children 3to 15 are welcome. Sat Dec 22 from 2 pm to 4 pm.
You will also want to go to the Habtoor Palace at Al Habtoor City Between Dec 4-21 where you can see decorations and a lighted Christmas tree. Santa will be there at 6 pm daily. Caroling and fun rides for the kids are other activities there from 3 to midnight daily. From 7 to 11 there is a live band.At the Reform Social and Grill on Dec 1st from noon to 6 pm you can shop. Your children will love the magic tricks from a magician. Let your child write a letter to Santa too. Souk Madinet in Jumeirah, Umm Seqeim there will be a German Market with food stalls to check out the 20 to the 28th of Dec from noon to late. It will also be open Dec 23 and The 26th from 3 pm to late.
Tree Lightnings
There are tree lighting’s throughout the city in December. There will be trees in some of the hotels and other places to enjoy, as well.
Traditional Dinner
You can order a turkey from a number of hotels and restaurants that will cook you a delicious turkey dinner with vegetables and other trimmings to go with it. While some may want to take a turkey home to eat most will go out to lunch and eat at one of the many restaurants.
Sunny or Snow
You are guaranteed a beautiful bright Christmas in Dubai unless you choose otherwise. In that case, you can go to the Ski Dubai and spend the day skiing on the artificial snow. Ski Dubai is the first indoor ski slopes int eh middle east. They have approximately 22.500 square meters of indoor snow slopes. They have five slopes to choose from with varying difficulty. So you have the choice of spending the day at the sunny beach or playing on the indoor ski slopes. If you decide to go with the snow, you might also want to check out the colony of King and Gentoo Penguins at Ski Dubai.
Christmas Shopping
Dubai is an excellent place for Christmas shopping. With the malls and other places to shop you are sure to find just the right gifts for those on your lists.
As you can see traveling in Dubai during Christmas is not much different from anywhere else in the world as far as still being able to celebrate a traditional Christmas. Perhaps you might even find more to do and also add a few new traditions for your next trip to Dubai during Christmas next year.
