The Best Apps You Should Download Before Visiting Dubai

These days, technology makes every aspect of travel plannong a little easier. From booking your hotels, getting a ride and finding out what’s going on — you can do all of that from your smart phones. This applies to Dubai, too. These local and international apps are here to make the lives of residents and visitors a lot simpler.

The Dubai Mall

As the Dubai Mall is the biggest mall in the world, with 1,200 retail outlets, it’s not surprising that this venue needs its own GPS. The Dubai Mall app is free and helps people explore all that the mall has to offer, catering to each individual’s taste and interests. In the app, people can choose if they want notifications about attractions, fashion, food or lifestyle, and can also put in their gender, allowing the smart software to provide information tailor made for them. The Dubai Mall app also provides a directory and directions for the mall, making itself immensely helpful to visitors.

Culture Trip

Careem

Move over Uber, Dubai has it’s very own carpooling app called Careem. This Dubai-based company can also be found in several other countries in the Middle East, and it’s a great way of supporting a local business when visiting Dubai. Like other carpooling apps, people can use the Careem app to book rides and get picked up and dropped off wherever they want. Careem’s drivers are known as Captains, adding an element of fun to the dailly commute.

Dubai Metro2

For those who prefer getting around via public transport, the Dubai Metro2 app is the ideal way to stay informed and on time for the next train. This app provides information on times, stations, and more. The Dubai Metro2 app is not only useful but also very informative, as it gives users a brief history of the Dubai Metro, as well as a list of fines that users could be at risk of when using public transport. As fines vary from $28 to $545, it’s crucial to be well informed!

Talabat

All foodies visiting Dubai need to download Talabat. This food delivery app can be found in several countries in the Middle East, and it’s a way for tourists to support a local business even when ordering their food. The app offers hundreds of restaurant, cafe and fast food choices to order from, and operates 24/7, allowing you to fulfill your late night cravings. The Talabat app also provides offers and coupons when ordering from several food outlets.

Zomato

Another great food delivery app in the UAE, as well as in 23 other countries, is Zomato. Although the selection of restaurants on the Zomato app might not be as large as that on Talabat, it offers an additional service that it crucial for tourists: Zomato provides restaurant reviews. The Zomato app covers almost every single restaurant in Dubai, no matter how small, allowing users to check out the menu, look at pictures and see reviews. This is a must-download app!

GuavaPass

Fitness is a major part of many people’s lives, and many don’t want to slow down their workout routine while on holidays. GuavaPass is the ideal app to download when in Dubai. The fitness app allows people to buy a membership and offers several packages that will suit both residents and tourists, giving them access to over 80 fitness studios in Dubai alone. The GuavaPass app also provides members with studios in Abu Dhabi and eight cities in South-east Asia. The platform offers everything from yoga, CrossFit, and boxing to stand-up paddle. Users can choose a fitness routine that best suits them, to keep up with their favorite exercise when traveling to Dubai.

Dubai Calendar

For the latest updates on events around the city, Dubai Calendar is everyone’s best friend. This app is the best way to keep up with everything that is going on in the city, including concerts, sporting events and cultural happenings. The Dubai Calendar app provides users with recommendations, and separates events into categories, allowing people to filter events by interest. Another practical feature of Dubai Calendar is that people can buy tickets straight from the app, aggregating everything one needs to be informed and attend events into one place.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.