From desert safaris to eye-popping feasts, how Dubai makes the perfect family holiday
RIDING the very same camel Paris Hilton rode on her honeymoon wasn’t on my bucket list.
But here in Dubai, the motto is very much “anything is possible”.
And although we’ve only done a small loop on said camel behind the Bedouin camp we’re visiting, my son Raffy, three, is ecstatic and now – slightly problematically – wants a camel for Christmas.
We’ve joined a desert safari that started with a ride in an open-top vintage Land Rover through the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, spying gazelles and white-as-snow Arabian oryx along the way.
Raffy and sister Poppy, five, make the most of a stop-off to race each other up the reddish sand dunes, before ditching the traditional headscarves we’ve been given and sausage-rolling back down as the sun sets behind us.
Next, a falcon show captivates and the kids beam as they get to pose with the bird.
Falcons, by the way, do not get a shoddy deal in the UAE, they get an Emirati passport and can fly business class with their owner!
Our guide Abdul is full of fascinating facts like this, so we’re getting our culture fix, too.
The evening feast at the camp is exactly that and includes Arabic spiced lamb ouzi, which has been cooking in an underground pot for six hours, and harees, which is a little like chicken porridge but far tastier than that sounds.
Plus, there’s lentil soup, delicious salads and the chance to taste camel milk (slightly salty) and camel stew (not dissimilar to beef).
Dessert is fresh fruit and traditional doughnuts washed down with karak chai.
But first, the kids get henna tattoos – flowers for Poppy, a spider for Raffy – and try traditional drumming, before we all lie on rugs to stargaze, spotting planets Saturn and Jupiter and learning that the North Star isn’t the brightest star, after all.
Desert safaris cost from £148 per adult, £127 for kids aged 5-11 (Uae.platinum-heritage.com).
Keep Palm and Carry On
If I’m honest, along with riding a half-famous camel, Dubai hasn’t been on my bucket list either.
But I can’t help feeling a buzz looking out at the twinkling night skyline, studded with skyscrapers, from our home for this trip – Rixos The Palm Dubai Hotel & Suites, an impressive all-inclusive.
Our recently refurbed premium sea-view room has a chic neutral decor and is plenty big enough for four, with a huge bathtub, rain shower and L’Occitane toiletries.
Fresh fish, such as sea bream, alongside prawns, kebabs and steak, are chargrilled to order come lunch, while the dinner buffet even offers sushi.
Parent brand Rixos is Turkish, so we get our fill of incredible baklava too – including with our drip coffees at Patisserie Istanbul.
Watching a waiter caramelising a whole pineapple with a blowtorch for dessert in steak restaurant Toro Loco thrills the kids.
Dining under an olive tree at Italian L’Olivo also proves a crowd-pleaser with perfect-dough pizzas for the children and delicate beef carpaccio with truffle cream for us as the standouts.
Meanwhile, Bodrum, the final à la carte restaurant, offers seafood beachside and front-row seats for gigs.
We spend lazy days hopping between the four pools at our hotel, which include a splash park with slides for the little ones, and the private beach.
Coolboxes filled with water are delivered to the loungers for each family group and tropical fruit is chopped to order, too.
Oh, and it’s all premium spirits on offer here.
Rev up the fun
One of Dubai’s biggest draws is, of course, the sun, and with rain being incredibly rare, we really don’t need to head inside.
However, children’s museum OliOli sparks plenty of joy.
The kids clamber into Toshiko MacAdam’s gigantic hand-crocheted, multicoloured nets, before scanning their spaceship drawings on to an interactive wall, where they can be used to blast dinosaurs.
There are ball runs galore to test out and a chance to design Lego cars to race down huge ramps.
Three hours here fly by in a riot of giggles.
Entry costs £29.80 per child, with adults going free (Olioli.ae).
The kids also rate Aya, tucked away in one of Dubai’s many shopping malls and billed as a trip to a another universe.
With 12 different zones of stunning lighting and sound effects, it’s a full-on sensory experience.
And yes, there’s a ball pit.
Entry costs £29 per person, and under-threes go free (Aya-universe.com).
Of course, there’s little reason to dine out when you’re all-inclusive, but neighbourhood eatery 21grams serves up excellent Balkan sharing plates with views of the Burj Al Arab.
We sip cherry-clove juice, £5.50, and dip fluffy bread into crispy onion topped red pepper relish and burnt eggplant houmous.
Burrata salad with pumpkin, plum and walnuts, £15.50, and beef dumplings with garlic yoghurt, £12.50, are also divine.
The kids devour ricotta gnocchi with cherry tomato salsa, £13.50, but we’re defeated by the pastry pie stuffed with goat’s cheese, honey and thyme, £12.50 – although it makes for a fab airport snack the next day (21grams.me).
Raffy’s Hot Wheels garage comes to life again on the drive to catch our plane home – we’ve lost count of the number of snazzy Lamborghinis and Ferraris we’ve spotted.
As another Lamborghini roars past, he asks hopefully if we can get a real one.
Perhaps Santa will be able to source that camel, after all. .
BTW
Family rooms at Rixos The Palm cost from £405 a night on an all-inclusive basis (Rixos.com).
Plan your trip at Visitdubai.com.
Flights from the UK to Dubai cost from £519 return.