Dubai, UAE

Dubai is a purpose-built modern city on the Gulf coast, and one of the most-visited destinations for Bangladeshi travellers — for tourism, shopping, family visits and transit. English is universal, it is a Muslim-majority country with mosques and prayer rooms everywhere, and flight connections are frequent.

Downtown Dubai is the showpiece: the Burj Khalifa (with observation decks near the top), the Dubai Fountain show on the lake below, and the enormous Dubai Mall with its aquarium and indoor waterfall. The older heart of the city is on Dubai Creek — the Al Fahidi historic district, the textile and gold souks, and the abra (small wooden boats) that cross the water for a fraction of a dirham.

Along the coast, the Palm Jumeirah, the Atlantis resort, JBR beach and Dubai Marina form the beach-and-skyscraper zone. Newer attractions include the Museum of the Future, the Dubai Frame, Global Village (winter only), and the View at the Palm.

The desert is the other side of Dubai. Half-day and evening safaris include dune driving, camel rides, sandboarding and a dinner camp with music; quieter operators run wildlife drives in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve.

Food spans everything, but you are never far from familiar South Asian food — Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani restaurants are common, especially around Deira, Karama and Al Rigga, alongside Emirati, Lebanese and global options. Almost all food is halal.

November to March is the season — warm, dry and pleasant. April and October are hot but manageable. May to September is very hot (often above 40°C), though hotels drop their rates and everything indoors is heavily air-conditioned.

The Metro is clean, cheap and reaches the airport, Downtown, Marina and the malls; buy a Nol card. Taxis and ride-hailing fill the gaps. Many attractions are pre-book online for timed entry.