Saskia van Dijk
Dubai's neighbourhoods, sights and slow mornings
Based in Al Fahidi, Dubai.
Saskia has lived in five cities and now maps walking routes through Dubai's creekside districts and old quarters. She favours an early abra crossing and the quiet hours in Al Fahidi over the mall circuit, and builds her guides around what a place feels like on foot.
Latest stories
Six Senses The Palm: What to Know About Dubai's Newest Beach Hotel Before You Book
Three recent openings in Dubai put you on real sand. The rest are city towers with pool decks, where a beach day means extra charges and, in some cases, reserving the pool.
Dubai in Winter 2026–27: Weather, Shopping Festival and Christmas Without the Cold
Dubai's 2026 festive season has fixed dates, free markets, real snow while it's 25°C outside, and New Year's Eve plans worth booking early.
Dubai's Museum of the Future Is Closed in November 2026
Every exhibition inside is being replaced. What is left for a November trip is the calligraphy façade, four days of Dubai Future Week and plenty of open alternatives across the city.
Lunch cruises under the Burj Al Arab sail in Dubai
Two operators run midday BBQ sailings along the Burj Al Arab coastline. Inside the hotel, every restaurant is shut for the restoration.
Standing on Dubai's Rooftop at the Burj Khalifa in October
What the Burj Khalifa observation deck gives you in October 2026: which height is worth paying for, which hour to book, and the free view from the lake if you would rather look at the tower than down from it.
How Dubai's Car Tours Handle Jumeirah Beach in October
A stop-by-stop read on the Jumeirah coast in October 2026: the free sand, the doors that turn groups away, what each stop actually costs, and why a driver beats the metro here.
Hatta and the Rock Pools Beyond Dubai's Skyline
Dubai's mountain territory is a two-hour drive away: a turquoise dam, fifty kilometres of singletrack, and famous rock pools that come with a border problem nobody mentions.
Lunch on the Water Around Dubai's Palm Jumeirah
What a lunch cruise around the Palm shows you, what it costs, where the boats leave from, and when lunch on the island beats lunch afloat.
Booking Dubai Around Untold Without the Guesswork
The festival has moved out to the Jebel Ali side of the city. Book your hotel and your transport around that, and think about how your nights will end.
Five Days in Dubai Without the Sheikh Zayed Road Crawl
A five-day plan that keeps each day to one walkable cluster, linked by the metro and a one-dirham boat, so you see the city instead of driving across it.
Dubai Steps Back Outdoors in October
This is the month the sea cools, the seasonal parks open their gates and the city can be walked again, with a five-day shape built around October's weather instead of ignoring it.
Crossing Dubai by Metro, Abra and Metered Taxi
Six transport systems, one nol card and about AED 60 a day: how to get around Dubai properly without ever renting a car.
How to Plan a September Dubai Trip Around the Heat
September in Dubai rewards anyone willing to build the day backwards: cold rooms through the afternoon, the old city at nine, the desert only after dark.
A Night Drive Down Dubai's Supercar Boulevards
Sheikh Zayed Road at 60kph, the Marina loop seen from above, and a 2am plate of food that costs less than the valet tip: how to spend one night inside Dubai's obsession with speed and light.
Dubai's Desert Comes Alive After the Sun Drops
When the heat breaks after sunset, Dubai's dunes shift from daytime spectacle to something closer to the real desert, and nine venues, from vintage Land Rover convoys to dark-sky stargazing, are worth planning an evening around.
In Dubai's Old Souks, the Trade Still Sets the Price
A walking route through Old Dubai's spice, gold, textile and perfume souks — the trading families still running them, and the new-age souk built to carry the same trade forward.
The Warehouse of Ideas: Alserkal Avenue and the Dubai That Doesn't Shout
Down an industrial road in Al Quoz, a cluster of converted warehouses has quietly become Dubai's cultural centre — here is how to spend a day among its galleries, its cinema and its cooks.
One Dirham Across the Water: The Dubai Creek the Skyscrapers Never Reached
Skip the towers for an afternoon and cross the Dubai Creek by wooden abra — a one-dirham fare into the souks, spice lanes and courtyard cafés where the city actually began.
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