Abu Dhabi GP -Advice for attending

[rasonline]

Hi guys

So finally going for an F1 Event.
Have been to Indycar, NASCAR, Monster trucks, NHRA at Moroso, other Drag events, drift, etc etc... but never to an F1.

So i'm going on Nov 10 for the race weekend Nov 13/14.
Staying in Dubai, then driving to Abu Dhabi for the quali and race.

Any advice on fun stuff to do in Dubai and Abu Dhabi?
- Track experiences
- Go karting
- Ferrari Autodrome
- what GTR shopping to do there?
- other non motoring stuff
- ?

Would like to hear from everybody, but especially ppl who have been in and around Dubai and/or Abu Dhabi.

Thanks chaps.

[rasonline]

damn.. where's all the dubai users on here???

[JapFreak786]

what are you wanting to do there? just fun stuff? to be honest just going around the large malls will take a while,you should go the emirates mall and dubai mall to see the indoor aquariums,the huge glass wall is awesome and you can see the sealife with ease...

i haven't been in 18 month's now,so things will have changed,the tram system is now up and running apparently and it's still stupid hot there,my uncle came and suprised us yesterday,he's been living there for 4 years now..

car spotting,the emeriates mall is the place to be,always laods of supercars there,first place i saw a GTR in the flesh up close was there,also tonnes of showrooms on the main rd called sheikh zaid or something? can't remember sorry,it's on the main road where the emeriates mall is

some nice places to eat in sharjah,uncle and parents told me of a place can't remember name though sorry,the main dealer showrooms are huge,the merc one is like 4 showrooms together with various models from brabus,amg etc etc,its near the airport

check out yas marina,there's also a few tuning shops around the main road,i went to one that had 2 R34 GTR's,a handful of R32 GTR's and an R33 GTR,yoru going in the best time as its the coolest then so loads of sports car around hopefully,if you ask you might be able to find out where they have their little gatherings that i heard about

Alan be your best bet to be honest as he is more up to date iwth the goings on in dubai,maybe pm him?

[rasonline]

COOL.. thanks for that info.
Exactly the kind of stuff i'm looking for
Not really into shopping.. couldn't care less about buying clothes, watches, jewellery etc. in Dubai as opposed to buying them anywhere else in the world.

Yeah looking at seeing all things motoring, so will do the YasMarina bit.
I'm going to check out the Ferrari autodrome too.
Do they have any types of boat rides, or sight seeing cruises..? I hear there's desert or sand dune racing or something like that, and that you can actually go for a joy-ride in the LandCruisers.

So yeah, looking to do some things that are specific to Dubai / AbuDhabi like dune-surfing mayb. I rmember seeing some email a while back showing an indoor skiing facility in dubai.

Is it worth checking out the palm islands?

Will pm alan. Is that his username? Just "alan"?

Thanks again.

[max_R34]

How many days are you willing to spend here?

The F1 event is a full day one

Nov temps will be in the 20s

[rasonline]

Originally Posted by rasonline

So i'm going on Nov 10 for the race weekend Nov 13/14.
Staying in Dubai, then driving to Abu Dhabi for the quali and race.

arrive there Nov 11 in Dubai.
Have access to a car.
Fly out on Nov 15 from Dubai.
Bought race tickets for Saturday and Sunday.

[max_R34]

Flight timing and which area will you be staying in?

You have one full day, in which you can do the desert safari, which is a half day event which includes dune bashing and dinner

Morning is karting time at the Dubai autodrome

If I am available and free I may take you for a friendly spin around dubai

[max_R34]

For the other 2 days you can visit the malls and the ski slope in the mall of the emirates

[JapFreak786]

yes his user name is "Alan"
desert safari is on my list of things to do next time i go,the palm islands etc,from what i've been to,isn't much you can see really,i think its the palm islands i went to,with that huge 7 star hotel that has awesome views...
the roads where the houses are,you can't get into unless you live there/visiting someone,though i've been down a few roads and they're huge and beautiful to look at,and on some i saw the back garden which was the sea! amazing if you ask me

yep the ski slope in the emeriates mall,try check out a cinema,they're huge in comparision to the UK sites we have,regarding shopping,i found it more expensive out there actually compared to here on most things...

[GarethK]

I went to this last year and the whole event was brilliant, but some of it did depend on the tickets you got. We also stayed in Dubai and drove to AD each day. The road is the most boring road I've ever been on, and your hire car will beep constantly if you go 1km over the speed limit!

We got 4 day tickets which included entry into a concert every night after the track action, Pink on Thurs, Jamiroquai on Fri, Kings of Leon on Sat and Aerosmith on the Sunday, so we didn't exactly need to find much to do for the whole weekend! There was always some sort of entertainment going on outside the grandstands, food was good and reasonably priced, bottled water free all weekend. I would have gone back this year but am already away.
Ferrari Autodrome wasn't open last year but I would definitely go there. As others have said I didn't really see the point in shopping, it was more expensive than here. The ski slope is a bit daft if you've ever been real skiing but worth going to look at I suppose.
We had a drive out to the palm and went into the atlantis hotel which you can spend a couple of hours in, and had dinner in the grounds of the Jumeira beach hotel which was pretty impressive, once you're in you can get free lifts around the grounds in golf buggies. Never went on desert safari but would try to do it if I went again. Send me a PM if I can help, you'll love it, cheers!

[konvert]

dont have sex on a sun lounger!

[rasonline]

ok so i've arrived in Dubai on thursday and spent the day checking the place out. Tomorrow off to Ferrari world and Sat / Sunday to be spent at the season finale to 2010 F1.. the year that is being described as one of the best F1 championships...

man... i am super-excited!!!

thanks to everybody for the advice and offers.
unfortunately haven't been able to take anybdoy up on the offers to meet up as the time has been so limited
However, max_r34 i will be in abudhabi all of Friday so if you'd like to meet at some stage.. sent you pm.

Cant wait for the racing

[max_R34]

Hey rasonline,

I didn't get a PM man

Anyways I hope you are enjoying your stay

[V1-Rotate]

Yo!!!!

Just sent you an e mail man. What a pleasant surprise, I'm in Dubai too at the moment. So give me a call and lets meet up!!!