Adventure-seeking travellers in Dubai can tick off the world’s best bucket list experience according to Tripadvisor.
A six-hour desert experience in Dubai’s Lahbab dunes ranks first in a curated list on the travel platform – the 2023 Travellers' Choice Best of the Best Bucket List Experiences.
Combining several desert pursuits in one, the dune-bashing tour is billed as the best way for travellers to explore Dubai’s desert surrounds. It includes a 60-minute quad bike ride over the red dunes in Lahbab, plus camel rides, sandboarding, stargazing and a traditional Arabian barbecue.
Operated by OceanAir Travels, a Dubai-based travel company, the experience costs around Dh400 per person. It's the second year that the experience has been ranked as Tripadvisor's best bucket list experience in the world.
As well as adrenalin-inducing dune bashing and traversing the desert on camelback – the same way that Bedouin tribes used to – there’s also a trip to Al Khayma Desert Camp, in the Hunaywah region of Dubai, where guests can see live shows including Khaleeji dancing, try Henna painting and don traditional Emirati attire.
The annual Tripadvisor rankings come after the travel company analysed 12 months of review data from millions of travellers around the globe.
The Dubai tour ranked ahead of several phenomenal sounding bucket list experiences on Tripadvisor’s best of the best list.
Hiking the Inca Trail to Peru’s Machu Picchu, whale-watching in Alaska, traversing Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way and an off-roading experience in Aruba rounded out the top five.
And Dubai’s desert safari and dune-bashing experience also placed in Tripadvisor’s Top Overall Experiences in the world list for 2023. It ranks in fourth place behind a day tour in Bali, a Thai-cooking experience in Chiang Mai and an exploration of Hawaii’s Oahu island.
According to the latest research from Tripadvisor, 28 per cent of global travellers are motivated by the opportunity to experience something new when travelling.
“Experiences turn travellers into adventurers, connecting them with the local community and giving them unforgettable stories for years to come, said Kate Urquhart, general manager for experiences at Tripadvisor. Experiences on the platform are classified as bookable tours and activities.
Dubai Fountain and Yas Island parks rank in travellers' best of the best lists
Other attractions in the UAE also found a place on the travel website's 2023 best of the best lists.
The Dubai Fountain, which shoots water about 150m in the air, was a new addition to Tripadvisor's world's top attractions list, a category that was headed up by Barcelona's Basilica de la Sagrada Familia for the second year running.
In the ever-popular theme parks and water parks category, two UAE attractions listed in the top ten.
Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the first Ferrari-branded theme park in the world, was named the fourth best theme park in the world in the list which is topped by Siam Park in Tenerife.
Yas Waterworld – Abu Dhabi's Emirati-themed water park on Yas Island – also squeezed on to the top ten list, ranking in ninth position.
The Emirates also placed in Tripadvisors’ ranking of the world’s top cultural and historical tours.
A day tour from Dubai to Abu Dhabi that takes in the capital’s gleaming Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and the ornate Qasr Al Watan ranked seventh in the category, with first place going to a day tour that takes travellers around the rice terraces, waterfalls and forests of Bali’s Ubud.
Tripadvisor's top 10 bucket list experiences in the world in 2023
- Dune-bashing experience on Dubai's red dunes with sandsurfing, camel rides and stargazing, Dubai, UAE
- A four-day classic Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru
- Whale watching in the wild, Juneau, Alaska
- Exploring the Cliffs of Moher, Kilmacduagh Abbey, Wild Atlantic Way and Galway, Ireland
- The ultimate island jeep safari, Aruba
- A lofty balloon ride in Cappadocia, Turkey
- Boat-tripping and kayaking at Lan Ha and Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba, Vietnam
- Three-hours swimming with manatees in Crystal River, Florida, US
- Snorkelling between tectonic plates in Silfra, Reykjavik, Iceland
- Touring Arenal volcano and La Paz waterfall, San Jose, Costa Rica
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Rating: 3/5
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Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Mads Mikkelson, Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Jude Law
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Muzzamil Afridi, Rahman Gul, Rizwan Haider (Dezo Devils); Shahbaz Ahmed, Suneth Sampath (Glory Gladiators); Waqas Gohar, Jamshaid Butt, Shadab Ahamed (Ganga Fighters); Ali Abid, Ayaz Butt, Ghulam Farid, JD Mahesh Kumara (Hiranni Heros); Inam Faried, Mausif Khan, Ashok Kumar (Texas Titans
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Director: Jake Kasdan
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Nick Jonas
Two out of five stars
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
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Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
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Pietro Bartolo and Lidia Tilotta
Quercus
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
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1. Featherweight 66kg
Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg
Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
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Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
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Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg
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Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
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Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
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Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
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Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
Last-16
France 4
Griezmann (13' pen), Pavard (57'), Mbappe (64', 68')
Argentina 3
Di Maria (41'), Mercado (48'), Aguero (90 3')
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
Where to submit a sample
Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
