The ultimate 14 day Dubai and Maldives itinerary 

Quite often people ask us why we chose to visit Dubai and the Maldives at the same time. We are asked if combining these two destinations somehow cuts down the cost. People want to know how we broke down our 14 day Dubai and Maldives itinerary. Well, let me tell you this! Dubai is a LONG flight from Toronto. When we travel, it takes us 3.5 hours to get to the airport from where we live. This means that when we go somewhere, we want to make the most of our trip. 

Each of us always have 10 destinations on our bucket list. These destinations keep changing once we have visited a country. One of my bucket list countries was French Polynesia. Although Maldives was not on my list, I knew that visiting Maldives would be the closest experience I could get to visiting French Polynesia. Keeping the prices of staying in Bora Bora, I know this is a long-term bucket list country. This is when we started thinking of visiting the Maldives instead. Maldives is a short 4.5-hour flight from Dubai, and this was working out well with the amount of vacation time we had.

Today, I am going to share our 14 day Dubai and Maldives itinerary. This itinerary was catered to make sure our kids had some place fun to visit every day. Traveling with kids means ensuring that they get to do some activities they enjoy. So let’s jump right into it!

How we split our stay

After cutting down our travel to and from Toronto, we were left with 13 days in Dubai and Maldives. This was a good amount of time for us to be away from home and still see as much as we could.

Our 14 day Dubai and Maldives itinerary was broken down this way:

• Day 1 – 5: Dubai
• Day 6 – 11: Maldives
• Day 12 – 13: Dubai 
• Day 14: Flew back to Toronto 

Day 1-5: Dubai

The first five days in Dubai were all about reliving my own childhood and going to all those places I went as a child. There were a few places I specifically remember visiting when I was a kid and I really wanted my kids to experience it too.

1. Al Karama

This area is home to so many delicious Indian restaurants. Some of which we grew up eating in India. A lot of the restaurants from India now have franchises in Dubai and it was a great way to bring back those fond memories of my childhood.

2. Dubai Mall

The Mall is HUGE. It has an indoor aquarium and although you need to pay an entrance fee, a big viewing window from the mall, allows you to see some beautiful sea creatures. The mall is also connected to the Dubai Fountains. We did not visit the Fountains at this time because we had booked an Airbnb with views of the Fountains during our second stop in Dubai. 

3. Mall of Emirates

This is another huge mall (like all malls in Dubai are!). The architecture is so beautiful, and it felt like I stepped in another world. We are not big shoppers, and we went to this mall to take the kids to Magic Planet. This is an indoor play area that I had grown up in. This play area brought back a LOT of childhood memories for me. 

4. Aquaventure Waterpark

The Aquaventure Waterpark was the reason we went to Dubai. This waterpark is located in the Atlantis and The Lost Chambers is here as well. From the past 2 years, Myrra had been asking us to take her to Dubai to go to the world’s biggest waterpark. We spend a whole day here and the time was nearly not enough. We stayed with the kids in the kids zone (which is huge to begin with) and we had no time to go to any of the bigger slides. But, that was okay! This day was for them anyway. 

5. Dubai Desert Safari

No trip to Dubai is complete without a visit to a desert safari and one those beautiful Bedouin camps. There were some fun days in Dubai, but this was definitely my favourite. We started our afternoon by visiting a Camel farm and dune bashing. We had a chance to stop in the middle of the desert for some photos and to try sand boarding! After a lovely couple of hours in the desert, we made our way to of the Bedouin camps where we were greeted by camels.

The camel rides were great and we got to take some beautiful photos on the camel with the sun setting behind us. The evening at the camp was filled with lots of food, fire show, a local dance show and so much more! This was truly an evening we wont forget!

6. A day in Abu Dhabi

We decided to visit Abu Dhabi to see the Grand Mosque. Sadly, we needed a negative PCR test in the past 14 days to enter. Because the country did not require a PCR test for fully vaccinated travellers, we did not have this. While we could not visit the Mosque, we were able to cross on the other side of the road and get even better views from a spot called Wahat Al Karama. If you plan to visit the Grand Mosque, check their requirements because they are usually different from those in Dubai. We also drove around Yas Island while the girls napped and stopped for lunch at an Indo-Chinese restaurant called Hotplate.

TIP: Abu Dhabi is extremely strict with their rules. When we returned to Canada, Rohan got 2 driving tickets with a total amount of $640 CAD because of being 20 over the speed limit in Abu Dhabi. Make sure you are very cautious when driving there. 

That summed up our first 5 days in Dubai! Now onto the most exciting part of our trip – MALDIVES! I hope you are enjoying reading our 14 days in Dubai and Maldives itinerary.

Day 6 – 11: Maldives

Maldives was paradise. We got off at the airport and were received by the seaplane company who then took us by bus to their seaplane dock. We were soon on our way to Dusit Thani! 

The welcome at Dusit Thani was beautiful and our butler showed us the grounds and took us to our rooms. Our bags were already at our room before we arrived.

We divided our stay by staying 3 nights in the Deluxe beach villa with a pool and 2 nights in an overwater villa with a pool. To read more on the difference between these two room and which one we preferred, Click Here.

To read more about how we booked our vacation to the Maldives or how we managed to get our package within a decent price range, click here.

Dusit Thani was beautiful, and the service was beyond anything we have received in the past. The staff working there are so happy to be there. They are treated well by management and their smiles and faces are evidence of it. Dusit Thani has one of the largest infinity pools in the Maldives. Their food is exceptional, and their kids club is fantastic. There was never a minute when we were bored or felt like we did not have something to do. 

Planning a trip to Maldives with Kids was honestly, one of our best decisions. Contrary to the belief that the Maldives is an ideal destination for honeymooners, I felt, it was even more fun with the kids. The resort was very kids friendly and there was special kids menus in every restaurant. 

Day 12 – 13: Dubai

We had another two days in Dubai, and we spend this staying closer to the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Fountains. Our Airbnb had an amazing view of the Fountains, and we caught every single show either from our balcony or from the Fountain galleries. This area was so lively and filled with fun.

The last two days, the heat was well over 42 Degrees, and we took it slow. We did some shopping to bring back home and spend our evenings near the fountains. 

If you are looking for food items to bring back home, check out Puranmal Sweets. Our family loves their sweets and we got dry fruit chunks for everyone back home. 

Day 14 – Flew back to Toronto

Final thoughts on our 14 day Dubai and Maldives itinerary

I hope you enjoyed reading our 14 day Dubai and Maldives itinerary. This trip was those once-in-a-lifetime trips for our family. We had a blast in both these destinations. People often ask if Maldives is worth the hype and the money. I say that it is if you stay in the right resort and pick the right room. 

This trip is one that we will forever remember. There was so much more we wanted to do in Dubai and hopefully we will be able to when we return. But, for now, I am satisfied with what we did and saw there.