A Dubai Big Bus passing ultra luxurious Atlantis on the Palm hotel. Green is where the money is.
The futuristic city of Dubai is often hailed as the showcase of the Arabian Gulf. Dubai has many attractions including the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building and so big that it needs a huge waste disposal vehicle to periodically remove accumulated human waste, 13 tons daily, from its more than 160 floors. Dubai has other architectural and geological wonders, including its seven star ultra luxurious icon, the Burj al Arab Hotel, where each suite comes with a personal butler to cater to the guest’s every whim and desire. Now poor folks and eco-minded ones too, can visit these extravagant wonders by bus.
A Dubai night tour view of Burj al Arab luxury hotel
Dubai has grown so big that it now has a special bus service the Big Bus Tours, that began in London in 1991 by the Maybury family and began its operation in Dubai in 2002. In Dubai alone, the company has a fleet of 46 double decker open top tour buses that more closely resemble those iconic open top red buses in cities like London England and Barcelona Spain where this writer recently did some eco touring.
All electric Superbus: only interurban now
The tour buses featured on the Big Bus Tours website, they are not at all like a new transportation innovation that is due to begin operation in the UAE , the super luxurious, all electric Superbus.
Resembling a futuristic stretch-limo and driven by a hot blond (at least in the promo) the Superbus will take up to 23 passengers on a luxurious fast-track route between Dubai and neighboring Abu Dhabi at speeds up to 240 km her hour.
In fact, this new vehicle that was innovated and built in the Netherlands was recently test driven at Abu Dhabi’s new carbon neutral residential and commercial habitation project Masdar City. When in full operation, it will whisk passengers to and from the two modern mega cites in only half an hour.
World’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, another tour icon site
But now, back to the Big Bus Tours and their double-decker tour buses, on which visitors can see all of Dubai’s attractions; including the Jumeirah Mosque, the Gold Souk, and the even more luxurious Atlantis on the Palm hotel, where suites costs as much as $25,000 a night.
Fares for the Big Bus tours are $60 for adults, $27 for children and $147 for a family ticket (a family of 4 , I assume) for a 24 hour “hop on – hop off” ticket that also includes admission prices to some of the tour sites including an Arabian Dhow Cruise on Dubai Creek, entry to the Dubai Museum, and entry to Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum’s House, said to be very special and unique.
From a green standpoint, these Dubai tour buses burn diesel oil and are not good for touring during the daytime in Dubai’s scorching hot summers, where only in the evening or at night can people sit on the upper deck; although part of the upper deck is enclosed and air conditioned.
The night tours are special in their own right; due to the special lighting of Dubai’s many futuristic buildings and special fountains, which themselves are more like sound and light shows.
At present, there are no electric buses in Dubai’s Big Bus fleet; but perhaps that idea is on the drawing board. In the meantime, tourists who visit both Dubai and Abu Dhabi will have the option of taking the all electric Superbus between cities – if they can afford the fare.
Read more on Dubai’s attractions and on the all electric Superbus:
Oversize load: Poop from Burj Khalifa, the World’s Tallest Building
Will be travelling to Dubai March 30th,2013 and will be taking the Big Bus Night tour. From the airport where will we get this bus? Will look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Thank you kindly,
Louise Shaw.