Days 1 and 2 - Arrival
Day 3 - Dubai
Day 4 - Dubai to Doha
Day 5 - Doha
Day 6 - Doha
Day 7 - Departure
Dubai and Doha
Massively confusing the cab driver, a nice ride across Dubai Creek via water taxi, then exploring the spice souk, gold souk, and a few other areas of old Dubai before heading back to Dubai Mall and then visiting the Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building at 828 meters/2,717 feet.
Old Dubai is a bit of a contrast, as Dubai before the modern era was essentially a little fishing village. The history that's there is relatively small and not terribly impressive compared to many other places, even if Dubai does date back almost a thousand years. The spice souk had a single "street" of herb markets while other shops populated 95% of the souk, while the Dubai City of Gold, while more impressive, was really only a single street-and-a-half of shops. The water taxi network across Dubai Creek, while still modestly useful, is definitely a legacy to older times in comparison to the modern and surprisingly crowded Dubai Metro trains with their massive, beautifully designed stations.
Dubai Mall is one of the largest malls in the world, with multiple hotels connected, a massive fountain (not as impressive as Bellagio in Vegas), its own metro stop (which is a very long, yet enclosed and air conditioned walk), and of course, is connected directly to the Burj Khalifa. Tons of shops, indoor waterfall, plenty of chains (Texas Roadhouse? CPK? plus the mid-end and high-end clothing and shops...)
The observation deck for tourists, At The Top, isn't anywhere close to the top. It's just a little more than halfway up, at 452m/1,483 feet, but don't take that as a complaint. At almost 1,500 feet in the air, you still tower (pardon the pun) over every other surrounding building in the area, including multiple skyscrapers that eclipse 1,000 feet in height. It's utterly insane just how tall the Burj Khalifa is compared to a normal building or even a typical skyscraper in most of the world, and despite Dubai's obsession with tall skyscrapers, it dwarfs every single other skyscraper in Dubai as well.
You look down, see a "normal" sized building, then realize that "normal" building is 800 feet high, which would make it a very, very tall building in almost any other city in the world (aside from Hong Kong or New York). Look down in a different spot, see a slightly-taller-than-normal building, then realize this next building is the tallest hotel in the world at 1,152 feet and it looks short. It's mind-bending just how crazy tall the Burj Khalifa is.