Dubai
Dubai is the stopover where six hours covers the mall and the tallest building in the world, and nothing about arriving is hard. A ski slope inside a mall, skydiving over the Palm, and the creek the city grew from.
Dubai in a nutshell
Dubai: what to expect
Dubai is the largest city of the United Arab Emirates and the capital of the emirate of Dubai, one of seven emirates in a federation formed in 1971. It is not the national capital, which is Abu Dhabi, roughly 130 km down the coast.
The modern city is about five decades old. Before oil it was a pearling and fishing port on a tidal creek, and the skyline, the islands and the malls are all post-1990.
Dubai is very large and very spread out. Districts sit tens of kilometres apart, it is built for cars, and you do not walk from one to the next. Group each day by area or you will spend it in traffic.
Who Dubai is for
Families
waterparks, an indoor ski slope, an aquarium and a rollercoaster inside a mall, beaches with lifeguards, and air conditioning in all of it.
First-timers to the Gulf
the headline sights sit close together, English works everywhere, and nothing about arriving is hard.
Stopover travellers
six or seven hours is enough for the mall and the tower; one night makes it a trip. Our own data says this is what most people actually do
Luxury travellers
the whole accommodation and dining ladder is built for them, and the top of it is genuinely world-class.
Watersports travellers
kitesurfing and paddleboarding at Kite Beach, calm Gulf water, and a long public beach strip.
Adrenaline travellers
skydiving over the Palm, the world's longest urban zipline, the deepest indoor dive pool, dune bashing.
Architecture travellers
the Burj Khalifa, the Museum of the Future, the Frame and the Palm in one skyline.
Art travellers
Alserkal Avenue, Art Dubai, and a sanctioned street-art layer across the city.
The best time to visit Dubai
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Things to do in Dubai
The Burj Khalifa
Go up the tallest building in the world, 828 metres, to the decks on levels 124 and 125, or the higher one on 148, on a timed slot booked online, from about €40. Sunset is the expensive slot and the right one.
The Dubai Fountain
Watch the free show on the lake at the foot of the tower every half hour through the evening, the best free thing in the city. The bridge to Souk Al Bahar is the spot.
The Dubai Mall
Walk the mall as a sight rather than a shop: the aquarium window you can look at for nothing, the ice rink, the indoor waterfall and the dinosaur skeleton. Weekday mornings, before the crowds.
A desert safari
Take the evening trip forty-five minutes out for the dune bashing with deflated tyres, the camel ride, sandboarding and a Bedouin-style camp with a barbecue, about €60. The overnight version adds the stars and the sunrise.
Old Dubai in one morning
Walk the Al Fahidi wind-tower quarter, cross the Creek on the abra for one dirham and walk the gold and spice souks in Deira. Go early, before the crowds and the heat.
The Dubai Frame
Go up the 150-metre picture frame in Zabeel Park with its glass floor, old Dubai on one side and new on the other, about €12. Cheaper, quicker and less crowded than the tower, and arguably the better view.
The neighbourhoods of Dubai
Deira
budget
The old commercial north bank of the Creek, largely South Asian, with the gold and spice souks and the cheapest decent beds.
The souks, the Creek and the best cheap eating, and the closest area to the airport.
Jumeirah
families
A long low-rise residential coast strip with public beaches, J1 Beach and the Jumeirah Mosque.
Beach days without the tower-block density, and the one mosque open to non-Muslims.
Palm Jumeirah
luxury
The palm-shaped artificial island, resorts along the fronds, Atlantis at the crescent.
A resort stay with a sea view, Aquaventure, and the one address everyone recognises.
Downtown Dubai
first-timers
The icon cluster: Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, the fountain and Dubai Opera, wrapped in high-rise and eight-lane road.
Walk to the headline sights, and the fountain show is free and on your doorstep every half hour.
Dubai Marina and JBR
families
Towers around a man-made canal, a yacht harbour, and a 3 km beach promenade that is the most walkable stretch in the city.
Beach, restaurants and nightlife without a taxi, on both the metro and the tram.
Bur Dubai and Al Fahidi
history-buffs
The old south bank: restored wind-tower houses, the textile souk, courtyard tea houses and a dense Indian food scene.
The city before the towers, and the one-dirham abra across the Creek.
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Where to stay in Dubai
There is no single right base. The city is too spread out for one, and all three English publishers independently give the same advice: pick the area by what you actually want to do, or split the stay in two.
Deira
budget
The old commercial north bank of the Creek, largely South Asian, with the gold and spice souks and the cheapest decent beds.
Jumeirah
mid
A long low-rise residential coast strip with public beaches, J1 Beach and the Jumeirah Mosque.
Palm Jumeirah
luxury
The palm-shaped artificial island, resorts along the fronds, Atlantis at the crescent.
Downtown Dubai
luxury
The icon cluster: Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, the fountain and Dubai Opera, wrapped in high-rise and eight-lane road.
Dubai Marina and JBR
mid
Towers around a man-made canal, a yacht harbour, and a 3 km beach promenade that is the most walkable stretch in the city.
Bur Dubai and Al Fahidi
budget
The old south bank: restored wind-tower houses, the textile souk, courtyard tea houses and a dense Indian food scene.
What to eat in Dubai
Spiced rice with meat, the Emirati everyday dish
Fried dough balls in date syrup, the standard dessert
Yemeni slow-cooked spiced rice and meat, the closest thing to traditional Gulf eating
Sweet spiced milk tea, the everyday local drink
Emirati saffron pancake, breakfast
The cheap street standard
The expatriate kitchen that defines eating here
Budget seafood done the local way
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Dubai customs and what not to do
Cover shoulders and knees
malls, restaurants and government buildings expect it of men and women alike. Swimwear is for the beach and the pool, and covering up on the way out is the rule everyone agrees on. Enforcement is stricter during Ramadan.
No headscarf except in a mosque
where one is normally lent to you.
Public affection is an offence
kissing in public is an offence, and hand-holding between spouses is the practical limit.
Alcohol: licensed venues only
hotel bars, clubs and licensed restaurants, never in public or on the street. Being drunk in public is an offence in its own right, and it is what British nationals are most often charged. The drinking age is 21.
Drugs: traces count as well
the authorities count drugs in the bloodstream as possession, the minimum is three months in prison or a fine from AED 20,000, and trafficking can carry the death penalty. CBD is illegal, including in skincare and vape refills.
Swearing is an offence online
the 2021 cybercrime law sets fines from AED 250,000 for insulting someone over an information network, higher if the target is an official. Criticising the country, its government or a company carries the same risk.
Ask before you photograph
the same law criminalises photographing third parties in public or private with imprisonment from six months and fines from AED 150,000. Men have been arrested for photographing women on beaches. Government buildings, military sites, airports and aircraft are off limits.
Same-sex activity is illegal
same-sex marriage is not recognised; cross-dressing is also an offence. This is the plainest reason the city does not suit everyone.
Haggle in souks, not in malls
opening prices in the souks run three to four times what you should pay, and the malls are fixed-price.
Do
- Ask before photographing anyone, and put the camera away near anything official.
- Carry a thin scarf or wrap that can cover shoulders or knees at short notice.
- Drink where the licence is, which means inside the hotel, the club or the licensed restaurant.
- Declare controlled medication in advance and carry the approval with you.
Don't
- Do not eat, drink or smoke in public in daylight during Ramadan, including in your car.
- Do not post anything insulting about a person, a company or the country, even privately.
- Do not assume a rule you read in a 2019 guide still holds; several changed in 2020 and 2023.
- Do not bring poppy seeds, betel leaves, CBD products or a drone into the country.
What a Dubai trip costs
Shoestring
€65 to €80
Hostel dorm, metro and abra, mall food courts and Bur Dubai curry houses, free beaches and the fountain
Mid-range
€130 to €190
Three or four-star room, taxis when it is hot, one paid attraction a day, restaurant dinners outside hotels
Comfort
€400+
Beach resort or Downtown view room, hotel dining, a private desert experience, brunch with drinks
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Fun facts about Dubai
The Burj Khalifa is 828 m over 163 floors and has been the tallest building in the world since it opened on 4 January 2010. Its shape is modelled on the Hymenocallis desert flower.
Palm Jumeirah was built between 2001 and 2006 out of dredged sand and rock, with no steel or concrete in the island itself, and it added roughly 40 km to Dubai's coastline.
Around nine residents in ten are not Emirati, drawn from more than 200 nationalities, and naturalisation is normally possible only after twenty years.
About 40% of the world's physical gold trade passes through Dubai, and the city has gold-dispensing ATMs.
Camel racing here is run with remote-controlled robot jockeys, which replaced the trafficked child jockeys the sport used to rely on.
Before oil, Dubai lived on pearl diving, and the Shindagha and Diving Village quarters preserve that history within walking distance of the Creek.
Local tips for Dubai
Buy a NOL card first
Every metro, tram and bus journey needs one, from any station, about €6 with a few rides loaded. The Red Line serves the airport, Downtown and the Marina, roughly five in the morning to midnight.
Taxis over ride-hailing
Official taxis are beige with a coloured roof, cheap per kilometre and everywhere; the cost is the distances, not the meter. Uber has quoted five times the metered fare; Hala through Careem is the app.
The abra is the best value
A wooden boat across the Creek for about €0.25, running all day, and it is transport and sightseeing at once. A pink roof on a taxi means a woman driver, for women and families only.
How long to stay
Most people give Dubai 2 nights on Stippl: the Creek and the souks one day, Downtown and the Burj Khalifa booked for sunset the next. Abu Dhabi is a two-hour bus; there is no train.
The law is the risk
Violent crime is rare; what catches foreigners is behaviour that is not an offence at home. A debt, a hotel bill included, is criminal, and a travel ban can hold you until it is settled.
Heat and currents
June to September the daily maximum is above forty and August nights do not drop below thirty-one. Swim at patrolled beaches; the Gulf's currents catch confident swimmers. Cross at the footbridges: jaywalking is fined.
Dubai questions, answered
Three nights covers the headline sights and is what most of our travellers actually plan, A week lets you add beach days, a waterpark and a day trip. Sources split on whether five days is the sensible ceiling or the floor.
November to March, when days run 25 to 30°C and everything outdoor is open. October and April are the cheaper shoulder. May to September is above 38°C every day and outdoor sightseeing effectively stops.
Accommodation and attractions are, and the hotel bill adds roughly a fifth in taxes and charges. Transport, supermarket food and the expatriate restaurants are ordinary Western-European prices, and the best thing in the city, the fountain show, is free.
Crime is among the lowest of any major city. The real risks are legal rather than criminal, because several things that are legal at home are offences here, and the heat between June and September is a genuine physical danger. There is also an active regional conflict; see the safety section.
Yes, in licensed hotels, bars, clubs and restaurants, from age 21. Not in public, not on the street, and being visibly drunk in public is itself an offence.
Shoulders and knees covered in malls, restaurants and public buildings; swimwear at beaches, pools and waterparks. No headscarf is needed except inside a mosque, where one is lent to you.
EU, UK, US, Australian and Canadian passport holders get a free stamp on arrival valid 90 days in any 180, with a passport valid six months. Irish passport holders should check: at least two sources place Ireland in the 30-day group instead.
Yes, and it is what most people do: six or seven hours is enough for the mall and the tower, one night makes it a trip, and our own data shows Dubai opening or closing the trip for six travellers in ten.
Every source says yes and every source says book a sunset or evening slot, because daytime haze flattens the view. If the budget is tight, the Dubai Frame gives you the skyline with the tower in it for a quarter of the price.
The abra across Dubai Creek, one dirham, running all day between Bur Dubai and Deira. Three publishers name it independently as the best value in the city.
No, unless you are leaving the emirate. The metro plus taxis covers everything a visitor wants, and parking and traffic make a car a liability in the centre.
Yes. Jumeirah Mosque runs guided visits daily except Friday through a cultural centre, with clothing lent and questions encouraged.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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