Dubai & Abu Dhabi: Essential Trip Planning

A trip to the United Arab Emirates can take on many different forms. Whether you’re looking to hit a few sites on a long layover in Dubai/Abu Dhabi or if the UAE is the focus of your travels, here are some tips to help get the most out of your Dubai & Abu Dhabi trip planning. You can view a recap of our trip to the UAE with some additional information and pictures here. Note – we combined our stay in the UAE with a trip to the Maldives which we’ll cover in a separate post.

Preparing For The UAE

Though Dubai and Abu Dhabi are very modern cities, there are certain things to prepare for when doing your trip planning:

• Everyone speaks English. There are varying degrees of accents, but we didn’t meet a single person that we couldn’t communicate with using English. You’ll see written text on signs and directions in Arabic but always in English as well.
• Dubai and Abu Dhabi are very safe! They claim to have 0 crime and we felt safer compared to most of our international travels where you’re constantly checking your pockets and making sure you don’t go into a bad section of town. Part of the reason for this is the strict laws in UAE around crime and drugs. You will get deported very easily and they are very strict on things like drug use and homelessness. The country prides itself on appearances and so along with being very safe it also is clean.
• It is common to see people in traditional Muslim dress. Primarily men wearing white and cream colored kandoras and women in varying styles of abayas – some with more coverage than others. Many areas (for example the Dubai Mall and Global Village) do have posted covering requests which usually state that both men and women should be covered over their shoulders and past their knees. We wanted to be respectful of the culture and primarily wore T-shirts and lightweight pants or Becca wore long casual dresses. We did see many people not observing these requests (short shorts and tank tops) and nobody seemed to stop them with the exception of the Presidents Palace and Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
• Related to the above bullet, it is a Muslim nation. Walking through the Dubai airport it was a bit of a culture shock as the call to prayer was being broadcasted and you see prayer rooms and special bathroom accommodations to meet the Muslim needs. For us, doing a walking tour with a local guide was a great way to learn about the culture and traditions of those in the country and also ask whatever questions you have. We even kept in contact with our guide during our trip asking additional questions that came up.
• Currency used is the AED Dirham. You’ll see this spelled out both as AED and DHS – they both mean the same thing. At the time of this post 1 US Dollar converted to 3.67AED. Also note that haggling on prices in common practice in places like the souk or any stores that don’t have prices clearly marked. The shop owners expect you to haggle with them and the “very good” price that they tell you up front is going to be very inflated. Go into the haggling with a price that you’re hoping to get to and see how close you can get – don’t be afraid to simply walk away.
• Dubai and Abu Dhabi have a very diverse population and this translates to the food offerings – you can really find anything that you want. With those from India making up the highest percent of the population in these cities, you do see a lot of Indian food choices along with many Arabic and Asian buffet offerings. The one thing that can be hit and miss is if alcohol is available. Hotels will have their own restaurants and bars where alcohol is readily available along with clubs and bars that you’ll see around. We did eat at several restaurants, though, that didn’t offer alcohol and you don’t see it for sale at spaces like the Global Village.
• We had a few days in Dubai during the start of Ramadan. We had concerns around how easily we would be able to find restaurants open during the day and if we would have to be extra careful around where we ate and drank, but this was not an issue at all. Bars and restaurants openly served food and drinks including on their patios and there was no impact to us. In fact, many places have specials during this time of the year and so we actually were able to save! We read many travel sites that warned against visiting during Ramadan but I think much has changed especially since Covid and the need for the city to continue to bring in tourists.

Getting Around

There are a few different transportation options in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (and between the cities) which will help with your trip planning, all which worked well for us:

• When visiting a new city, it’s always great to get as much walking in as you can to truly experience the location and see those off the beaten path sites that you may have otherwise missed. With Dubai and Abu Dhabi we certainly did our share of walking, though we will call out that it was at times a bit difficult. Dubai especially is huge and even though something may seem close it may take longer than you think to get there. Our Google navigation also lead us the wrong way and into areas that we couldn’t walk through. Lastly, the traffic lights around Dubai favor keeping the vehicles moving and we often found long waits attempting to walk across intersections.
• Taxis are everywhere in both cities. We often found that there would be some waiting outside of our hotel and around main attractions and so we never struggled to track one down. The best part with them is that they are regulated by the government and very reasonably priced. Most trips around the city (even some longer trips) were in the 30-60 AED ($8-$16) range. They do accept both cash and card and we never struggled to communicate where we wanted to go. Note that you will see some guys in private cars offering taxi rides – we accidently took one once and it turned out fine, just a bit higher in price compared to a normal taxi. Make sure when you get in that they have the taxi monitor/display setup on their dash.
• Uber is also available in the cities. We initially used this since for the comfort factor of using an app and having a trusted company to go through. Once we got more comfortable with using Taxis, though, we stuck to those since Uber was typically 25-50% more than the taxi fares. If you’d rather do it all on an app, though, Uber is there for you and we were able to quickly get a ride. We flew in through Dubai and there were Uber signs in the airport which made it easy to find the pick up zone.
• Dubai does have a metro/rail system available that primarily runs in a straight line from one end of the city to the other. It is cheap and easy to navigate. What we found, though, is that if you weren’t staying by a station or if where you were trying to get to wasn’t right by a station then for just a little more cost it was much more convenient to take a taxi.
• Scooter and bike rentals area available and they use many of the same companies that you’ll see in the US where you simply use an app. We did rent scooters to cruise around the Marina area one evening which was easy to do. Note, though, that there are certain areas that don’t allow them and they will shut off when you enter those sections – this happened to us and we were stuck manually pushing them a ways.
• If you’re traveling between Dubai and Abu Dhabi there is a bus service available which is cheap and efficient. We had originally planned to use this and were going to use the instructions we found here. After further consideration with our timing needs, though, we ended up just taking an Uber between cities. Taxi and Uber rides are more expensive but will save you a lot of hassle of navigating the bus system and will be much quicker. Uber will be around $100 each way depending on demand level with Taxis slightly cheaper than that. Note that you’re on a major highway system between the two cities and so it’s not like you’re taking a ride through the middle of the desert.

Where To Stay and Explore – Dubai

For our trip planning, we stayed in Dubai the whole time and took day trips to Abu Dhabi. Given the ease of traveling between cities, it was worth it to us to only stay in one city and not have to move luggage or change accommodations.

For Dubai, we chose to stay in the Downtown Dubai neighborhood. We found this area to be centrally located and gave us the iconic Burj Khalifia views. We enjoyed walking around this neighborhood and exploring the areas around the Burj Khalifia fountain and Dubai Mall. There are a ton of eating and shopping options available as well as nightlife venues. We stayed at the Taj Dubai where we especially enjoyed the restaurants and bars attached to it including the Treehouse rooftop patio for enjoying a drink at the end of the day while overlooking the city.

Outside of Downtown Dubai, here are other neighborhood options to consider:

• Dubai Marina – This area of the city offers a lot of nice hotel options along with the appeal of the river walk around the marina area full of shops and restaurants. This area is also known for its hot nightlife spots if that’s something you’re looking for.
• Jumeirah & Palm Jumeirah – These areas offer accommodations that focus on the beach and include the iconic Burj Al Arab. The Palm offers a lot of family focused waterfront hotels and resorts including the popular Atlantis The Palm resort.
• Bur Dubai – This neighborhood encompasses the older part of the city including the Al Fahidi Historic District and is where travelers may look to stay if you’re looking for budget friendly accommodations. You’re not going to find as many sleek and higher end hotels or resorts, but there are many options for accommodations, authentic restaurants, and shopping.
• Deira – This area is primarily focused on shopping with the numerous crowded and chaotic souqs to explore. Walking through this neighborhood takes you into an authentic Arabian atmosphere with so much to see, smell, and taste!

Dubai and Abu Dhabi Trip Itinerary Planning

Must-Dos:

• Old Town Dubai – having a chance to walk through the souks and see some historic parts of the city is a must to really have an authentic experience when visiting. It is a feast for your senses!
  • We would highly recommend taking a guided tour through Old Town – there are many available and we booked one through Get Your Guide here. The souks can be intimidating and our guide gave us everything we needed to know to navigate them effectively and enjoy our time.
• Burj Khalifa – it’s touristy and a bit expensive to take the tours to the top, but are you really going to visit Dubai and not go up the world’s tallest building?!? Though one of the more expensive options, we’d highly recommend paying to go to the top lounge option which takes you up to the highest observation deck and also provides small bites to eat and a complimentary drink. It was a much more comfortable and higher end experience compared to the other floors that you can visit.
• Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – this is the largest mosque in the country and is absolutely stunning to see in person. If you’re looking to do one thing in Abu Dhabi, this is it!
• Desert Adventure – there are many different options for going into the desert and you can use Dubai or Abu Dhabi as a starting spot. We booked a tour that included riding ATVs, sandboarding, and a visit to a desert camp complete with camel rides, traditional food, and an Arabic dance show.

Hidden Gem:

• We learned so much from the local guides for the tours that we booked – especially our walking tour of Old Town. With the cultures and traditions of UAE being very foreign to the majority of tourists, we’d highly recommend looking to book some sort of guided tour early on in your stay. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions and learn more for the remaining time of your trip.
• Though it doesn’t make the must-do list and you don’t see it called out as much on travel sites, we were really impressed with the Dubai Global Village. Traveling through all the various locations dedicated to each Arabic country gave you the ability to experience authentic shopping and food options from those regions. There were also areas dedicated to many Asian countries along with smaller Americas and European sections. It was a magical place with so much to see!

Below is an adjusted itinerary from our Dubai and Abu Dhabi trip that you can use as a sample when planning. As noted in our trip recap we also attended the Dubai World Cup on an additional day in Dubai and worked in a trip to the Maldives along with these days in UAE. Overall we felt like this was an appropriate amount of time to fit in what we wanted to see in these two cities and we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything.

• Day 1 – Arrive in Dubai
  • The majority of flights from the US arrive in Dubai in the evening. We took a direct flight on Emirates from Chicago which arrived around 7pm. This was a nice option since you didn’t have to worry about sleeping as much on the flight and could simply get settled in, explore your neighborhood a bit, and get to bed.
• Day 2
  • Visit Dubai Old Town. Explore the Al Fahidi Historic District and take an abra water taxi over to visit the spice and gold souks.
  • Visit the Burj Khalifa and take a tour up to the top for sunset.
  • Explore the Dubai Marina area and find a waterfront location for dinner.
• Day 3
  • Day trip to Abu Dhabi to visit Yas Island.
  • Our main focus was on doing a tour of the Yas Marina Circuit F1 track and visiting Ferrari World, but there are many other amusement parks and attractions on the island.
  • Explore Global Village in the evening once back to Dubai.
• Day 4
  • Explore attractions around Dubai – so much to see! We chose to go to the Dubai Miracle Garden.
  • Afternoon and evening desert adventure and dinner experience
• Day 5
  • Sightseeing day trip to Abu Dhabi
    • Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
    • Etihad Towers Observation Deck
    • Qasr Al Watan Royal Palace

For more travel inspiration, check out our additional blog posts on international travel.