Visit the United Arab Emirates: Dubai, Budget and Itineraries

The Burj Khalifa rises 828 metres above the Dubai Mall and its dancing fountain, free to watch several times each evening. On the opposite side, the souks of Bur Dubai and Deira, linked across Dubai Creek by an abra ride for under a euro, show the city as it was before the towers. The driverless metro, running since 2009, connects the airport to the Marina in about forty minutes. Plan 3 to 4 nights to cover Downtown, the Marina and the old town at an easy pace: the megacity of Dubai alone draws the majority of the country's visitors.

140 kilometres from Dubai, about a 1h30 drive, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, completed in 2007, holds up to 41,000 worshippers and is free to visit in modest dress. The Louvre Abu Dhabi, opened in 2017 under Jean Nouvel's perforated dome, is closed on Mondays. Qasr Al Watan, the presidential palace open to the public since 2019, rounds out a half-day of culture. Two nights cover the essentials, three with an afternoon added on the Corniche or Yas Island.

Sharjah, the only Arab city named UNESCO Cultural Capital, in 1998, bans alcohol across its territory and rewards a full day for its museums and the Al Arsah souk. In Ras Al Khaimah, Jebel Jais rises to 1,934 metres, the country's highest peak, and its 2.83-kilometre Jais Flight zip line is the longest in the world. Fujairah, the only emirate facing entirely onto the Gulf of Oman, offers a calmer coastline and clearer water than the Persian Gulf side, about a 1h30 drive from Dubai.

At the edge of the Rub' al Khali, the world's largest continuous sand desert, stretching into Saudi Arabia, the dunes of Liwa rise over 100 metres in places. Further inland, the UNESCO-listed Al Ain Oasis is walkable through palm groves irrigated by a centuries-old aflaj canal system. The road climbing to the summit of Jebel Hafeet has more than 60 bends over 11.7 kilometres and offers the region's best sunset view.

A former private reserve of Sheikh Zayed, Sir Bani Yas island off the Abu Dhabi coast is home to free-roaming Arabian oryx, cheetahs and gazelles across 87 square kilometres, reached by boat from the port of Jebel Dhanna. On the mainland, Persian Gulf water temperatures top 30°C from June to September, against milder peaks on the Gulf of Oman side. Public beaches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi remain free, unlike those attached to the big seafront hotels.

The official weekend has run Friday-Saturday since January 2022, aligned with Western financial markets rather than the rest of the Arab world, a shift matched the same year by neighbouring Qatar. During Ramadan, whose dates shift about 11 days earlier each year, eating or drinking in public during the day is banned even for non-fasting visitors. Machboos, spiced rice with meat or fish, and street shawarma for under 3 euros remain the most affordable ways into the local food scene.