Dubai travel guide

Travel to Dubai between Oct – Mar. Those are the months the weather, the crowds and the airfare line up — outside them you trade one of the three.

Currency

UAE Dirham (AED)

Language

Arabic; English everywhere. Hindi and Gujarati widely understood in the souks.

Time zone

GST (UTC+4) — 1½ hours behind India

Plug type

Type G (UK 3-pin), 230V

Flight time from India

3.2 hrs

Flying from

Ahmedabad · Mumbai · Delhi · Surat

• 

  Burj Khalifa, but the right deck

  Level 124 is the standard ticket and it is enough. Level 148 costs roughly three times as much for an outdoor terrace and a shorter queue. Book the 5.30pm slot: you go up in daylight, watch the sun drop into the desert, and come down to the fountain show already running.

• 

  Desert safari at Al Marmoom, not Lahbab

  The standard package runs to the Lahbab red dunes with two hundred other Land Cruisers. Al Marmoom is a protected reserve — oryx, flamingos on the lakes, and a conservation camp instead of a fairground. Dune-bashing lasts about twenty minutes; ask for the front seat if you get carsick.

• 

  The Creek by abra, then the two souks

  One dirham buys the crossing from Bur Dubai to Deira on a wooden abra that has not changed in fifty years. Land at the Spice Souk, walk ten minutes to the Gold Souk, and do your buying by weight and the day rate rather than by the tag. Making charges are negotiable; the gold price is not.

• Abu Dhabi in a day: the Grand Mosque and Louvre

  Ninety minutes down the E11. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is free, requires a booked time slot and full-length dress, and is genuinely worth the drive at dusk when the white marble turns blue. Louvre Abu Dhabi under Jean Nouvel rain-of-light dome sits twenty minutes away on Saadiyat.

• Museum of the Future and the Frame

  The torus on Sheikh Zayed Road is the one building children remember. Tickets sell out days ahead, so book before you fly. The Dubai Frame is the cheaper photograph: old Dubai through one side of the glass, new Dubai through the other, which is the whole city argument in one view.

• Palm Jumeirah, Atlantis and the water parks

  The monorail runs the spine of the Palm to Atlantis. Aquaventure is the largest water park in the region and a full day with children; The Lost Chambers aquarium is the indoor fallback in summer. Ain Dubai on Bluewaters has been closed on and off — check before you build an evening around it.

• Shawarma and manakish

  The AED 8 shawarma from a Deira window beats the hotel version. Vegetarians should ask for the falafel wrap instead — same bread, same garlic toum, same pickles, and it is made on a separate board.

• Mezze — hummus, moutabel, fattoush, warak enabVegetarian

  The Levantine table is a gift for a vegetarian traveller: chickpea, aubergine, burghul, olive oil, no meat anywhere near it. Two cautions — falafel and meat kibbeh often share a fryer, and stuffed vine leaves come in both a rice and a lamb version, so name the one you want.

• Luqaimat and kunafa

  Luqaimat are date-syrup dumplings, essentially the Emirati gulab jamun, and are egg-free. Kunafa uses a cheese base and clarified butter. Ask about gelatin in the fancier plated desserts at hotel buffets — the mousses usually contain it.

• Karak chai and camel milk ice creamVegetarian

  Karak is one dirham at any cafeteria and is closer to Gujarati kadak chai than anything you will find in Europe. Camel milk gelato at the Camel Cookie shops is worth trying once; it is not vegan and it is not for a dairy allergy.

• Gujarati and Jain thali in Karama and Bur DubaiJain friendly

  This is the destination where diet is a non-issue. Karama, Bur Dubai and Al Rigga carry full Gujarati thali houses, Jain menus on request, and pure-veg South Indian at almost every corner. Tell us at booking and the hotel kitchen will be briefed too.

Set a meal preference — vegetarian, Jain or halal — when you book and we brief every hotel and restaurant on your itinerary.

• Gold Souk, Deira — 22-carat by weight at the day rate; negotiate only the making charge
• Spice Souk — Iranian saffron, dried limes, and dates sold loose rather than in gift tins
• Bateel and Al Nassma for boxed dates and camel-milk chocolate worth carrying home
• Perfume Souk and the oud houses on Sikkat Al Khail for attar and bakhoor
• Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates during the Dubai Shopping Festival, January
• Global Village, November to April — 90 country pavilions, the best-value souvenir stop in the city

The Metro Red and Green lines cover almost everything a visitor wants, run driverless and are spotless; buy a silver Nol card at the station and top it up. Careem and Uber are cheap and metered taxis are honest. The abra across the Creek is one dirham. A hire car only makes sense if you are driving to Abu Dhabi or Hatta — Salik toll gates bill automatically and fines reach the rental company weeks later, against your deposit.

• Public behaviour is regulated: no drinking outside a licensed venue, no public affection beyond a handshake, and during Ramadan no eating, drinking or smoking in public in daylight.
• Do not photograph people without asking, especially local women, and never photograph government buildings, palaces or military sites. Posting someone else photograph without consent is a prosecutable offence here.
• Several everyday Indian medicines are controlled substances in the UAE — codeine cough syrup, tramadol, some sleep and anxiety tablets. Carry the original prescription and keep tablets in the labelled strip.
• Traffic fines from a hire car arrive weeks after you leave and are charged to the card on file. Photograph the odometer and every panel at pickup, and ask specifically whether Salik tolls are billed separately.
• Dune-bashing is not for pregnant travellers, anyone with a spinal or cardiac condition, or children under three. Say so when booking rather than at the dune, when the driver has already committed.
• Tap water is desalinated and safe at the plant, but building tanks are the weak link — stick to bottled, and skip ice at roadside cafeterias in summer.

Per person, per day, on the ground — meals, local transport and entry tickets. Flights and hotels sit in the package price, not here.