By Harry Nara · Last updated
Yes, and Dubai is easier and less restrictive than nervous first-timers expect while being stricter than the marketing implies, which is why both versions you have heard are wrong. Alcohol is served, beaches are ordinary beaches, and nobody is monitoring what you wear in a hotel. What is actually prohibited is specific and knowable: public drunkenness, public affection, and photographing people without asking. Learn the real list and the city is as relaxed as any other.
Dubai is the destination on this site that people arrive at with the most misinformation, in both directions. It is neither a place where anything goes nor one where a visitor is a step away from arrest. It is a conservative country running a very large tourism industry, and the accommodation it has reached is clear once somebody explains it.
The practical side is simple. There is a metro, there is a transport card, the taxis are metered and honest, and everything is air-conditioned. The only real planning problem is the heat, which between roughly June and September is not a matter of discomfort but of what is possible outdoors at all.
How long do you need in Dubai?
Four days for the city, five if you want a desert night or a day in Abu Dhabi. Dubai is a long strip rather than a centre, so a surprising amount of a short trip goes into travelling along it, and the difference between four days and three is mostly the difference between seeing the old city and not.
Before you go
Dubai’s metro, tram and public buses all run on the nol card, and the silver version is the one visitors want: it costs 25 dirhams and comes with 19 dirhams of travel credit already loaded. Fares are calculated across seven zones and deducted automatically. The metro is clean, cheap and air-conditioned, it runs the length of the city along Sheikh Zayed Road, and it connects directly to the airport.
Drinking alcohol is legal in licensed venues, which means hotels, bars and restaurants that hold a licence, and tourists can buy at licensed outlets. Being drunk in public is not legal, and that distinction is the one that matters. Public displays of affection beyond hand-holding are prohibited, and so is photographing people, particularly women and families, without their permission. Swearing and rude gestures are treated far more seriously than in Europe, including in traffic disputes. None of this constrains an ordinary visit.
Swimwear at a beach or pool is fine. Malls and public buildings expect shoulders and knees covered, and some display signs saying so. Mosques require more: long sleeves, long trousers or skirt, and a headscarf for women, though the Jumeirah Mosque provides them for visitors. Nobody is scrutinising you and the standard is simply a little more covered than a Mediterranean resort.
During the holy month, eating, drinking and smoking in public during daylight hours is avoided out of respect and is restricted by law in public places, though hotels continue to serve visitors and many restaurants screen off dining areas. Live music and nightlife are subdued. In exchange the evenings are extraordinary, with iftar after sunset turning into the most social time of the year. It is a genuinely good time to visit if you want the culture and a bad one if you wanted a party.
Once you are there
Dubai is strung along a single coastal axis and the distances between its parts are highway distances rather than city ones. Walking between attractions is rarely possible and, for much of the year, would be dangerous. Plan around the metro for the spine of the city and taxis for everything else, and expect to spend more of the day in transit than the map suggests.
This is one of the few cities on this site where the taxi section is short. Fares are regulated, meters are used without being asked, drivers do not haggle, and cards are accepted. Careem and Uber both work if you prefer an app.
From June to September daytime temperatures pass forty degrees with very high humidity, and the sea reaches bath temperature. Outdoor life stops. Residents move between air-conditioned buildings and cars, and the outdoor attractions that fill the brochures are unusable in the middle of the day. If you travel then, plan an indoor trip and use the early morning and the late evening, when the city comes back to life.
Deira and Bur Dubai on either side of the creek are the city before the towers: spice and gold souks, wind-tower houses in Al Fahidi, and the abra, a wooden boat that crosses the creek for a fare of small change. It is a twenty minute metro ride from the skyscrapers and is the part of a Dubai trip people are surprised to have liked most.
What it costs
Dubai is as expensive or as cheap as you choose, with a wider spread than almost anywhere. The city is famous for the top end, but it is also a place where most of the population are migrant workers, and the restaurants that serve them in Deira and Karama are excellent and cost very little. A biryani in Karama and a tasting menu in the Marina are the same city on the same day.
Alcohol is the reliably expensive item, because it is taxed and confined to licensed venues. A round in a hotel bar costs what it would in London or New York, and the happy hours and brunches that the city runs on exist precisely because of it.
Tipping is customary rather than required, at around ten percent, and many restaurant bills already include a service charge and a municipality fee, so check before adding. Cards are accepted everywhere. Small cash tips for the people who actually do the work, in a city where much of the workforce is low paid and far from home, go further here than in most places.
Going with children
Dubai is one of the most child-oriented cities anywhere, and that is by design rather than accident: it is built around malls, resorts and attractions that assume families, and the standard of facilities is very high. Waterparks, aquariums, indoor ski slopes and beaches are all within reach, hotels are generous with children, and restaurants are universally welcoming. The whole city is air conditioned, which matters more than any other single factor. The constraint is the same one adults face, which is the summer: between June and September outdoor play is not viable in the middle of the day, and a trip then has to be planned indoors from the start. Beyond that, safety is excellent, healthcare is world class, and the practical friction of travelling with small children is lower here than almost anywhere on this site.
Going alone
Dubai is safe, easy and somewhat impersonal alone. Crime is very low, including late at night and for women travelling by themselves, and the infrastructure removes almost all friction. What it does not offer is a spontaneous social scene: this is a city of residents with established lives and of tourists arriving in couples and families, not of travellers meeting each other. Eating alone is unremarkable and hotel bars are the default meeting place. Solo women should expect occasional attention but very little hassle by regional or global standards. The one thing to be careful about is alcohol, since the line between drinking legally in a venue and being drunk in public is a legal one, and taking a taxi rather than walking back is both easy and sensible.
Mistakes worth avoiding
It is neither anything-goes nor a trap. Alcohol in licensed venues is fine, public drunkenness is not; swimwear at the beach is fine, in a mall it is not. The list is short and specific.
Taking pictures of people, especially women and families, without permission is prohibited and taken seriously. This includes background figures in your holiday photographs.
Over forty degrees with high humidity means outdoor plans are not merely uncomfortable but unusable. An indoor itinerary is the only workable one.
The creek, the souks and Al Fahidi are twenty minutes away on the metro and are what most visitors say they enjoyed most. Staying in the Marina and Downtown is seeing the brochure.
Dubai is built at highway scale along one axis. The distances are not walkable and for much of the year the attempt is a health risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dubai worth visiting for a first-time traveller?
Yes, and it is both more relaxed and more specific than its reputation. Alcohol is served in licensed venues, beaches are normal beaches, and nobody polices what you wear at a hotel. What is genuinely prohibited is a short list: public drunkenness, public affection beyond hand-holding, and photographing people without permission. The city is safe, efficient and air conditioned, and its main planning problem is summer heat.
How many days do you need in Dubai?
Four for the city and five if you want a desert night or a day trip to Abu Dhabi. Dubai runs along a single coastal line rather than radiating from a centre, so travel eats more of the day than the map implies. The fourth day is usually what buys you the creek and the old city, which is the part visitors are most surprised to enjoy.
Can you drink alcohol in Dubai?
Yes, in licensed venues: hotels, bars and licensed restaurants, and tourists can buy from licensed outlets. The line that matters is public intoxication, which is illegal and treated seriously, so drinking in a bar is fine and being visibly drunk in the street is not. Drink-driving carries a zero tolerance policy. Alcohol is expensive because of taxation, which is why the city runs on happy hours and brunches.
What should I wear in Dubai?
Less restrictive than most people expect and contextual. Swimwear is fine at beaches and pools. Malls and public buildings ask for shoulders and knees covered and sometimes post signs saying so. Mosques require long sleeves, long trousers or a long skirt, and a headscarf for women, though visitor mosques such as Jumeirah provide them. In practice the standard is slightly more covered than a Mediterranean resort.
How do you get around Dubai?
The metro for the spine of the city and taxis for the rest. Buy a nol silver card at the airport for 25 dirhams, which includes 19 dirhams of credit, and it covers the metro, tram and buses across seven fare zones. Taxis are metered, regulated, honest and inexpensive, and Careem and Uber both operate. Walking between attractions is generally not possible and for much of the year is unsafe.
Is it worth visiting Dubai during Ramadan?
It depends entirely on what you want. Eating, drinking and smoking in public during daylight are restricted, live music and nightlife are subdued, and the daytime rhythm of the city changes completely. Hotels continue to serve visitors. In return the evenings after sunset are the most convivial time of the year, and iftar is a genuine cultural experience. Good for culture, poor for a party.
Is Dubai good for families with young children?
Exceptionally, and deliberately so. The city is organised around malls, resorts and attractions built for families, standards are very high, healthcare is excellent and the entire environment is air conditioned. Waterparks, aquariums and beaches are all easily reached. The single constraint is the summer, when the middle of the day is unusable outdoors from roughly June to September, and a trip in those months has to be planned indoors.
When is the worst time to visit Dubai?
July and August, when daytime temperatures pass forty degrees with high humidity and the sea itself is too warm to be refreshing. Outdoor life effectively stops and residents move between air-conditioned spaces. It is not dangerous if you plan for it, and hotel prices fall sharply, but any itinerary built around outdoor attractions will not survive contact with it.
Is Dubai safe to visit alone?
Very, with unusually low crime including late at night and for women travelling by themselves. What it lacks is a spontaneous social scene, since the city is made up of residents with settled lives and visitors arriving as couples and families rather than travellers meeting each other. Eating alone is unremarkable. The point to watch is alcohol: drinking in a licensed venue is legal and being drunk in public is not, so take a taxi rather than walking back.
Checked against Roads and Transport Authority, nol fares, Visit Dubai, official tourism site, UAE Government portal, information for visitors.
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