Dubai and the Gulf, with a clear view of what is worth your time

It is also a place where a great deal of what is marketed hard is expensive and forgettable. We would rather tell you which parts we think are worth it, and which ones we would skip, than sell you the full list.

Two things we say to almost everyone

The season is November to March. From June to September the Gulf is hot to the point of being unpleasant: daytime highs around 105F (41C) with high humidity on the coast, nights that stay above 85F (30C), and a city that functions by moving between air-conditioned boxes. Hotel rates collapse in summer for a reason. We will build a summer trip if your dates are fixed, and we will be honest about what it is.

Oman next door is the better week for most travellers, and we say so before you book rather than afterwards. If what you want is landscape, old towns, mountains, wadis, desert and a slower country, Oman does all of it better than the UAE and costs less. Dubai is excellent at what it is good at, which is a short, comfortable, well-connected few days. The two together are the best fortnight in the region and that is the itinerary we build most often here.

How we run the Gulf, plainly

The Gulf is not one of our own offices. Our own offices are in Japan, Vietnam, India and the Philippines. Dubai, the wider UAE and Oman are run through long-standing local partners whose guides and drivers we know by name, and your file is owned by one named specialist here. We would rather say that plainly than imply a presence we do not have.

Why plan the Gulf with us

We say what we would skip. There is a version of Dubai built entirely from ticketed attractions, and most of it is a queue with a view at the end. We name the ones we think are genuinely good and the ones we would not spend a morning on.

We plan around the heat and the clock. Outdoor things in the morning, indoor things at the worst part of the day, the desert and the old city in the late afternoon. In the Gulf that is not a nicety, it is the difference between enjoying the day and enduring it.

We handle the stopover properly. A Gulf stopover is one of the better ways to break a long flight to Asia. It only works if the hotel, the transfer and the arrival timing are built around the flight rather than the other way round.

A named specialist, not a queue. Our groups and business manager Daniella Eitan has built Gulf routes for families, couples and corporate groups, and our Southeast and Central Asia specialists Osnat Angerman and Paz Prosianoy handle the Oman combinations.

The first proposal is free and it is not a template. Actual hotels, actual neighbourhoods, and the reasoning, including the days we deliberately left thin.

The short answers

The full breakdown is in our complete guide →

Eight ways to travel Dubai and the Gulf

Every route below is one we build. Start from one and we will rebuild it around you.

1. Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 5 days: the honest first visit
2. Dubai with children, 6 days: which attractions are worth the ticket and which are not
3. Desert and mountains, 7 days: Hatta, Jebel Jais, the east coast and the Musandam fjords
4. Romantic Dubai, 5 days: a desert camp, a good room and two dinners worth planning around
5. Old Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, 6 days: the culture and food route
6. Boutique Dubai and Abu Dhabi, 5 days: design hotels, art and Saadiyat
7. Dubai and Oman, 14 days: the fortnight we recommend most
8. A Gulf stopover and three weeks in Asia: Dubai at both ends of a longer trip

The Gulf in the magazine

What a week in Dubai really costs · Dubai in three days, honestly · Dubai or Abu Dhabi · Why we send most people to Oman · Eating in Dubai away from the hotels · Desert camps, which ones are worth it

All Gulf articles →