What a trip to Dubai costs
Dubai has a reputation as an expensive city, and the reputation is half right. The food is not expensive. The transport is not expensive. The best half of the city, the creek and the old quarters and the neighbourhood restaurants, is close to free. What is expensive is the hotel, and in Dubai the ho
That is the single most useful thing we can tell you on this page. Two people can spend five days doing exactly the same things, eating in the same places, seeing the same buildings, and pay $1,000 each or $4,500 each depending on where they slept. Nowhere else we work has that spread.
Everything below is land only, per person, based on two people sharing a room. It excludes international flights.
The four anchors we price against
| Style | What it looks like | Per person, per day |
|---|---|---|
| Careful | Good four star in Deira, Bur Dubai or the older parts of the city, metro and taxis, a car on the days that need one, eating in the neighbourhoods | $200 |
| Comfortable | Strong four to five star downtown, on the marina or near the beach, a private car and driver on most days, some guiding | $330 |
| Boutique | Design hotels and beachfront rooms, private car and driver throughout, private guiding, restaurants booked | $520 |
| Luxury | Top-tier hotels, suites and beach clubs, guided throughout, the more expensive version of everything | $900 |
Applied to the lengths that actually work:
| Style | 3 days | 5 days | 7 days | 14 days with Oman |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Careful | $600 | $1,000 | $1,400 | $2,800 |
| Comfortable | $990 | $1,650 | $2,310 | $4,620 |
| Boutique | $1,560 | $2,600 | $3,640 | $7,280 |
| Luxury | $2,700 | $4,500 | $6,300 | $12,600 |
Notice that unlike most of the destinations in this library, there is a careful column here and it is a real option. Dubai has an enormous supply of decent, clean, well-located four star hotels in the older districts, and staying in one is not a compromise on the trip. It is a compromise on the swimming pool.
Where the money actually goes
Indicative shares of a comfortable five day trip. They move with the month more than with anything else.
| Line | Roughly | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | 40 to 55 per cent | The whole argument of this page |
| Ground transport | 12 to 18 per cent | A private car and driver is the main cost. Metro and taxis are cheap |
| Food | 15 to 20 per cent | Very elastic. Hotel restaurants cost four times what the neighbourhoods do |
| Entries and activities | 10 to 20 per cent | Observation decks, museums, the desert evening, the water parks |
| Guiding | 5 to 10 per cent | A good guide for the old city is worth it. Most other days do not need one |
Accommodation at over half the total is the number to sit with. In Tibet or Japan the hotel is a third. Here it can be more than everything else combined.
Hotels, by district and by month
Planning ranges, per room per night for two sharing, in the November to March season. Cut them by forty to sixty per cent in July and August, and add fifty to a hundred and fifty per cent for the last week of December.
| District | What you get | Per room, per night |
|---|---|---|
| Deira and Bur Dubai | Clean, plain three and four star, next to the creek, the souks and the best cheap eating | $70 to $150 |
| Downtown and Business Bay | Modern four and five star, near the tower and the metro, no beach | $150 to $340 |
| Dubai Marina and JBR | Five star with a beach across the road, restaurants, a long way from old Dubai | $190 to $420 |
| Jumeirah beachfront | Proper beach resorts, the version most people picture | $320 to $800 |
| Palm Jumeirah | The largest resorts, private beach, thirty minutes from everything | $380 to $1,200 |
| Al Quoz and the design districts | Small independent hotels and apartments near the galleries | $120 to $260 |
The honest note: the difference between a $150 room and a $450 room in Dubai is real, and it is almost entirely about the pool, the beach and the size of the bathroom. It is not about whether you have a good trip. We have put clients in both and the trip reports read the same.
Three complete trips, priced
Careful, five days, about $1,000
Four nights in a good four star in Bur Dubai, walking distance to the creek. Metro and taxis, with a private car for the Abu Dhabi day and the desert evening. Old Dubai on foot, the museums, one observation deck, eating in Deira, Karama and Satwa.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 4 nights, share for two | $340 |
| Food | $180 |
| Transport, metro, taxis and two half-day cars | $150 |
| Entries and museums | $180 |
| Desert evening, small shared group | $95 |
| Abra crossings, souks and incidentals | $55 |
| Total | $1,000 |
This is a genuinely good five days. It is the trip we build for people who have read what we would skip in Dubai and agreed with it.
Comfortable, five days, about $1,650
Four nights in a strong four or five star downtown or on the marina, private car and driver on three days, a guide for a full day in the old city, one night given to Abu Dhabi.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 4 nights, share for two | $700 |
| Food | $300 |
| Private car and driver, 3 days | $290 |
| Guide, one full day | $110 |
| Entries, including the Grand Mosque day in Abu Dhabi | $160 |
| Desert camp evening with private transfer | $90 |
| Total | $1,650 |
This is the shape of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 5 days and it is the trip we build most often.
Boutique, five days, about $2,600
Four nights split between a design hotel in the city and a beach room, private car and driver throughout, private guiding on two days, restaurants booked rather than found.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 4 nights, share for two | $1,400 |
| Food, including two serious dinners | $520 |
| Private car and driver throughout | $380 |
| Private guiding, 2 days | $180 |
| Entries | $120 |
| Total | $2,600 |
Look at where the extra $950 over the comfortable trip went. Almost all of it is the room. See boutique Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 5 days.
At $900 a day, luxury, roughly $3,000 of a five day total is the hotel alone. That buys a suite, a private stretch of beach and a level of service that is genuinely excellent in Dubai, better than at the same price in most of Asia. It does not buy you a different city.
What moves the price
The month, more than anything. The last week of December and the first week of January are the annual peak and can be two and a half times February. February, March and the second half of October are the best combination of weather and price. July and August are the cheapest and the reason is the weather. See Dubai month by month.
The hotel district. Covered above. If you want the money to go further, sleep in the old city and take a taxi to the beach.
The attractions. This is where families lose control of a budget. A day of ticketed attractions for four people runs to several hundred dollars and much of it is interchangeable. We cut this line hardest.
How many of you there are. A private car and driver and a private guide are per day, not per person, so four travellers pay half what two do on those lines. Hotels do not work that way.
Whether Oman is in the trip. Oman costs less per day than the UAE at every level, so a fortnight split between the two comes in below a fortnight of Dubai alone. See Dubai and Oman in 14 days.
What is cheaper than people expect
Food, if you leave the hotel. A very good Keralan, Pakistani, Iranian, Filipino or Lebanese meal in Deira, Al Karama or Satwa is $6 to $15 a head and is usually better than a $70 hotel dinner. Taxis are metered and reasonable. The metro is under $3 for most journeys. The abra across the creek is a few coins. Museum entries are modest. The local currency is pegged to the US dollar, so there is no exchange rate risk to plan around.
Related
- Dubai and the Gulf: the complete guide
- Dubai month by month
- How many days do you need in Dubai?
- What we would skip in Dubai
- All our Gulf trips
