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United Arab Emirates

⁨United Arab Emirates⁩ guide

United Arab Emirates

Close-together cities: Dubai's towers, Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Mosque and museums, and the desert dunes.

Why ⁨United Arab Emirates⁩?

  1. Dubai Shopping Festival

    The Dubai Shopping Festival, in December and January.

  2. Towers and sand

    Towers and sand

    A view from the Burj Khalifa, then a day in the dunes.

  3. Mosque and museums

    Mosque and museums

    The Sheikh Zayed Mosque, then Zayed National Museum and the Louvre on Saadiyat.

Before you go

  • Currency

    United Arab Emirates Dirham

  • Language

    Arabic

  • Time difference

    GMT+4

  • Getting around

    Car

  • Driving

    On the right

Popular destinations in ⁨United Arab Emirates⁩

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Best time to visit ⁨United Arab Emirates⁩

November to March

  • January

    Best time to go

  • February

    Best time to go

  • March

    Best time to go

  • April

    Good time to go

  • May

  • June

  • July

  • August

  • September

  • October

    Good time to go

  • November

    Best time to go

  • December

    Best time to go

Places in ⁨United Arab Emirates⁩

Compare flight tickets to ⁨United Arab Emirates⁩

Trip plans for ⁨United Arab Emirates⁩

Local tips

  • Insider tips

    1. Stay in one city and drive out. Moving hotels buys nothing and costs half a day each time.

    2. Give one day to the sand: an hour from anywhere, and the half of the country the skyline hides.

    3. From Dubai, cross to Sharjah for a morning: twenty minutes away and run on quite different lines.

  • Money

    1. The currency is the dirham. Cards work everywhere, taxis and small shops included; contactless is the norm.

  • Customs and safety

    1. Modest dress in public; Sharjah is noticeably more conservative than Dubai. Beachwear belongs to the beach and hotel.

    2. Between May and September heat and humidity push life indoors and into the night; November to March is pleasant.

  • Food and prayer

    1. Halal is the ordinary case everywhere. Where a hotel serves pork, it is a separate, labelled section.

    2. Mosques everywhere in all three cities; prayer rooms in malls, offices, metro stations and airports.

Getting around ⁨United Arab Emirates⁩

  • Car

    The emirates are close together and the roads between them are fast; a car is what turns three cities into one trip.

    Recommended

  • Metro

    Dubai has a driverless metro, opened in 2009, which covers the length of the city that most visitors use.

  • Ride-hailing

    Ride-hailing works in every city and settles the fare before you start, which is why most visitors use it over a street taxi.

eSIM plans in ⁨United Arab Emirates⁩

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About ⁨United Arab Emirates⁩

The UAE is small and the distances are short. Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi are within a couple of hours of each other by road, and the desert begins an hour inland from all three, so a trip here is usually one base with days out rather than a circuit.

There are two countries here and both are worth a day. One is the coastal cities, built almost entirely within living memory; the other is the sand and the Hajar mountains behind them, which have been there rather longer.

The year divides sharply. From November to March the country is outdoors and comfortable; from May to September the heat and the humidity together make an afternoon outside a short proposition, and everything moves inside or into the night.

Photo credits

Photographs on this page, with their licences.