Country · 2 guides
Seven emirates, an hour apart — glass towers on one coast, wadis and empty dunes an hour inland.
The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates strung along the Arabian Gulf, small enough to drive end to end in a morning and varied enough to fill a fortnight. Dubai supplies the skyline, the malls and the record-breaking attractions; Abu Dhabi answers with the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Louvre and the oases of Al Ain; and beyond both lie the souks of Sharjah, the diving reefs of the east coast and the bare Hajar mountains. It is one of the easiest first trips to the Middle East: English is spoken everywhere, the roads are excellent, and the winter half of the year is close to flawless.
United Arab Emirates in numbers
Plan your tripAttraction-by-attraction guides to 1 city in United Arab Emirates, each one mapped.
Themed lists and deeper reads from across United Arab Emirates.
Trip planner
The tail of the good season. March is still glorious for the beach, the desert and the outdoor attractions; by late April the heat is building and by May the middle of the day is genuinely punishing. Rates soften as the season turns, and the seasonal parks start closing for summer.
Fierce — daytime temperatures well past 40°C with heavy Gulf humidity on the coast. Outdoor attractions close for the season, and life moves indoors to the malls, aquariums, indoor ski slope and hotel pools. It is the cheapest time to come and the easiest to find a room, if you plan around the heat rather than against it.
September is still summer in all but name, but from mid-October the country reopens: the seasonal parks and festival grounds start their runs, terraces come back, and by November the weather is close to perfect. A good-value window if you land in the second half of it.
The peak season and the reason most people come — warm dry days, cool evenings and blue skies, ideal for the desert, the beaches and long days on foot. It is also the busiest and priciest stretch, with the surrounding weeks the hardest of the year to book.
The standard long-haul break, built around one base. Everything below is reachable on the Metro or a short taxi, so no car is needed.
Split the week between the two big emirates — an easy ninety-minute drive apart — for the skyline and the culture without rushing either.
The trip most visitors never take. A car is essential, and winter is the season for it — the mountains are cool and the wadis are at their best.
Eight questions travellers ask before they go.
November to March, without much argument. Those months bring warm dry days, cool evenings and the weather the whole country is built around — good for the desert, the beaches and walking the cities. October and April are workable shoulder months. June to September is extremely hot and humid on the coast, with many outdoor attractions shut for the season; it is cheap, but you will be planning around the heat.
Three or four days covers Dubai properly as a stopover. A week lets you add Abu Dhabi and Al Ain at a reasonable pace. Ten days to a fortnight is enough to add the Hajar mountains, the east coast and a night in the southern dunes, which is where the country stops feeling like a city break.
Not for Dubai or Abu Dhabi — the Dubai Metro covers the tourist spine and taxis are cheap and metered in both. You do want one to leave the cities: the mountains, the east coast, Al Ain and the Liwa dunes are all much easier self-driven. Roads are excellent and well signed in Arabic and English, though city traffic is fast and assertive.
Superlatives, mostly — the world's tallest building, some of its largest malls and an indoor ski slope in the desert. Underneath that it is known for the Arabian Gulf coastline, the dune deserts of the interior, gold and spice souks, and a fast transformation from pearling and fishing villages to global cities within living memory.
Yes, almost universally. Arabic is the official language, but the majority of residents are expatriates and English is the working language of hotels, restaurants, taxis, shops and attractions. Signage is bilingual throughout, and visitors very rarely hit a language barrier.
The UAE dirham (AED), which is pegged to the US dollar, so the rate barely moves. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, including taxis and small shops, and contactless is standard. It is still worth carrying some cash for the souks, where haggling is expected and small traders may prefer notes.
Emirati staples are worth seeking out — machboos (spiced rice with meat or fish), harees, luqaimat dumplings in date syrup, and cardamom-heavy Arabic coffee with dates. Beyond that the food scene reflects the population: outstanding Lebanese, Iranian, Indian and Pakistani cooking, often at very modest prices in the older districts, alongside the high-end restaurants the cities are better known for.
Winter sun, stopovers and family trips.
