Dubai
UAE
Desert skyscrapers and luxury at every turn
Photo by David Rodrigo on Unsplash
Photos by Faisal Manga, Fernando Jorge, Wael Hneini and Darcey Beau on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of UAE
November to March
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 25mm in Feb
Where it is
25.20°N, 55.27°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Visit Burj Khalifa observation deck
- Explore the Gold and Spice Souks
- Take a desert safari
- Visit the Dubai Mall aquarium
- Walk through Al Fahidi historical district
- Beach day at JBR
Dubai travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget UAE
ExpensiveThe dirham is pegged to the USD (1 USD = 3.67 AED, fixed). Exchange at Al Ansari or UAE Exchange offices in malls — very competitive rates.
ATMs & cards
ATMs everywhere (ENBD, Mashreq, ADCB). Most don’t charge a local fee. Your bank’s international fee applies. Withdraw in AED.
Avoid these
- Travelex machines at the airport
- hotel lobby ATMs
Use these instead
- Emirates NBD
- ADCB
- Mashreq
- FAB
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of UAE
Very safeExtremely safe. Respect local customs: no public intoxication, dress modestly outside beach/pool areas, no PDA beyond hand-holding.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (2 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Dubai — everywhere, at any hour — the crime rate against visitors is close to nil
Worth more attention
- The law, which is the actual risk: public drunkenness, a rude gesture in traffic, an unmarried couple’s public affection, prescription drugs like codeine, and anything posted about the country online
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa UAE visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, stamped on arrival.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 30 days
No visa neededup to 180 days
Visa required in advance
Most other nationalities are sponsored by their airline or hotel, which is arranged as part of the booking.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of UAE
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Hepatitis A
Getting treated
World-class private hospitals, and priced accordingly — health insurance is mandatory for residents and strongly advised for visitors. Public emergency care is provided regardless and billed afterwards.
Summer heat is a genuine medical risk between June and September. Bring prescriptions in their original packaging with a doctor’s letter: several common medicines, including codeine and some sleep and anxiety drugs, are controlled and have led to arrests.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodSkip hotel restaurants. Eat at Al Mallah (shawarma), Ravi (Pakistani), or Bu Qtair (seafood shack on the beach). Friday brunch is a Dubai institution.
Nightlife
Almost all of it is inside hotels, because that is where the licences are — and it is a bigger, later scene than people expect.
- DIFC — the smart bars and the restaurant crowd
- Dubai Marina — and JBR, for the mainstream night
- Barasti Beach — the beach bar that has outlasted everything
- Deira — the old, cheap hotel bars
Closing: 03:00.
A beer in a bar: AED 40–70
Drinking is legal in licensed venues and nowhere else; being drunk in public is an offence, and so is a taxi home you are visibly drunk in.
Getting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- CareemWorks here
- HalaWorks here
- BoltNot here
Careem Dubai’s own, and it also books the pink ladies’ taxis · Hala the RTA taxi fleet inside Careem
- From the airport
- Dubai airport to Downtown AED 60–90, against AED 8 on the metro
- Against a taxi
- Level with the cream taxis, which are metered, clean and plentiful.
Time zone and your working day
Asia/Dubai — 8 hours ahead of you
0 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — — your time, — theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 01:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 01:00–09:00 on yours.
The working week runs Sunday to Thursday here, so Friday is the weekend and Sunday is not.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of UAE
What these numbers mean
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 2.6× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fast. Enough to work from a cafe or a beach on a hotspot all day. Mobile runs at 4.8× the global median of 109 Mbps.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for UAE, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Arabic
- Helloمرحبا — MarhabaMAR-ha-ba
- Pleaseمن فضلك — Min fadlakmin FAD-lak
- Thank youشكرا — ShukranSHOOK-ran
- Yes / Noنعم / لا — Na’am / LaNA-am / la
4 more phrases
- Excuse meعفوا — AfwanAF-wan
- How much is it?بكم — Bikam?bi-KAM
- The bill, pleaseالحساب — Al-hisabal-hi-SAB
- Welcomeأهلا وسهلا — Ahlan wa sahlanAH-lan wa SAH-lan
Inshallah, meaning God willing, follows nearly any statement about the future and is conversational rather than religious.
Religion
Sunni Muslim
Islam is the state religion and law reflects it. Alcohol is restricted to licensed venues, public affection is an offence, and Ramadan brings genuine legal restrictions on eating and drinking in public during daylight.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Dress modestly in public — shoulders and knees covered in malls and older districts
- Use the right hand for eating, greeting and handing anything over
- Accept coffee or dates when offered; it is a genuine welcome
- Ask before photographing anyone, particularly local women
Don't
- Do not show public affection beyond hand-holding; couples have been arrested for more
- Do not drink alcohol outside licensed venues, and never be drunk in public — it is an offence
- Do not eat, drink or smoke in public during daylight in Ramadan
- Do not swear or make rude gestures; both are criminal offences and prosecutions do happen
Where to stay in Dubai
No Holistay rentals in Dubai yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Dubai on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Dubai International DXB
20 minfrom the airport· 12 km as the crow flies
Metro red line to Downtown, 20 min.
Also worth pricing: Al Maktoum DWC — low-cost carriers, an hour south-west.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
