First Time in Dubai – Things to Know Before Going

In July 2024, my wife, our 6-year-old daughter and I flew to Dubai on holiday for the first time. Before the trip we read plenty of articles and guides, but many of them turned out to be out of date. In this review of our trip, we'll try to cover absolutely everything about travelling to Dubai independently as a family, with Dubai tips for first-time visitors based on our own experience.

Booking flights to Dubai

Our trip to Dubai was spontaneous. We spotted cheap flights by chance and booked the outbound leg straight away. We then kept an eye on fares for the return, and in the end we found a cheap return flight too.

Staying connected in Dubai

We spent a long time looking for information on how to stay connected in the UAE. On the whole, it's not as bad as it sounds. At passport control on arrival, you're given a SIM card with 1 GB of data valid for 24 hours. In our case, each adult got one. We tried to activate ours, but something went wrong. It didn't spoil our holiday, though. Before leaving home, we had each bought an extra SIM from our mobile operator, switched on roaming and bought a 2 GB data package valid for 30 days. With Wi-Fi at the hotel and in many places around the city, that was plenty. We didn't have a single connection problem during the whole trip.

IMPORTANT! Make sure you turn off automatic app updates so you don't waste data. If your phone supports 5G, turn that off too, because it seems to use more data (at least, that's what we noticed). As soon as you land, switch on roaming on your phone. As these were secondary SIMs for us, rather than swapping physical cards we simply set up an eSIM. Very convenient.

More recently we tried an eSIM from Yesim and were very happy with it, especially me. They offer unlimited data plans in Dubai, with 5G too. We describe our experience in more detail in our article “Internet in Dubai”.

eSIM plans

The flight to Dubai

We flew with the same airline both ways. Although the flight is short (just under 4 hours), we still came prepared. We brought snacks for our daughter and bought food and drinks at the airport, because no meals are served on board and only water is offered. During online check-in you can pre-order a meal and choose your seats, both at extra cost.

We travelled with hand luggage only. The airline let us board with a bag, a small children's suitcase and a backpack without any problems. Still, we'd recommend checking the hand luggage allowance in advance. That said, other passengers had bags bigger than our daughter's suitcase and were allowed on board without any trouble.

Don't forget to buy a NOL card on your way out of the airport. We go into more detail on this further down.

Some passengers checked in small suitcases, but to us that's a complete waste of money. Plus, we didn't have to wait at baggage reclaim. If you're flying with a low-cost carrier, though, double-check that your bags fit the hand luggage dimensions.

How to get to your hotel from Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC)

We landed at Al Maktoum Airport, which is in the south of Dubai, 25 km from Palm Jebel Ali. It's a long way from the city centre. There are several ways of getting from Al Maktoum Airport to Dubai:

1. Taxi. Comfortable and convenient, but fairly expensive. The average fare to the centre is AED 160, and more at night and in the early morning. Taxis wait on the right as you leave the airport (look for the roof signs), but it's better to book through the Careem app.
2. Bus. Two buses run from the airport. The F55 is the daytime service: it runs from 4:10 to 23:30 every 20–40 minutes and goes to Expo. The N55 is the night service: it runs from 21:40 to 4:40 every 30–60 minutes and crosses almost the whole city to Al Ghubaiba bus station.
3. Bus + metro. The nearest metro station to the airport is Expo 2020. If you're not arriving at night, you can take the F55 bus and then change to the metro to reach your destination. On the N55 night route, the nearest metro station is Danube, where you can change to the metro to get there faster. Do check the metro's operating hours, though. We cover them in a separate article, “Dubai Metro.”
4. Transfer. You can book a car in advance to meet your flight. It's best to check the cost of a transfer within Dubai directly with the transfer companies.
5. Car hire. You can hire a car with delivery to the airport. Car rental prices in Dubai start from $20 per day.

If you decide to take the metro, bear in mind that its operating hours vary by day of the week:

• Saturday to Wednesday: 05:00 to 00:00;
• Thursday: 05:00 to 01:00;
• Friday: 10:00 to 01:00.

We had booked a room at a Hilton in Deira, so we took the N55 bus to the last stop (the journey took just under 2 hours). From there we booked a taxi through the Careem app to the hotel.

TIP! Install the Careem app and get to know it before you fly. It will make getting around much easier once you're there. In terms of features, it's much like other ride-hailing apps you may already use.

Travel insurance

You need insurance to travel to Dubai. Before we flew, we read that you might be refused entry without it, but nobody asked us for it. Our advice is to buy a policy whenever you travel abroad. It doesn't cost much, and you'll have peace of mind. Medical care in the UAE, as in many other countries, is extremely expensive.

I have a travel rewards bank card that comes with free international travel insurance for cardholders. The cover is €50,000, and you just need to activate it in the banking app before you leave. It's a great option, especially if you travel a lot, as the card pays for itself through the insurance alone.

For my wife and daughter, we took out a separate policy. The price depends on the options included. We chose the most comprehensive cover to have peace of mind for my wife and our child. It included medical transport, dental treatment and many other options.

Paying for things in Dubai

Paying for things is often one of the trickiest parts of a trip abroad. Not every card works everywhere, and exchanging currency can cost you a lot in fees. But there are still ways to pay for things in Dubai.

Cash

Cash always comes in handy abroad. You can pay by card almost everywhere in Dubai, but a few times our card payment didn't go through. That's when cash saved us.

Tourists often buy US dollars at home and exchange them for dirhams in the UAE, but you can lose a noticeable amount on the exchange rates. If you can, buy dirhams directly instead.

We took enough dirhams to pay for the hotel, plus half of what we planned to spend in Dubai over 4 days. We also took $120 just in case.

Cryptocurrency

Crypto can also be a useful back-up when you're travelling. We had 500 USDT in a crypto wallet in case our card didn't work and we ran out of cash.

Dubai has lots of exchange offices where you can swap crypto for dirhams in cash. You can find their addresses and compare rates on an exchange-rate comparison service. We've been using one for more than six months and have had no problems.

Getting around Dubai

You won't be able to avoid using transport in Dubai. Very few visitors stay in an all-inclusive hotel and never leave it. Dubai's transport system is convenient and, above all, easy to understand.

NOL card – your travel pass in Dubai

If you plan to use public transport, we recommend that you buy a NOL card. You can do this right at the airport. At Al Maktoum, it's sold by the terminal exit. Once you're through the exit gates, look for a small red kiosk by the exit on the far left.

NOL is a single travel card that you can use on buses, the metro and trams. There are 3 types of card: red, silver and gold. If you're visiting Dubai as a tourist, buy the silver card. The other types are for people who live in the city or visit often. We cover the NOL card in more detail in our article NOL card in Dubai.

The silver card costs AED 25 and is valid for 5 years. A Silver NOL can be topped up for 10 trips. The maximum fare for a single trip is AED 7.5.

IMPORTANT! Remember to tap your card both when you get on the metro or bus and when you get off. Otherwise, a much larger fare will be deducted.

Taxis

Several ride-hailing apps operate in Dubai, but most people use Uber or Careem. We found Careem the most convenient: prices are often lower and cars arrive quickly.

Always choose the Hala car type. This means an official government taxi will pick you up rather than a private driver. Hala drivers are always in uniform, and the cars have meters and card terminals. All government taxis are Toyota Camrys with working air conditioning, and they're in excellent condition.

We strongly advise against choosing other ride types and travelling with private drivers. They're always looking for ways to make the trip more expensive for tourists. We saw plenty of posts about this kind of thing in online Dubai travel chats.

The cost of a taxi ride in Dubai is quite affordable, at AED 15–35 on average.

Metro

The metro covers the whole city apart from the residential suburbs, so you can quickly reach almost anywhere a tourist would want to go. You pay with a NOL card, and the fare depends on your route. Dubai is divided into several zones, and the fare depends on how many zones you cross. The most expensive metro journey costs AED 7.5.

The Dubai Metro has 3 types of carriage:

1. pink – for women and children. They have more room for pushchairs and are more comfortable at rush hour, although women can also travel in the other carriages;
2. gold – VIP carriages with panoramic windows and wide seats. To travel in one, you'll need a Gold NOL card;
3. standard – for all passengers.

TIP! If you're travelling with your partner and a child, they're better off in the pink women's carriage at rush hour. It isn't much less crowded then, but it's still more comfortable for women than being squeezed into a crowd of men.

Trains on the Dubai Metro run almost every 3 minutes and always arrive on time. All carriages are air-conditioned, and the trains are driverless. Not all of the line is underground. Part of it runs above the city, so you can simply ride along to see Dubai and spot plenty of beautiful places and landmarks.

The rules of behaviour on the metro are taken seriously. Eating, sleeping and blowing bubble gum are strictly prohibited. Drinking isn't allowed either. Nobody will fine you for taking a quick sip of water and putting the bottle away, but you can't sip a fizzy drink from a can during the journey.

Buses

Buses in Dubai run exactly to schedule, and you can track each one in real time on Google Maps. All vehicles are air-conditioned, so it's always comfortable on board. You pay for bus travel with the same NOL card.

If you need to hire a car, you can compare prices and options from our partner.

Hotels in Dubai

After a long search, we booked our hotel on Agoda. It had the best price for the hotel we'd chosen, almost 50% lower than on Booking.com.

We didn't spend long choosing a hotel. We'd stayed at Hilton hotels on family holidays before and had always been happy, so we went for the Hilton Garden Inn Dubai Al Muraqabat. Three nights cost AED 845, including all taxes and breakfast.

The hotel is a little dated, but for the price it's superb. Everything was excellent: clean and comfortable rooms, attentive staff, tasty breakfasts, and a spa area with a pool.

We were also pleasantly surprised by how accommodating the staff were. Check-in is from 15:00, but because we landed at night, we arrived at 6 am. We were only hoping to leave our bags. However, as we'd be flying out on the last night of our booking, they gave us early check-in and breakfast. By 8 am we were fed and catching up on sleep in our room. Another plus: they didn't charge anything extra for our 6-year-old.

It's especially convenient if you're flying into Dubai's main airport, as the hotel is just a couple of kilometres from DXB.

Beaches in Dubai

Dubai has 2 types of beach: paid and free. Even the paid ones don't always have changing rooms, which is rather odd. However, there are always air-conditioned toilets, and you can change in them if you need to. There are showers for rinsing off the seawater, but the water comes out hot. It's bearable, though, and better than walking around covered in salt.

Every single beach in Dubai is on Google Maps. The most popular ones, such as Jumeirah Beach Residence, Barasti, Jumeirah Open Beach and La Mer, are always quite crowded. But there are also smaller beaches where you can relax. You won't have them to yourself, but they're not packed either. We found a beach in a bay that was mostly used by locals. Even when the sea was rough, the water in the bay stayed calm.

There are lifeguards on every beach, and quite a lot of them, not just a couple. They keep a very close eye on swimmers. When the sea is rough, flags are raised on the beach:

• a red flag means swimming is strictly forbidden;
• a purple flag means dangerous marine life, such as stinging jellyfish, has been spotted near the shore;
• orange means swimming is allowed, but you need to take extra care;
• white means all is well and you can swim.

You can't swim at ordinary beaches at night, but there are night beaches with lighting and lifeguards on duty.

Night beaches in Dubai

Dubai has several beaches that are popular at night. Although most beaches close at sunset, at these you can enjoy the sea and the sand after dark. By then the water has cooled to a comfortable temperature, and there aren't many people around.

We loved the night beach. After the daytime heat it's a real relief, even though it's only a few degrees cooler. The atmosphere is quite something, too.

There are night beaches in Jumeirah 2, Jumeirah 3 and Umm Suqeim 1. One of the best-known night beaches in Dubai is JBR Beach. As well as swimming in the sea, you can sit in one of the cafes or lounges that stay open late. All of these beaches are lit at night.

These are just some of the beaches you can visit in Dubai. Open Google Maps and see which beach is closest to you. All of Dubai's beaches are great.

The best time to visit Dubai

We went to Dubai in early July. It's one of the hottest times of year, but we'd wanted to go for so long that we couldn't resist the low prices for flights and hotels.

In early July, daytime temperatures were 37–41°C, and the heat doesn't let up at night: the average after dark was 35°C. The sea is very warm, almost too warm, at over 29°C, and on one day it reached 31°C. We live in a hot southern region, so we coped with the heat fairly easily. Despite the high humidity, we actually found Dubai easier than home. Plenty of people in online forums and groups say it's impossible to be in Dubai in summer, but we're simply sharing our own experience.

Overall, the heat didn't bother us, because air conditioning works everywhere in Dubai, and works well. It's cool everywhere: in shopping malls, cafes, the metro, the hotel and even the toilets. The only change the heat made to our plans was that we took a taxi from the hotel to the metro. Our daughter is 6, and dashing about in the heat was too much for her. A short ride cost AED 10–15, which is very reasonable.

If you're wondering whether to go to Dubai in summer, we'd say don't miss the chance. Just wear light, pale-coloured clothes, drink plenty of water and cover your head in the sun. All in all, the heat is more of a minor consideration than a real drawback of a summer trip to Dubai.

If you have a choice, it's better to visit Dubai in the cooler months, such as March–April or October–November. You can still swim, but the air temperature is more comfortable.

Of course, the weather in Dubai affects the cost of a holiday. If you want to travel on a budget, go in summer. Cheap flights are easy to find, hotel rooms cost less, and the shopping malls hold sales. In winter, as everywhere, there are more tourists and prices rise.

What to see in Dubai in 3 days

We spent 3 full days in Dubai, which was enough to enjoy the beach, do some shopping and see the sights.

Of the big-name sights, we loved the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, whose sheer scale is truly impressive. The fountains by the tower were a particular highlight. There are several light and music shows every day. They start at 18:00 and run every half hour, with the last one at 23:00. Around the fountains there are plenty of kiosks and vendors selling drinks and street food, and every one of them takes card payments. Prices aren't very high either, so it's easy to grab a snack or an energy drink.

For shopping, we went to Dubai Mall, which has shops from all the popular brands, including Zara, H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria's Secret and many more. As we mentioned above, there are sales in June and July, and we caught them. We bought lots of clothes and shoes for ourselves and our daughter at great discounts. It was a real pleasure to shop at all our favourite brands.

We also managed to visit the “sail”, the Burj Al Arab hotel. It has a great beach, but that day the waves were strong and the lifeguards had raised the red flag. So we just took photos and went to a beach in the bay instead, where the weather was great and the water was calm.

In fact, the whole of Dubai is one big attraction. Over 3 days we soaked up so many impressions just by walking around the city. So just relax and enjoy your holiday!

Food in Dubai

Breakfast was included at our hotel. If you're travelling to Dubai with a child, we'd recommend this option. Every day we got ready at a relaxed pace, had a good breakfast and then headed out to explore or to the beach.

Food prices in larger cafes and restaurants are quite high, with an average bill of AED 150 or more per person. In one cafe, for example, 2 fried eggs cost AED 40.

For lunch and dinner, we ate at fast-food places and small roadside cafes. For example, lunch for 2 adults and 1 child at McDonald's cost about AED 100. A coffee and a children's drink at Starbucks came to AED 60. We really liked McDonald's in Dubai. All the food there is halal, so there's no pork at all. The burgers are great!

It's better to buy food and drinks in small shops, which are a bit like discount convenience stores and can be found everywhere. Prices in the big supermarket chains are eye-watering, which is understandable, as almost everything here is imported.

Next time we'll plan ahead and choose some cafes in advance. This time we wanted to see as much as possible, so we grabbed quick meals at fast-food places and hurried on.

What to wear in Dubai

We always try to respect local culture and customs, so my wife packed knee-length or longer skirts and always covered her shoulders with a shirt or wore T-shirts.

As it turned out, though, there's no strict dress code in Dubai, and nobody really worries about what you wear. We saw lots of women in shorts and crop tops, and nobody whistled at them or paid them any attention. So you can bring your usual holiday wardrobe. Still, it's a good idea to pack a few more modest items if you want to visit mosques and other cultural sites, for example.

Summary: key things to know before going to Dubai

We hope you're not tired of reading our Dubai trip review yet! To finish, here are the main points that helped our family enjoy a comfortable holiday in this wonderful city.

1. Make sure your bank card works abroad. Activate it and let your bank know you're travelling to Dubai. Where possible, get dirhams in cash rather than buying dollars first. Carry some cash just in case, and for extra security you could keep a little crypto too.
2. Install the Careem app and set up an account before you go. Always choose the Hala car type, which guarantees that an official Dubai taxi will pick you up.
3. Buy a NOL card and use it on buses, the metro and trams. If you're in Dubai for just a few days, the silver card is the best choice.
4. If you use the metro at rush hour, women and children are better off in the pink carriage, where there's more space and it's more comfortable.
5. Don't try to travel without paying, because fare dodging carries hefty fines. Don't eat on the train, and generally be considerate.
6. Carry water with you. In the heat it's easy to become dehydrated or get heatstroke. Drink regularly, even if you don't feel thirsty.
7. If you're in Dubai in summer, be sure to visit a night beach. It's not hot, the water is a pleasant temperature and there are few people. And you definitely won't get sunburnt.
8. For summer trips, pack light, pale-coloured clothes. When it's around 45°C, what you wear really matters.
9. Buy food and drinks in small shops. Many of us are used to big supermarkets being cheaper than small convenience stores, but in Dubai it's the other way round.
10. If you're planning to buy designer clothes and accessories, only buy them in large shopping malls such as Dubai Mall or Mall of the Emirates. Elsewhere, there's a high risk of buying a fake.
11. Make sure you get travel insurance, and don't skimp on it! Healthcare in the UAE is extremely expensive, and even if you just feel unwell from the heat, you could face a huge clinic bill. It's better to spend a little on a policy and know that a minor mishap won't turn into a financial disaster.
12. If you have a driving licence, some driving experience and, above all, confidence behind the wheel, you could hire a car. It's convenient and inexpensive, and you can find a car for $20–30 per day. Just make sure you learn the local traffic rules and know what can get you fined. We cover Dubai's traffic rules in our article.

We hope our experience helps you plan your own trip to Dubai.

Is Dubai worth visiting, and how much does it cost?

Dubai is definitely worth visiting at least once in your life. Some people don't like it, while others fall in love with it. There are plenty of great beaches, designer shops and interesting places to see.

For us, 3 days in Dubai was enough to do everything we'd planned. We saw the skyscrapers and the dancing fountains, went shopping in the enormous Dubai Mall, and swam and relaxed on the beaches. And the trip wasn't particularly expensive:

• a 4-star chain hotel for 3 nights – AED 845 (including all taxes and fees);
• food, snacks and drinks – we mostly ate at fast-food places and small cafes (see the prices above);
• getting around by bus, metro and taxi – NOL fares of up to AED 7.5 per trip and short taxi rides of AED 10–15.

We also spent money on shopping, but that's very much a personal matter. In winter, a trip like this would probably cost around 30% more. We'll tell you more about that in the autumn, as we're definitely going back.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments! We'll be happy to help.