How Much Does a Dubai Trip Cost? Daily Budgets by Area and Style

The five lines of a Dubai budget

#1

Deira to the Palm, cheapest to dearest The biggest line: from around AED 250 a night to AED 3,000 and up

Hotels by area

The price runs with the beach: 3-stars in Deira and Bur Dubai from around AED 250-450 a night in season, 4-stars in the Marina, Downtown and Business Bay from around AED 500-1,000, beach resorts on JBR and the Palm from about AED 1,200 to 3,000 and up. Summer rates fall hard; December and Eid climb.

#2

Metro, tram, abra, metered taxis AED 3-7.5 by metro, tens of dirhams by taxi

Getting around

The Red Line links the airport, Downtown and the Marina for AED 3-7.5 a ride on a Nol card, the abra crosses the Creek for AED 1-2, and taxis are metered at about AED 2 per km with a flag fall of about AED 5. Three of our tours include hotel pickup, which removes the two dearest transfers of the week.

#3

Free sights, AED 50 views, AED 150 headliners One paid view, the rest free

Tickets and attractions

The Fountain, Burj Park, the beaches, Marina Walk, Al Fahidi and the Palm Fountain cost nothing. The Frame is about AED 50, The View at The Palm about AED 70-100, the Museum of the Future and the Dubai Aquarium about AED 150, At the Top from $55 with us. Pay for one view and take the rest from the water or the sand.

#4

Cafeterias, food courts, promenades, hotels AED 60 a day or AED 600 — your choice

Food and drink

A shawarma in Deira for roughly AED 10-30, a food-court meal for about AED 35-60, a promenade dinner for roughly AED 80-150 a head without alcohol, a hotel restaurant from about AED 200-400. Drinks in licensed hotel bars are the multiplier; dinner on the safari and at the yacht party is inside the ticket.

#5

Desert, Abu Dhabi, balloon, the Marina $32 to $275 per person, no prepayment on two

Our tours, priced exactly

The desert safari from $45 with pickup and dinner, the Abu Dhabi day from $45 with pickup and a guide, the shared yacht hour from $32, the 21+ yacht party at $99 with a live BBQ, the sunrise balloon at $275 with breakfast, and private yachts from AED 400 per hour for the whole boat. Fixed prices, booked and confirmed on WhatsApp.

The short answer: three daily budgets

Per person per day, two people sharing a room, in the November-March season: about AED 300-450 on a budget — a 3-star in Deira or Bur Dubai, the metro, cafeterias and the free sights, with the $45 desert safari and the $32 yacht hour spread across the week; about AED 700-1,200 mid-range — a 4-star in the Marina, Downtown or Business Bay, taxis when it is hot, restaurant dinners, one paid view and all four of our shared tours; from about AED 2,000 in luxury — a 5-star beach resort, Careem everywhere, hotel dinners, the $275 balloon and a private yacht. Over five days and two people the trip on the ground runs from roughly AED 3,000-4,500 to AED 20,000 and up, before flights.

The spread is almost entirely the hotel and the restaurants. Everything else in Dubai is either cheap (the metro, the abra, the Fountain) or a fixed price you can see before you land, which is what the rest of this guide sets out.

Hotel and food figures are planning bands that swing with the season and the booking date; our tour prices are exact, converted at about AED 3.67 to the dollar.

Money basics: dirhams, cards, VAT and the hotel fees

The small print that changes the total before you have spent anything on fun.

• Currency. The dirham (AED) is pegged at about 3.67 to the US dollar, so $45 is about AED 165 and $275 about AED 1,010. Prices in this guide follow the rule of the city: our tours in dollars, everything else in dirhams.
• Cards are accepted almost everywhere, taxis included, and ATMs are everywhere. There is no need to arrive with a wallet of cash.
• VAT is 5% on most prices and is normally already inside the price you see on the menu or the ticket.
• Hotel fees. Hotels add a Tourism Dirham of about AED 7-20 per room per night plus a municipality fee; check the total on the booking page rather than the headline rate.
• Tipping is not mandatory: 10-15% in restaurants when no service charge is added, AED 5-10 for porters and valets, round up taxis; a tip for a driver-guide is welcome and never required. The full etiquette is in tipping in Dubai.
• Alcohol is served only in licensed venues — hotels, licensed restaurants and bars, licensed boats — and it is the single line that moves a food budget most; budget for it separately if you drink.

Hotels: what each area costs, and when

Dubai's hotel map runs along the coast, and the price runs with the beach. Rates are highest from November to March, around Eid and in the last two weeks of December, and lowest from May to September, when a resort room can cost a fraction of its winter rate. The bands below are planning figures for a double room in season, not quotes: check live rates for your dates and read the fees line above.

Which area fits which traveller — and how our pickups work from each — is in where to stay in Dubai; the seasonal swing month by month is in the best time to visit Dubai. One rule of thumb from running tours here: the hotel is the one line where paying less rarely spoils the trip, because the evenings — the desert, the water, the Fountain — are the same wherever you sleep.

Getting around: dirhams by metro, tens of dirhams by taxi

Transport is where Dubai is cheap if you let it be. The Red Line runs the whole tourist spine — the airport, Deira, Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, Business Bay, Mall of the Emirates and the two Marina stations, DMCC and Sobha Realty — for AED 3 to 7.5 a ride on a Silver Nol card, which costs about AED 25 including AED 19 of credit. The tram covers the Marina and JBR, the Palm Monorail is about AED 20-30 return, and the abra across the Creek is AED 1-2.

Taxis are metered and honest: flag fall about AED 5 in the city and AED 25 from the airport ranks, about AED 2 per km, minimum fare about AED 12. Careem and Uber run at similar or slightly higher prices, Hala is the app-booked street taxi, and all of them take cards. The 7-9:30 AM and 5-8 PM rush on Sheikh Zayed Road adds 15-30 minutes and the dirhams that go with them.

Fares are approximate; the meter and the app are the reference on the day.

Our desert, Abu Dhabi and balloon tours include the transport: the desert safari and the Abu Dhabi day collect you at your hotel in Dubai, Sharjah or Ajman, and the sunrise balloon picks up anywhere in Dubai city before dawn. The Abu Dhabi day at $45 — about AED 165 — costs less than a one-way taxi to the capital. Everything about meters, apps and surcharges is in taxis and Careem in Dubai.

Attractions: what is free and what the tickets cost

Half of the best of Dubai is free, and the paid half is priced in three tiers: about AED 50 for a view, about AED 150 for a headline attraction, and AED 300 and up for a theme-park or waterpark day, for which you should check the official site because the tickets are dynamic. Pay for one view and take the rest from the water or the sand.

Third-party prices change; check the official site or app before you go.

The whole free list, with the cheap upgrades worth paying for, is in the best free things to do in Dubai.

Food and drink: from a AED 20 shawarma to a hotel dinner

Food is the line you control most. The same day can cost AED 60 or AED 600 depending on whether you eat in the cafeterias of Deira and Bur Dubai, the food courts of the malls, the promenade restaurants of JBR and Downtown or the restaurants inside the hotels — and on whether you drink. These are planning bands, not menus.

• Cafeterias and street food: a shawarma, a plate of biryani or a karak tea in Deira or Bur Dubai for roughly AED 10-30 — the cheapest good food in the city.
• Mall food courts and casual chains: plan on about AED 35-60 a meal.
• Promenade and mid-range restaurants on The Walk at JBR, Marina Walk, Souk Al Bahar or Al Seef: roughly AED 80-150 per person without alcohol.
• Hotel restaurants and rooftops: from about AED 200-400 per person for dinner, more with wine.
• Alcohol is the multiplier: a beer or a glass of wine in a licensed hotel bar is typically AED 40-70, and only licensed venues serve it.
• Water: tap water is safe but most people drink bottled — a few dirhams in a supermarket, several times that from a minibar. Water is included on all our tours, and the safari adds unlimited soft drinks, tea and Arabic coffee to the BBQ buffet.

Two habits move the food budget without hurting the trip. Eat the big meal at lunch in a food court, and spend the evening where dinner is part of the ticket: the safari's BBQ buffet with vegetarian and gluten-free dishes, or the yacht party's live BBQ with unlimited soft drinks, both included in the price. During Ramadan — the dates move about 11 days earlier every year, so check yours — tourists can eat in most restaurants in the daytime, and dinners and shows shift to after iftar.

Our tours: the exact prices and what they replace

These are the numbers we control, so they are exact. Prices are per person unless stated, every tour is booked on WhatsApp and confirmed with a message, and three of the five include the transport.

What they replace. The safari at $45 covers the 4x4 out to the Lahbab dunes 45-60 minutes from the city, the activities, dinner and the drive back; there is no cheaper safe way to reach the desert, which you visit only with a licensed operator. The Abu Dhabi day at $45 is below a one-way taxi to the capital and takes you inside the two free sites with a guide and mosque registration handled. The shared yacht hour at $32 is the skyline from the water for the price of a lunch, leaving hourly from the marina pier behind Al Majara Tower; the 1-hour cruise is prepaid because the slots sell out.

A private boat turns cheap with company: the 62 ft Libra at AED 1,150 per hour for up to 24 guests is AED 96 per person for 2 hours, and the smallest boat, the Sealine at AED 400 per hour, is AED 200 per person for six on the 3-hour minimum, captain and crew included. The per-person maths for all 30 boats is in yacht rental prices in Dubai and the fleet is at yacht rental.

Sample budgets: five days for two, three ways

The daily bands from the top of the page turned into a five-day trip for two on the ground, before flights.

• Come in April, October or the summer for the hotel deals; the safari and the yachts run all year, and in the heat the evenings are the programme anyway.
• Stay in Business Bay or Bur Dubai and ride the metro: AED 3-7.5 a trip against AED 50-70 in a taxi between Downtown and the Marina.
• Pay for one view, not three: Burj Park is free, Sky Views is cheaper than At the Top, The View at The Palm is about AED 70-100 — and the best view of the Marina costs $32 from the deck of the shared yacht.
• Go private on the water only from six people, when the boat beats the shared hour per person; below that, the $32 seat wins.
• Use the payment terms: the safari and the Abu Dhabi day need nothing in advance, the yacht cruises are prepaid because the slots go, and the balloon needs its 30% deposit 1-2 weeks ahead — so book the balloon and the sunset yacht first and leave the rest flexible.

Hotel and food are planning bands for the November-March season; summer rates can be far lower. Our tour prices are exact.

The free SB AI planner lays a 3-, 5- or 7-day trip out on the map with our tours in the right slots, so you can see where the money goes before you book anything.

FAQ

Recommended Dubai tours for this guide

Recommended tour

Full-Day Desert Safari in Dubai

It is the slow-travel version of the classic safari: more time on the dunes, sunset without the crowds and a full evening programme at a premium camp with air-conditioned tents, unlimited drinks and a large BBQ buffet with vegetarian and gluten-free options. Everything is arranged from the hotel door — a licensed English-speaking driver, the 4x4, the camp and the shows.

Duration

7 hours

Area

Lahbab Desert, Dubai

Format

Full-day desert safari

Best for

families, couples and first-time desert visitors who want the full evening programme

From $45 per person No prepayment

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Recommended tour

Abu Dhabi City Tour from Dubai

It is the classic capital day in one organised loop: the mosque before the midday heat and crowds, the newly opened BAPS Mandir, the skyline from the Corniche, Bedouin history at Heritage Village and a photo op at Ferrari World. Transport, a licensed guide, mosque registration assistance and bottled water are included; the $45 shared tour covers all free-entry sites, and a private VIP car for up to 7 people is $245.

Duration

9 hours

Area

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Format

Full-day guided city tour (shared or private)

Best for

families, seniors and first-time visitors who want the capital's landmarks in one day

From $45 per person No prepayment

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Recommended tour

Dubai Marina Shared Yacht Tour

It is the most stylish way to see the skyline without paying for a private charter: a premium yacht with spacious decks and 5-star hospitality, a red carpet at the pier and the crew helping with photos against JBR and Ain Dubai. Full pre-payment secures your slot — the hourly departures sell out — and the yacht leaves strictly on time.

Duration

1 hour

Area

Dubai Marina

Format

Shared 1-hour sightseeing cruise

Best for

families, couples and anyone who wants the Marina skyline from the water without a private charter

From $32 per person Full prepayment

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