Dubai to Sharjah: Bus, Taxi, Rush Hour and What to See

The four ways, ranked

#1

Any Dubai address to Sharjah, door to door Groups of 2-4, evenings, luggage — about AED 40-80

Taxi or Careem

The default for most visitors. A metered RTA taxi or a Careem from Deira, Bur Dubai or Downtown reaches Al Majaz Waterfront or the Blue Souk in 20-40 minutes outside the peaks for about AED 40-80, plus a small surcharge for crossing into another emirate. Split three or four ways it costs little more than the bus, and it is the only option that works at midnight after the waterfront fountains.

#2

Union, Al Ghubaiba or Deira City Centre to Al Jubail, Sharjah Solo travellers and tight budgets — about AED 10

Bus E303, E306 or E307

The RTA intercity buses leave from Union (E303), Al Ghubaiba (E306) and Deira City Centre (E307) and arrive at Al Jubail bus station on the Sharjah side, a few minutes from the Blue Souk and a short taxi from Al Majaz Waterfront. About AED 10 on a Nol card, air-conditioned, 30-60 minutes depending on traffic. Slow in the 5-8 PM outbound crawl, so ride it in the morning or after 8 PM and check live times in the S'hail app.

#3

From the Marina, Downtown or the airport Staying far from Deira, no taxi budget

Metro to Union, then the bus

If you are staying on the Marina or Downtown side, the Red Line takes you to Union, the Red and Green Line interchange in Deira, in about 20-45 minutes depending on where you board, and the E303 leaves from the bus station at street level. The full trip is around 1.5 hours from the Marina and roughly AED 15-20 in total on one Nol card, against well over AED 100 for the same journey by taxi.

#4

Your Sharjah hotel to the dunes or to Abu Dhabi Guests staying in Sharjah or Ajman

Hotel pickup on our tours

You do not have to come to Dubai to start a tour. The 7-hour desert safari from $45 and the 9-hour Abu Dhabi city tour from $45 both collect from hotels and apartments in Sharjah and Ajman in an air-conditioned vehicle, with no prepayment: you agree the date on WhatsApp and pay on the day. Sharjah guests are first on the route, so the pickup is earlier than the Dubai one, and the driver is the one sitting in the traffic.

Dubai to Sharjah: the short answer

Fastest: a taxi or Careem outside the peaks, 20-40 minutes for about AED 40-80 from Deira, Bur Dubai or Downtown, plus a small surcharge for crossing into another emirate. Cheapest: the RTA intercity bus — E303 from Union, E306 from Al Ghubaiba or E307 from Deira City Centre — for about AED 10 on a Nol card. With luggage, late at night or as a group of three or four: the taxi, every time. There is no Metro line into Sharjah, so the train only gets you to the bus station.

The number that matters more than the distance is the clock. Sharjah city centre is only about 15-25 km from Old Dubai, but the two cities share one of the heaviest commutes in the country: 7-9 AM into Dubai and 5-8 PM out of it, when the same trip can take an hour. Travel against that flow and Sharjah is a comfortable half-day from Dubai; travel with it and you spend the money you saved on the bus sitting in a queue.

If you are staying in Sharjah rather than visiting it, most of this article is optional. Our full-day desert safari and the Abu Dhabi city tour both collect from Sharjah hotels, so the only trips you need to organise yourself are the ones into Dubai itself.

The options compared

The fares below are third-party and approximate: the meter, the traffic and the app's pricing decide the final number, so check the live estimate in Careem or the RTA's S'hail app before you leave. Our tour pickups are the exception — the price is the tour price, and the transfer is in it.

Rush hour runs 7-9 AM towards Dubai and 5-8 PM towards Sharjah. Friday and Saturday evenings are slow around Downtown and the Marina as well.

Step by step: the bus from Dubai to Sharjah

The intercity buses are the cheapest way across and, outside the evening crawl, a perfectly civilised one: air-conditioned coaches, a fixed fare and a terminus a few minutes from the Blue Souk. Here is the whole trip from any Dubai hotel.

• 1. Get a Nol card. Buses do not take cash. A Silver Nol card costs about AED 25 including AED 19 of credit and is sold at every Metro station; if you already have one from the Metro it works on the bus too.
• 2. Get to a departure station. Union (the Red and Green Line interchange in Deira) for the E303, Al Ghubaiba (Green Line, Bur Dubai, next to the abra stations) for the E306, or Deira City Centre (Red Line) for the E307. From the Marina or Downtown the Red Line to Union takes about 20-45 minutes depending on where you board.
• 3. Board and tap in. Tap the Nol card on the reader as you board and again as you get off; the fare is about AED 10. Check the next departure in the S'hail app rather than standing at the bay — it shows live times.
• 4. Ride 30-60 minutes. The bus crosses into Sharjah on the highway. There is no border check between the emirates, but carry ID as you would anywhere in the UAE.
• 5. Arrive at Al Jubail bus station. It is on the Sharjah side of Khalid Lagoon, a few minutes on foot from the Blue Souk and a short taxi from Al Majaz Waterfront, Al Noor Island and the Museum of Islamic Civilization.
• 6. Coming back. The same routes return to Dubai from Al Jubail. Evenings run against the commute, so an 8 PM or 9 PM bus back is usually quick; the 7-9 AM slot towards Dubai is the one to avoid.

Rush hour: the one thing that decides the trip

The Dubai-Sharjah commute is why a 20 km trip has a reputation. Many people who work in Dubai live in Sharjah, so the roads fill towards Dubai from 7 to 9 AM and towards Sharjah from 5 to 8 PM. Everything else — taxi or bus, which road, which bus station — matters less than being on the right side of that flow.

For a visitor based in Dubai the timing works in your favour. Leave after 9:30 AM (or before 7 AM, if you are up) and you drive against the inbound queue; come back in the evening and you drive against the outbound one. The single trap is leaving Dubai for Sharjah between 5 and 8 PM: if the plan is the Al Majaz fountains after dark, be over the border before 4:30 PM or set off after 8 PM.

For a visitor based in Sharjah it is the mirror image. Mornings into Dubai are slow unless you leave before 7 AM or after 9:30 AM, and the evening ride home is the crawl — eat dinner in Dubai and head back after 8 PM. Or do your big days on our tours, where the pickup is timed for you (earlier than the Dubai pickups, because Sharjah is first on the route) and nobody in the car is watching the meter.

When a taxi is smarter

The bus wins on price and loses on everything else once there are three of you. A metered RTA taxi from Deira to Al Majaz costs about AED 40-80 plus the small inter-emirate surcharge, takes cards and drops you at the door; split three ways it is a few dirhams more than the bus per person, without the wait at Union or the second taxi at the other end.

Take the taxi when it is after dark and the last bus is a question mark; when you have luggage or a pushchair; when you are going to Al Noor Island or the Rain Room rather than the souk, which are a ride from the bus station anyway; or when you are starting on the Marina side, where the bus plan means the best part of an hour on the Metro first. Careem and Uber price about the same as the street taxi, sometimes a little more at peak times, and Hala inside the Careem app books an ordinary metered RTA taxi if you prefer that. Our taxi and Careem guide has the surcharges and the rules of thumb.

One caution: from Dubai Marina or JBR the same taxi is well over AED 100 and about 50-80 minutes, because Sharjah lies beyond the far end of the city. From there the Metro-and-bus combination is the sensible saving, or make Sharjah the afternoon of a day you are already in Deira for the Gold Souk.

Staying in Sharjah? Our tours collect you there

Plenty of visitors base themselves in Sharjah, and the practical question is whether a tour will come and fetch them. For two of ours, yes. The full-day desert safari collects from hotels and apartments in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman in an air-conditioned 4x4 — 7 hours, from $45 per person or $65 with the 30-minute quad bike, and no prepayment: you agree the date on WhatsApp and pay on the day. Sharjah guests are first on the route, so the pickup is earlier than a Dubai one; the safari from Sharjah and Ajman article has the timings.

The Abu Dhabi city tour works the same way: 8:00 AM pickup in Dubai, earlier from Sharjah and Ajman, then about 1.5-2 hours to the Grand Mosque, the BAPS Mandir, the Corniche, Heritage Village and Yas Island, and back in the evening — 9 hours, from $45 shared or $245 for a private car for up to 7, no prepayment. For a Sharjah guest that is well over 300 km of driving done by somebody else.

Two things do not collect from Sharjah. The sunrise balloon picks up anywhere in Dubai city before dawn — from Sharjah, message us on WhatsApp before booking rather than assuming. And the yacht tours depart from the marina pier behind Al Majara Tower, Dubai Marina, which from Sharjah is nearly the full length of the city: budget a good hour by taxi off-peak, or bus to Union and the Red Line to DMCC station in around 1.5 hours. The yacht party boards at 8:30 PM for a 9 PM departure and the shared yacht hour needs check-in 20 minutes before, and both are prepaid because the slots sell out, so leave Sharjah with a margin. The evening direction into Dubai runs against the commute, which helps.

What to see in Sharjah in half a day

Sharjah is the quieter, more conservative neighbour, with a lagoon-side centre that is at its best from late afternoon. Two rules before you go: the emirate is dry, with no alcohol anywhere, hotels included (the alcohol laws article covers what that means for your evening), and shoulders and knees covered is the standard in public, not only in mosques.

• Al Noor Island — a landscaped island in Khalid Lagoon reached by a curved footbridge, with the golden latticed Butterfly House among the trees. Go for the last hour of daylight and stay as the lights come on.
• Al Majaz Waterfront — the lagoon promenade with cafés and fountains that put on a show after dark; the easiest place to end the day.
• Al Noor Mosque — the white Ottoman-style mosque on the lagoon corniche, photographed best at dusk when its two minarets are lit.
• The Blue Souk (Central Souq) — twin blue-tiled buildings with wind towers, a covered market for gold, carpets and souvenirs, a few minutes from Al Jubail bus station.
• Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization — the striped stone building with the golden dome on the Corniche; the calmest two hours of the day, and air-conditioned.
• Rain Room — the permanent Random International installation at the Sharjah Art Foundation: rain that stops wherever you stand. Entry is by timed slot in small groups, so book ahead.
• Heart of Sharjah and Al Hisn Fort — the restored old quarter and the fort with its round tower and cannons, a short taxi from the souk.

A half-day in Sharjah from Dubai, hour by hour

This is the plan for anyone who is in Deira for the souks anyway and has an afternoon spare. It is built around the traffic: out of Dubai after the morning peak, back after the evening one.

Sunset is about 5:30 PM in December and about 7:10 PM in June; push the island and the waterfront later in summer.

If you are planning a whole week rather than an afternoon, Sharjah competes with Hatta, Jebel Jais and the Abu Dhabi day for your out-of-Dubai slots. The best day trips from Dubai guide ranks them by time and cost, and the free SB AI planner lays them out on the map with our tours on the right days.

FAQ

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