Dubai
Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai.
Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai. It is on a creek on the southeastern coast of the Persian Gulf. As of 2025, its population stands at 4 million, 92% of whom are expatriates. The wider urban area includes Sharjah and has a population of 5 million people as of 2023, while the Dubai–Sharjah–Ajman metropolitan area has a population of 6 million people.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Dubai
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Burj Khalifa
The Burj Khalifa is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Designed by the SOM architectural firm, it is the world's tallest structure, with a total height of 829.8 m and a roof height of 828 m.
900 m · skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates · Wikipedia - 02Dubai Mall
Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in Dubai. The mall is part of Downtown Dubai and is located adjacent to the Burj Khalifa.
1.2 km · shopping mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates · Wikipedia - 03Address Downtown
The Address Downtown, formerly The Address Downtown Dubai, is a 63-story, 302.2 m supertall hotel and residential skyscraper in the Downtown Dubai Area of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was built by Emaar Properties.
1.5 km · tower block · Wikipedia - 04Gevora Hotel
Gevora Hotel is a 1,168 ft tall hotel along Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, UAE. That height has given the skyscraper the title of tallest hotel building according to Guinness World Records. The four-star hotel opened in February 2018 after a construction period of twelve years.
1.1 km · building · Wikipedia - 05Al Yaqoub Tower
The AHS Tower, formerly known as the Al Yaqoub Tower is a 328 m tall skyscraper on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The tower topped out in 2010 and was completed in 2013.
1.6 km · skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates · Wikipedia - 06Dubai Museum
Dubai Museum is the main museum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is located in the Al Fahidi Fort, built in 1787 and is the oldest existing building in Dubai.
7 km · main museum of Dubai · Wikipedia - 07Dubai Frame
The Dubai Frame is an observatory, museum and monument in Zabeel Park, Dubai. It holds the record for the largest frame in the world.
4.5 km · architectural landmark in Dubai · Wikipedia - 0821st Century Tower
The 21st Century Tower is a 55-story skyscraper along the Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. When it was completed in 2003 it took the title of the world's tallest residential building, ultimately being surpassed by the Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Australia and the Q1 tower in Australia's Gold Coast.
900 m · tower block · Wikipedia - 09Emirates Towers
The Emirates Towers is a building complex in Dubai that contains the Emirates Office Tower and Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel, which are connected by a 9,000 m2 two-story retail complex known as "The Boulevard". The entire complex is owned by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
1.9 km · building complex in Dubai · Wikipedia - 10Al-Maktoum Stadium
Al-Maktoum Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Oud Metha, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of both Al Nasr SC and United FC. The stadium holds roughly 15,000 people.
5.8 km · multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
Dubai is a mixture of old and new, traditional and modern. From old traditional souks and historical buildings (now being preserved for cultural reasons or already part of the national heritage) to modern Dubai's overwhelming shopping malls, incredible artificial islands and giant modern skyscrapers that include the world's tallest building, Dubai is a world in itself and offers plenty of wonderful attractions.
From Wikivoyage: Dubai, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Abra ride. A boat ride is best done at night in the cool weather and to enjoy the city lights. Abras can be hired for a private tour (for a price negotiable with the driver, but usually very cheap). This is quite a popular activity at sunset on a clear day, particularly if the driver is able to enliven the tour with stories about the structures on either side of the Creek.
From Wikivoyage: Dubai, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Shawarma is the most available food item on almost all streets (and cheap) in Dubai. It is the Arabic equivalent of the burger. It is meat that has been cooked on a skewer and then cut into thin strips and placed into a kuhbus (pita) bread with vegetables and dressing. There is the plain-jane variety and the more exotic Lebanese and Iranian varieties.
From Wikivoyage: Dubai, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Dubai
- Airports
- Dubai (DXB), 11 km · Sharjah (SHJ), 28 km · Al Maktoum (DWC), 36 km
- Ras Al Khaimah → Dubai102 km · quickest by road, 2h · AED23–32
- Abu Dhabi → Dubai115 km · quickest by road, 2h 5m · AED27–37
- Fujairah → Dubai104 km · quickest by road, 2h 11m · AED25–35
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Dubai
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Dubai. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inDubai is a trading hub for dhows from around the Indian Ocean.
- Get inMost of the dhows sail to Iran; some also head to Yemen and Somalia.
- Get inEmulating Michael Palin and heading to India on a dhow is difficult-to-impossible.
- Get aroundAn easy way of crossing Dubai Creek is by abra, a small ferry.
- Get aroundThe Creek is also the home of many boats offering more comfortable (and correspondingly more expensive) tours, often in boats designed to resemble dhows.
From Wikivoyage: Dubai, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 011,865 km
- 021,929 km
- 031,962 km
- 042,016 km
- 052,026 km
If you know how people move in Dubai – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Dubai
Dubai is 8 km from Dayrah, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel56-storey hotel in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates1.8 km
- Jumeirahdistrict in Dubai2.3 km
- Bur Dubaihistoric district in Dubai, United Arab Emirates6.9 km
- Deiraarea in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates8.3 km
- Port Rashidhuman settlement in United Arab Emirates8 km
- Al Shindaghahuman settlement in Dubai, United Arab Emirates7.3 km