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Ras Al Khaimah
Capital city of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

Ras Al Khaimah

Ras Al Khaimah, often referred to its initials RAK, is an industrial port city and the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates.

Plan a trip to Ras Al Khaimah→From Sharjah

The city had a population of 191,753 people in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain and Ajman. The city is divided by a creek into two parts: old town in the west and Al Nakheel in the east. The town is the successor to the Islamic era port and trading hub of Julfar.

Get in

Getting to Ras Al Khaimah

  1. 01
    Ras al Khaimah International Airport

    Bus line G1 goes every hour to the Al Nakheel bus station of Ras Al Khaimah city.

  2. 02
    RAK Bus Station

    The intercity buses from Dubai and Sharjah arrive here.

  3. 03
    Al Nakheel Bus Station

    The bus from the Ras Al Khaimah airport arrives here.

See

Worth seeing

Ras al Khaimah Old City - the oldest residential area in the city of Ras al Khaimah with an old souq, old mosque, fishing harbour and Al Hisn Fort, which now host RAK National Museum.

  1. 01
    Ras al Khaimah National Museum
  2. 02
    Jebel Jais
  3. 03
    Al Jazirah al Hamra Heritage Village
  4. 04
    Queen of Sheeba’s Palace

    Shimal Fort, known locally as 'Sheba's Palace', the remains of an Islamic era fortification.

  5. 05
    Dhayah Fort
  6. 06
    Ghalilah Village and Wadi

    Th main attractions include famous Stairway to Heaven track, ancient tomb, heritage village and fishermen houses.

Do

Things to do

Beach Fishing Ice land Waterpark - it offers more than 50 rides and numerous water games. Saqr Park - the Saqr Park is the Emirate’s biggest public park. It has some slides, electrical cars, computer games and other attractions for the young ones. Camel race track – camel race is an attraction not to be missed. The races take place on Fridays, early in the morning from October till March.

Eat

Where to eat

A typical Emirati food is not widely available but it can be found in so called ‘popular kitchen’ types of restaurants. Lebanese cuisine mixed with some Arabic and Indian influences is often considered a local food. What you can expect in the restaurant is traditional Lebanese mezze (hummos, mutabal, salads, falafel), kebabs, biryani, fish or lamb.

How locals move

Getting around Ras Al Khaimah the local way

  • Get aroundDubai taxis are allowed to ferry passengers back from Dubai to RAK, and the charge to RAK City is around 250-300 AED; be aware of the different types of Dubai taxi - it is more expensive to take the "limo" type of taxi rather than a standard taxi, and you have to be careful at taxi stands that you ask for the regular cream coloured taxis for the cheapest rates.
  • Get aroundA few tour operators (mainly in the international hotels) organize Ras al Khaimah city tours.

From Wikivoyage: Ras al Khaimah, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-05.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Supanut Arunoprayote (CC BY 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.