Dune bashing before dinner. The 148th floor after breakfast.
Which desert safari actually takes you to the red dunes, what the Burj Khalifa costs once you add the Sky level, and where the abra still runs for a dirham. Reviews of every tour you can book across the Emirates.
Start here — Five bookings a first Emirates trip is usually built around, in the order travellers actually take them.
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1
The high oneBurj Khalifa Levels 124 & 125 Entry Ticket + Options
from $43
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2
The desert oneDesert Safari, Quad Bike, Camel Ride & Al Khayma Camp
from $32
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3
The other viewThe View At The Palm Observatory Entry Ticket
from $29
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4
The water oneDubai Marina: Luxury Yacht Tour with Breakfast or BBQ Option
from $15
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5
The old oneOld Town, Creek, Museums, Souks, & Street Food Tour
from $18
Every Emirati desert trip is one of four days out.
The dunes an hour inland from the city sell more tours than anything else here. The difference between them is the hour you leave and how long you stay, not the sand.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · Desert Safari, Quad Bike, Camel Ride & Al Khayma Camp
Evening runsBashing at golden hour, then a camp dinner under the stars.
Red dunesThe deep red sand out at Lahbab, and the steepest descents.
Morning runsCool air, unmarked sand, back in the city before lunch.
Sleeping outDinner, stargazing and breakfast without leaving the sand.
All 789 desert trips →
The towers charge admission. Some are worth it.
The Burj Khalifa sells three different heights, the Frame sells a glass floor, and The View at the Palm sells the shot everyone else is standing inside. Prices and what each one actually shows you.
The Emirates’ most popular days out.
The full Emirates list →What travellers here take before they take anything else, and what earns each one the slot.
1
Burj Khalifa Levels 124 & 125 Entry Ticket + Options
Review the Burj Khalifa Levels 124 and 125 ticket, with practical advice on views, queues, timing, options, and value.
From · $43
Read our review →
2
Desert Safari, Quad Bike, Camel Ride & Al Khayma Camp
from $32
3
Desert Safari, Quad Bike, Camel Ride and Sandboarding
from $29
4
Safari, Quad Bike, Camel Ride, and Buffet Dinner
from $46
5
Red Dune Safari, Quad Bike, Camel Ride, BBQ Dinner
from $29
6
Premium Safari, Camel Ride & Al Khayma Camp 3-Buffets
from $79
7
Burj Khalifa Sky Level 148, 124, & 125 Entry Ticket
from $122
8
The View At The Palm Observatory Entry Ticket
from $29
Dubai is one emirate of seven. The other six are day trips.
A capital with a mosque built from marble and a Louvre on the water, mountains an hour from the beach, a fjord coast on the Gulf of Oman, and a dam pool you can kayak on. All of it inside a morning’s drive.
The Creek built this country. The Marina sells tickets on it.
A wooden dhow with a buffet on the Creek costs less than lunch. A yacht out past the Burj Al Arab costs more than you would think, until you split it. Between them sit the speedboats, the jet skis and the dinner cruises under the bridges.
What a day out in the Emirates actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. The desert is cheaper than the tower, and the Creek is cheaper than both.
Souk walks, the Frame, abra rides, and most shared desert safaris out of a Dubai hotel.
Observation decks with the Sky level added, Abu Dhabi in a day, dinner cruises, premium camps.
Helicopters over the Palm, private yachts, supercars at Yas and skydives with the video.
Half the Emirati year is spent indoors, and the country planned for it.
From June to September the sand is unwalkable by nine in the morning and the desert trips move to dusk. Nobody sits it out here. The answer is a ski slope, an aquarium the size of a street, a museum with the air on, or a mall built to be walked through.
Four Emirati bookings that will not wait.
Most of this country can be arranged from the hotel lobby an hour beforehand. These four run on timed entry slots and sailing lists that take no interest in when you land.
- 01Burj Khalifa Levels 124 & 125 Entry Ticket + OptionsEntry is a timed slot with a cap on each one. Sunset goes weeks out, and the Sky level goes first.
- 02Abu Dhabi City Tour Including Ferrari World Tickets from DubaiIt shuts two days most weeks and fills on the days it does not. Yas is ninety minutes from a Dubai hotel — a wasted drive is a wasted day.
- 03Dubai To Abu Dhabi: Grand Mosque, Royal Palace & Etihad TowersPrayer times close the mosque to visitors, and the dress code is enforced at the gate rather than argued about inside.
- 042-Hour or Full-Day Slope Session at Ski DubaiSlope sessions run in blocks with a fixed number of jackets. Weekends sell out while the fresh snow is still being groomed.
Three things that only happen in the Emirates.
Dunes and skylines turn up all over the Gulf. A falcon on your arm at a desert camp, a ski slope inside a shopping mall, and a mosque with eighty-two domes of white marble do not.
A Falcon on Your Arm
Falconry here is not a photo op bolted onto a camp dinner, it is the reason half of these camps exist. Birds are trained on the lure at dusk, flown low across the sand, and handed over on a glove heavy enough to take the landing. Ask the handler what the bird is worth before you assume it is a prop.
- 1High Red Dunes with Camel Ride, Sandboarding, Falcon Show and VIP BBQ Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,453 reviews
- 2Bedouin Camp, Dune Safari, Falcon Show & BBQ Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,186 reviews
- 3Dubai Red Dunes with Sandboarding, Camel Ride, Falcon & VIP Camp★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 965 reviews
The Slope Inside the Mall
Five runs of real snow sit under a roof at Mall of the Emirates, kept at minus four while the car park outside runs to fifty in August. Jacket, trousers and boots come with the ticket; gloves and a hat do not. Penguins march past on a schedule, which is either the highlight or the reason to book the slope pass instead.
- 12-Hour or Full-Day Slope Session at Ski Dubai★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 1,202 reviews
- 2Ski Dubai Snow Park Classic Pass★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 625 reviews
- 3Ski Dubai Snow Plus Pass★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 440 reviews
The Grand Mosque
Eighty-two domes, a carpet woven in one piece, and courtyards of white marble inlaid with flowers that stay cool enough to walk barefoot on. Entry is free and modest dress is enforced at the door; abayas are lent out at the gate. Go for the last hour of daylight, when the marble turns and the pools go still.
- 1Dubai To Abu Dhabi: Grand Mosque, Royal Palace & Etihad Towers★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 7,632 reviews
- 2Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque & Louvre Museum Full-Day★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 6,227 reviews
- 3Abu Dhabi tour from Dubai small group with guide, Grand Mosque★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,286 reviews
By emirate — and the day trips between them
The newest reviews from around the Emirates.
The rest of the new ones →
Dubai Sunrise private Desert Safari With Camel Ride
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Marina Dhowe Cruise Dinner with Private Transfers
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Half Day Dubai City Sightseeing Tour Including with Pickup & Drop
Read our review →
Morning Desert Safari in Dubai with Quad Bike and Camel Ride
Read our review →
Dubai Full Day: Hire Private Vehicle with Professional Driver
Read our review →
Dubai Dhow Cruise Dinner Al Seef Creek Multicusine
Read our review →