How many days do you need in Dubai?
Three days. That is the length of the itinerary we built for Dubai.
Here is what each day holds. Every stop below carries its time, and every gap says how to get to the next stop, with the walk or drive time wherever both stops are mapped.
Dubai · 3 days United Arab Emirates
Best time: November to March, when daytime highs sit in the twenties and everything outdoors is pleasant.
Old Dubai and the CreekDay 1
📍9:00 AMAl Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood
Coral-and-gypsum houses with wind towers, the cooling system that made this coast habitable before electricity.
🚶 ~1 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 264 ft
📍12:00 PMAbra across the Creek
A wooden ferry across the water for about a dirham, the oldest continuously running transport in the city.
🚶 ~9 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.3 mi
📍5:00 PMGold and Spice Souks
Deira's covered lanes: tonnes of gold behind glass, and sacks of saffron, frankincense, and dried lime next door.
The new cityDay 2
🖼️10:00 AMMuseum of the Future
A torus of Arabic calligraphy with no straight walls, opened 2022. The building is the exhibit; book a timed slot well ahead.
🚶 ~44 min · 🚗 ~6 min · 1.6 mi
🌇3:00 PMBurj Khalifa observation deck
The tallest building in the world at 828m. Book a late-afternoon slot and stay through sunset to get the city twice.
🚶 ~9 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.3 mi
📍7:30 PMDubai Fountain
Free, on the half hour after dark, on the lake below the tower. Watch from the far side of the lake for the whole thing in frame.
Desert and coastDay 3
🌳10:00 AMJumeirah beach and the sail hotel
Public beach with the Burj Al Arab on its own island offshore. The photograph everybody takes, and the water is warm.
🚗 ~9 min · 2.6 mi
📍2:00 PMAlserkal Avenue
Contemporary galleries and independent coffee in a converted marble-factory warehouse district. The city's art scene, away from the malls.
🚗 day trip · 35 mi
📍4:00 PMDesert evening in the conservation reserve
Dune drive, camels, and dinner under the stars in a protected reserve an hour inland. Choose an operator inside the reserve; the free-for-all dunes are being wrecked.
This is how Petrel lays out a trip. Upload your own confirmations and it builds this for your dates: flights and hotels included, with live flight status and the travel time between stops.
This is one of 126 free itineraries. Open it, change anything you want, and it becomes your trip.