By Mohammed Rashad Hussain, Managing PartnerPublished 6 min read
What should a UAE honeymoon itinerary include?
Most couples want five things: a smooth arrival, the skyline, one cultural day, one evening in the desert and one day out of the city. The plan below fits all five into five days. Move the days around to suit your flights.
One driver and one car across the whole stay means no handovers. You tell the driver the next morning’s start time the night before, and the car is at the door. For the arrangement itself, see how Assure handles wedding and special-occasion cars and the wedding car hire page.
| Day | Plan | Driving |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Airport pickup, hotel, a quiet dinner | Airport to hotel |
| 2 | Old Dubai, Downtown, creek dhow dinner | Within Dubai |
| 3 | Abu Dhabi | About 139 km each way |
| 4 | Desert afternoon and dinner | Short drive to the dunes |
| 5 | Hatta, Jebel Jais or Musandam | 110 to 195 km each way |
Day 1: airport pickup and a slow first evening
Your driver tracks your flight number and waits in the arrivals hall with your name on a board. Send us your flight number and we confirm the terminal and meeting point. Details are on the airport transfers page.
Keep the first evening empty. After a long flight, a hotel dinner is enough. If one of you is planning a surprise, the guide to places to propose in Dubai lists spots that a driver can reach and wait at.
If guests are flying in for a wedding rather than a honeymoon, see wedding guest airport pickups in the UAE.
Day 2: Old Dubai, Downtown and a dhow dinner
Start in the old districts of Bur Dubai and Deira, on either bank of the creek. Walk Al Seef’s creekside promenade, then cross for the souks in Deira. The traditional abra crossing is a short ride, and your driver meets you on the other side.
Late afternoon, go to Downtown for the Burj Khalifa and the fountain area. Then move to the creek for dinner on a dhow. One listed creek cruise boards at about 20:00 and sails from 20:30 to 22:30, with a buffet dinner. Our Dubai Creek dhow dinner cruise page names the boarding points at Deira and Al Seef. The car waits and takes you back to the hotel.
Day 3: Abu Dhabi with a driver
Central Abu Dhabi is about 139 km from Downtown Dubai. Allow 1 hour 30 minutes on the E11 without traffic, and more in the morning and evening peaks. Pick up after breakfast and plan your first stop at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
The mosque opens Saturday to Thursday from 9:00 to 20:30, with last entry at 20:00. On Fridays visits pause between 11:30 and 14:30. Visitors pre-book an online access pass. Both of you wear loose clothing to the ankles and the wrists, and women cover their hair. Our mosque visitor guide has the full rules.
After the mosque, choose from the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Corniche or Qasr Al Watan. The guide to places to visit in Abu Dhabi compares them. Check opening days on the official sites before you fix the day. The Dubai to Abu Dhabi transfer page covers the route, and Abu Dhabi wedding transport from Dubai shows how the same trip works for a wedding party.
Day 4: a desert afternoon and dinner under the stars
Keep this day light. Sleep in, then leave Dubai in mid-afternoon for the dunes. Sunset in Dubai falls at about 5:31 pm in mid-December and about 7:10 pm in mid-June, so the pickup time moves with the season.
A private desert safari gives the two of you your own 4x4 and driver, with no other hotels on the route and no fixed schedule at the camp. Assure drives you to the desert in its own car, with a private partner 4x4 for the dunes. Dune driving is bumpy, so say so in your quote if either of you is pregnant or has a back problem.
Day 5: Hatta, Jebel Jais or Musandam
Pick one. All three are full days.
| Option | From Downtown Dubai | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hatta | About 110 km, roughly 1 h 30 min | Kayaking on the dam, a calm village lunch | Most activities open 1 October to 5 May and close in rain |
| Jebel Jais | About 154 km, about 2 h | Cool air, viewpoints, the 1,934 m summit area | Below zero in winter, so bring a jacket |
| Musandam (Dibba or Khasab) | About 146 km to Dibba, 195 km to Khasab | A day on the water in a dhow | You cross into Oman, so passports are checked twice |
Hatta is the easiest and the shortest: see the Hatta day trip. For the mountain, read the Jebel Jais guide, which covers the road, the season and the zipline rules. The Ras Al Khaimah Jebel Jais tour is the booking page.
Musandam needs the most checking. Oman is a different country, so both of you need an original passport valid for at least 6 months and the right to enter Oman on your nationality. If your UAE visa is single entry, ask us before you go. Start with the Musandam border and visa rules, then choose a port with Dibba or Khasab. The Musandam tour page lists the day.
Hourly, daily or per trip: how to book the driver
There are three ways to book, and a honeymoon often mixes them.
- Per trip suits airport runs and the Abu Dhabi return. One pickup, one drop-off.
- By the day suits Day 3 and Day 5, where the car waits at each stop. Our private tours page covers set days out.
- By the hour suits Day 2 and Day 4, when you do not know how long you will stay. The car with driver service explains the options, and hourly vs transfer shows which suits which day.
Assure quotes the whole stay on WhatsApp, with no price on the page because it depends on dates, cars and stops. The Assure fleet includes the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series, which suit a couple. Other cars are available through our partner network, subject to availability.
When to go and what to pack
November to March is the comfortable stretch for a honeymoon. Jebel Jais lists October to April as its best season, and most Hatta activities run from 1 October to 5 May. If you are still choosing a wedding or honeymoon date, read the best time to get married in Dubai and the best time to visit Dubai for month-by-month temperatures.
Pack these for the days above:
- Loose, long clothes for the mosque on Day 3, with a scarf for her.
- A light jacket for the Jebel Jais summit or the desert after dark.
- Both passports on Day 5, whichever trip you choose. Carry them on the other days too.
- Swimwear and a towel for Hatta or Musandam.
- Comfortable shoes for the creek walk and the dunes.
Photos in this guide
An abra water taxi crossing Dubai Creek with dhows and the Deira skyline behindTill Wicher / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
A palm-lined walkway leading to the white minarets and domes of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu DhabiGuilhem Vellut / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Rolling red-gold sand dunes under a clear sky in the Dubai desertKamyana / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
A winding mountain road on Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah in low sunClintonrebeiro / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
