How to get around Dubai: Metro, taxis, apps, tram, abras and private drivers

What are your options for getting around Dubai?

Dubai is long and thin. It runs down the coast from Deira and DXB in the north-east to Dubai Marina and JBR in the south-west, 33 to 41 km away by road. Most visitors combine two or three of the options below.

Option	What it costs	Where it reaches	Luggage	Hours
Dubai Metro	nol fare per zone	Red Line along Sheikh Zayed Road, Green Line around the Creek	Up to 2 pieces	5 am to midnight most days
RTA taxi	AED 5 street start, AED 12 minimum, then the meter	Door to door, all of Dubai	Boot of a sedan, or a van	24 hours
Uber, Careem, Bolt	Price shown in the app	Door to door	Depends on car class	24 hours
Dubai Tram	nol fare	Al Sufouh Road and Jumeirah Beach Road	Light bags	6 am to 1 am, Sunday from 9 am
Abra, water taxi, ferry	AED 1 abra, AED 7 water taxi stop	Dubai Creek, Dubai Marina, coast routes	Light bags	By route
Car with driver	Quoted per day or route	Anywhere in the UAE	Matched to your group	When you book it

Dubai Metro: where it works and where it does not reach

The Metro has two lines, Red and Green. The Red Line is the one most visitors use. It stops at DXB Terminals 1 and 3, then runs along Sheikh Zayed Road past World Trade Centre, Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates. It continues to Ibn Battuta and Expo 2020. The Green Line runs through the older districts on both sides of Dubai Creek. Station by station detail is in our Dubai Metro guide.

RTA’s timetable sets these hours.

• Monday to Thursday: 5 am to midnight
• Friday: 5 am to 1 am the next day
• Saturday: 5 am to midnight
• Sunday: 8 am to midnight

That Sunday start catches people out. A 6 am Sunday flight needs a taxi or a booked car to reach DXB.

Tickets. You pay with a nol card or ticket, sold at station machines and at both DXB Metro stations:

• Red Ticket: AED 2, paper, holds up to 10 single trips.
• Silver card: AED 25, including AED 19 of credit.
• Gold card: AED 25, including AED 19 of credit, plus access to the Gold Class carriage at a premium fare.

Luggage. Dubai Airports allows up to two pieces, hand luggage included. With more, take a taxi.

Where it does not reach. The Metro misses the Palm Jumeirah crescent, the beach hotels of Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim, Global Village and anything outside the city. Global Village is about 30 km by road from DXB Terminal 1, with no Metro station at the gate. RTA’s Blue Line, 30 km with 14 stations, will add Al Jaddaf, Mirdif and another link to DXB when it opens in 2029.

Taxis, Uber and Careem: what a ride costs

RTA taxis run on a meter. The starting fare is AED 5 from a street or rank between 6 am and 10 pm, and AED 5.50 overnight. Book one in an app and it starts at AED 9, or AED 13 at the weekday peaks. Every trip costs at least AED 12, and waiting adds 50 fils a minute.

From the airport, the rank taxi starts at AED 20 for a regular car and AED 25 for a van. The full tariff is broken down in Dubai taxi fares.

Uber, Careem and Bolt all work across Dubai, including at DXB. They show their price before you book. Careem also books RTA taxis under the name Hala Taxi, and RTA’s own S’hail app books them too. Which one costs less on a given trip is covered in Uber vs Careem vs taxi in Dubai.

Tram, Palm Monorail, buses and boats

Dubai Tram. The tram links the Metro and the Palm Monorail along Al Sufouh Road and Jumeirah Beach Road. It runs from 6 am to 1 am Monday to Saturday, and from 9 am on Sunday. Tap your nol card: travelling without paying the fare carries an AED 200 fine.

Palm Monorail. Four stations run up the island: Palm Gateway, Al Ittihad Park, Palm Jumeirah Mall and Atlantis Aquaventure. When we checked on 17 October 2026, the operator said the service was suspended for maintenance until further notice. Check its site before you plan around it.

Abras on Dubai Creek. The traditional wooden abra crosses from Bur Dubai abra station to Deira Old Souq for AED 1 a person, paid in cash. A second route links Dubai Old Souq and Al Sabkha. In Downtown, an electric abra runs between Dubai Mall, Burj Plaza and The Palace for AED 75 a person for 25 minutes.

Water taxi and ferry. In Dubai Marina, the water taxi costs AED 7 a stop, up to AED 21 for the full route. Dubai Ferry runs four routes, set out with timings in our water taxi and ferry guide.

• FR1: Dubai Water Canal to Al Ghubaiba
• FR2: Dubai Marina Mall to Bluewaters
• FR4: Dubai Marina Mall to Palm Jumeirah and Atlantis The Palm, as a round trip
• FR5: Sharjah Aquarium to Al Ghubaiba

Buses. RTA’s Hatta Express, route H02, costs AED 25 per rider for the trip to the mountains. City buses use the same nol cards as the Metro.

When does a car with driver make more sense than taxis?

A taxi suits one trip. A car with driver suits a day with several. These distances, measured with OpenStreetMap routing without traffic, show why.

Trip	Road distance	Drive time without traffic
DXB Terminal 1 to Atlantis The Palm	36 km	35 min
Dubai Mall to Al Fahidi, Bur Dubai	10 km	13 min
Dubai Mall to Dubai Marina	22 km	21 min
Dubai Marina to Atlantis The Palm	11 km	16 min
DXB Terminal 1 to Expo City Dubai	49 km	44 min
Downtown Dubai to Hatta	109 km	86 min

Picture a day of Al Fahidi in the morning, lunch in Downtown, the Palm in the afternoon and dinner in the Marina. That is four taxis, four starting fares and four waits at the kerb. With a booked car, the driver waits at each stop and your bags and shopping stay in the boot.

The car also fits families with a child under 4. UAE rules require a protection seat for that child, so ask for one when you book instead of hoping a rank taxi has it.

Trips out of the city are the other case. A private tour by car can cover Hatta, Abu Dhabi or the east coast in one day, with your own stops. Our guide to hiring a chauffeur in Dubai covers what to ask before you book. If you are unsure whether to book by the hour or per trip, read hourly or transfer chauffeur.

Getting around in the summer heat

From June to September, the walk is the hard part, not the ride. A 10-minute walk from a Metro station to a beach club in July is a different trip from the same walk in January.

• Plan Metro trips to places with a covered link or a short walk from the station.
• Do the Creek, the abras and the Al Fahidi lanes early in the morning or after sunset.
• Use a taxi or a booked car for the last kilometre in the middle of the day.
• With small children, a car that is already cool when you climb in is worth more in August than in February.

Which option suits airport arrivals, families and business trips?

Arriving at DXB. With two bags, the Red Line from Terminal 1 or 3 works. With more, take a rank taxi or an app car from the signed pickup point. DXB has no private pick-up area at the arrivals kerb, so anyone meeting you parks in the terminal car park. An Assure airport transfer has the chauffeur in the arrivals hall with your name on a board.

Families. Child seats decide it. Careem lists a Kids ride with a child seat. A pre-booked van seats 6 with room for bags, and the driver stays with the car.

Business trips. Exhibitions at Dubai World Trade Centre and Expo City are both on the Red Line. Meetings spread across Business Bay, DIFC and Dubai Internet City suit a chauffeur service booked by the hour, so you are not waiting for a car between each one.

Going further. For Abu Dhabi or Sharjah, start with the Dubai travel guide, which covers trips across the emirates. For a side-by-side of cost, comfort and timing, read chauffeur, taxi or Uber in Dubai.