Touching down in Dubai for the first time, I remember staring at the glittering skyline and thinking, “this trip is going to destroy my budget.” After a bunch of visits – from hostel-hopping in Deira to splurging on brunches on the Palm – I realised the city is only as expensive as you let it be. In this guide, I’ll walk you through what things really cost, what I usually spend in a day, and how to build a Dubai trip that fits your wallet, not the other way around.
Is Dubai Really Expensive?
Short answer? It can be if you just follow the shiny malls and don’t check prices. But once you know what a metro ride, a simple shawarma or a taxi ride actually costs, Dubai suddenly feels predictable. Your bank account doesn’t like surprises; this city rewards the people who plan a bit and choose carefully where they spend.
From both real traveller data and my own trips, most visitors fall into three rough brackets per person per day, excluding flights:
- Budget traveller: around 250–400 AED – hostel beds or basic hotels, cheap eats, mostly metro and trams.
- Mid-range traveller: roughly 550–900 AED – good 3–4 star stay, nicer dinners, mix of taxis and public transport, at least one paid activity a day.
- Luxury traveller: often 1,400+ AED – 5-star hotels, upscale restuarants, private transfers, premium attractions.
Price trackers that crunch real bookings show a cheap 7-day trip at about 2,000 AED per person, a comfortable week near 4,000 AED, and a luxury week from roughly 10,000 AED upwards. Convert that and you’re looking at something like 285 / 570 / 1,400 AED per day as a simple mental guide.
Quick Daily Budget Overview
| Travel Style | Approx. Daily Budget (AED) | You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | 250–400 | Hostel or simple hotel, local cafeterias, shawarma & biryani, metro + buses, mostly free or cheap sights. |
| Mid-range | 550–900 | 3–4 star hotel, sit-down restaurants, mix of metro and taxis, 1–2 big-ticket attractions over a few days. |
| Luxury | 1,400+ | 5-star or resort stays, fine dining, private drivers, premium experiences like sky bars, VIP safaris, yacht rides. |
Note: These numbers are per person and usually exclude flights and big shopping sprees. Think of them as a clean daily budget for sightseeing, food, local transport and normal fun.
See A Real Trip Cost
If you like watching numbers instead of just reading them, this video walks through a full trip budget with actual receipts and daily spend. I watched something very similiar before one of my trips and it helped me set my own “don’t go over this” limit.
Where Your Money Goes In Dubai
On every one of my trips, two things swallowed most of the budget: where I slept and what I did for fun. Food and transport can stay surprisingly reasonable if you want. Let’s break down the big pieces so you can see where to save and where to happily spend.
Stay
- Hostels from about 90 AED per night.
- Average 3-star hotel around 200 AED.
- Many 5-star hotels start near 550–600 AED and go way up.
Food
- Cheap local meal from about 35–45 AED.
- Three-course dinner for two: roughly 150–300 AED.
- Fast-food combo around 30–40 AED.
Transport & Sights
- Metro rides from about 3–8.5 AED depending on zones and card.
- Taxi starting fare between 5–12 AED plus distance.
- Major attractions usually 70–180+ AED.
Accommodation
Accommodation is where your Dubai budget can explode or stay calm. Hostels and simple hotels in areas like Deira or Bur Dubai can be as low as 90–150 AED per night for a bed or basic room. Average 3-star hotels often sit around 200 AED, and many good 4-star options hover near 220–450 AED if you book early.
Once you look at 5-star properties, think starting from roughly 550–600 AED and going into the thousands for suites and iconic resorts. I’ve done both ends: one trip in a no-frills business hotel where I barely saw the room, another in a resort with its own beach. Honestly, if you plan to be out all day, a clean mid-range place near the metro gives the best value.
- Best value zones: Deira, Bur Dubai, Al Barsha (near Mall of the Emirates), JLT for longer stays.
- Book early for November–March; prices jump as rooms fill.
- Check if breakfast is included – it can easily save you 40–60 AED every day.
Food & Drinks
Food is where Dubai can be surprisingly kind to your budget. A cheap local meal – think shawarma, biryani, curry, manakeesh – usually costs around 35–45 AED in a small restaurant. Street-style snacks or bakery items can go for 10–20 AED, which I lean on heavily when I’m traveling light.
In mid-range places, expect a three-course dinner for two to be in the 150–300 AED range, especially in malls or casual hotel restuarants. Fast food – burgers, pizza slices, fried chicken – sits around 30–40 AED per combo. A coffee in a nice café might set you back 18–22 AED, so those add up fast if you drink three a day like I sometimes do.
Alcohol tip: drinks are often only served in hotels, bars and certain restuarants, and they’re not cheap. One or two nights out are fine, but if you drink every evening your budget jumps quickly. I usually treat cocktails as an activity, not a default.
Transport
Dubai’s public transport is honestly one of the best budget hacks in the city. With a reusable Nol card, metro, tram and buses become very cheap. A typical metro ride costs roughly 3–7.5 AED depending on how many zones you cross and which card you use, so a full day of sightseeing might only be 15–25 AED on public transport.
Taxis are still very reasonable compared to many big cities. The starting fare is around 5–5.5 AED if you hail on the street, about 12 AED when you book through an app, and 25 AED from the airport. After that, you usually pay roughly 2–3 AED per kilometre. I treat taxis as a “heat tax” in summer – when it’s 40°C outside, that air-conditioned ride is worth the extra dirhams.
- Use metro + tram for long distances (Marina, Downtown, Deira).
- Grab a taxi for late nights, awkward connections or when you’re tired from walking malls all day.
- Consider tourist-focused Nol travel cards and passes that bundle transport and discounts; they can reduce both fares and attraction costs.
Activities & Attractions
This is where your spending can skyrocket if you don’t plan. A standard ticket for At The Top – Burj Khalifa (levels 124 & 125, non-prime hours) starts around 179 AED. A classic evening desert safari with dune bashing and dinner is usually in the 250–450 AED range per person.
Other popular experiences sit roughly here:
- Museum of the Future: from about 159 AED for a standard ticket.
- Dubai Frame: tickets starting near 25 AED, great value for skyline views.
- Dubai Fountain lake ride: from around 68 AED to watch the show from the water.
- Big theme parks (Dubai Parks & Resorts, water parks): often 250–350 AED+ for a day ticket before discounts.
The good news: many of Dubai’s best moments are free – wandering old alleys in Al Fahidi, watching the fountains from the promenade, exploring huge malls, or chilling on public beaches like JBR and Kite Beach. On tight trips I usually pay for one or two “wow” experiences and fill the rest with free or low-cost things.
When To Visit Dubai On A Budget
Dubai’s prices change a lot with the season. Same hotel, same room, totally different rate. If you’re flexible with dates, you can save hundreds of dirhams just by choosing the right month.
- High season (roughly November–March): best weather, most events, highest hotel and flight prices. Great if you care about outdoor vibes more than budget.
- Shoulder seasons (April, early May, late September, October): still decent weather, noticeably lower rates, fewer crowds. This is my favourite window for value vs comfort.
- Low season (June–August): hottest months, but often the cheapest for hotels and flights. You’ll live in air-con, malls and indoor attractions, which is fine if you plan for it.
My personal rule: if I’m on a tight budget I aim for April, May or October. If I want cool evenings and don’t mind paying more, I go in January or February and book hotels well in advance so the price doesn’t jump on me.
Money-Saving Tips That Actually Work
Over a few trips I’ve tested plenty of “tips” that didn’t really help. These are the ones that actually moved the needle on my Dubai costs and still kept the trip fun.
- Stay near the metro, not necessarily next to the beach. A hotel close to a metro station can be much cheaper and still get you to the sea in 20–30 minutes.
- Use a Nol card from day one. Loading it once and tapping for metro, tram and buses is easier and usually cheaper than buying lots of single tickets.
- Look for multi-attraction passes and official city passes. If you plan several big sights, pre-paid bundles often cut total costs and save queue time.
- Eat where office workers eat. Cafeterias in Deira, Karama or around older malls are packed at lunch and serve huge plates for the price of a single fancy starter elsewhere.
- Do one big paid experience each day at most. It keeps the day special and stops your card from melting.
- Use apps and booking sites to check for restaurant offers, 2-for-1 deals and attraction discounts – especially in shoulder and low seasons.
- Withdraw or exchange money in malls and official exchanges, not at random tourist booths with poor rates.
Sample Dubai Budgets For 3 Days
Numbers feel more real when you see a whole trip. Here are three sample 3-day budgets I’ve either used myself or planned for friends. They’re per person, excluding flights and visas.
1) Budget Backpacker – Around 900–1,200 AED (3 Days)
- Stay: 3 nights in a hostel or simple hotel at 100–130 AED per night ≈ 300–390 AED.
- Food: cafeterias, street food, supermarket snacks ≈ 70–90 AED/day ≈ 210–270 AED.
- Transport: mostly metro and tram with a Nol card ≈ 20 AED/day ≈ 60 AED.
- Activities: one big paid activity (e.g. desert safari or Dubai Frame + museum combo) plus mostly free sights ≈ 300–450 AED.
Daily budget lands around 300–400 AED if you keep it simple, which is very doable if you’re careful.
2) Comfortable Mid-Range – Around 1,800–2,700 AED (3 Days)
- Stay: 3 nights in a good 3–4 star hotel at 300–450 AED per night ≈ 900–1,350 AED.
- Food: mix of local places and sit-down dinners ≈ 150–220 AED/day ≈ 450–660 AED.
- Transport: metro + a few taxis, ≈ 40–60 AED/day ≈ 120–180 AED.
- Activities: Burj Khalifa, one desert safari, plus 1–2 mid-priced attractions ≈ 400–600 AED.
This is the range where most of my friends feel comfortable but not wasteful, around 600–900 AED/day.
3) Treat-Yourself Luxury – From 4,000 AED Upwards (3 Days)
- Stay: 3 nights in a 5-star or resort at 800–1,500 AED per night ≈ 2,400–4,500 AED.
- Food: fine dining dinners, hotel breakfasts, maybe a big brunch ≈ 300–500 AED/day ≈ 900–1,500 AED.
- Transport: taxis or private transfers almost everywhere, ≈ 100–200 AED/day.
- Activities: premium safaris, sky bars, yacht or boat trips, VIP tickets ≈ 800+ AED over 3 days.
If you’re in this bracket, you’re paying for time and comfort more than pure value – which is totally fine as long as you go in with open eyes.
Money-Saving Checklist For Dubai
Before I land in Dubai, I usually run through a simple checklist so I don’t overspend without noticing. You can copy-paste this into your notes app and tweak it for your own style.
- Booked accommodation near a metro station, not just a pretty view.
- Set a daily spending range (for example 300, 600 or 1,400 AED) and stick it somewhere visible.
- Decided on 1–3 big paid experiences in advance and checked current ticket prices.
- Added a rough transport plan: mostly Nol card + occasional taxis.
- Marked a few cheap food areas (Deira, Karama, old Dubai) and a couple of “treat” restaurants.
- Left a small buffer, maybe 10–15% extra, for surprises you only discover on the ground.
Sources For Prices & Practical Info
I always double-check numbers before traveling, especially for tickets and transport, because prices do change over time. These are solid starting points if you want to confirm or update the amounts in this guide.
- HikersBay – Prices In Dubai: up-to-date averages for meals, hotels, taxis and public transport, plus useful weekly budget examples.
- Visit Dubai – Metro Guide: official information on metro zones, timings and Nol cards, great for planning how much you’ll really ride.
- Gulf News – Taxi Fares In Dubai: clear breakdown of base fares, per-kilometre costs and waiting charges for different taxi types.
- At The Top – Burj Khalifa Tickets: current ticket tiers and prices for Burj Khalifa, including non-prime and prime visiting hours.
- Museum Of The Future – Ticket Guide: updated entrance fees, opening hours and what’s included in standard tickets.
- Wikipedia – Dubai: good high-level overview of the city’s neighbourhoods, transport system and general context if you’re still getting oriented.