It is possible to do Dubai excursions on your own. But if you are on holiday there for the first time, it is better not to do so as you do not know your way around the city.
Bus Tours Dubai
If you are on holiday in the emirate of Dubai then you are definitely interested in seeing something of the city. So you should do excursions and tours so that you can see the sights such as the Burj Khalifa or the Dubai Mall. As a rule, the tour operator also offers excursions that you can go on. But these are often very expensive and then you probably get the idea to do everything on your own where you can save money. As already mentioned, we only recommend this to tourists who have vacationed there several times and are familiar with it. For everyone else, it is better to do a guided tour with a provider. It is also crucial what you want to do at all. There are tours and excursions that you can do yourself without even needing a provider.
The first thing you will probably ask yourself is whether you can even explore the emirate on foot. You have to know that it is a very big city and that you always need a means of transport to reach the attractions. For example, if you have booked a city hotel and you want to go to the Burj al Arab then you definitely cannot walk to it. So the taxi would definitely be the best means of transportation that you should use. Furthermore, it is always possible to see numerous sights on your own. But if you’ve never been there, you don’t know your way around either. So you have to plan exactly how you get there in advance. We recommend planning this in advance of the trip.
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A very good way of exploring Dubai on your own is with a Hop On Hop Off tour. This doesn’t cost very much and there are tickets that can be bought for 24 or 48 hours. You certainly know something like this if you have already been to London, Paris or New York. These are the red open double-decker buses where the most famous sights of the city are approached. You can also get on and off there comfortably. In our opinion, this is great for first-time visitors and also cheap. So you don’t necessarily need to book the expensive Dubai city tour with the tour operator. In principle, you get to see the same thing there, and even cheaper.
Dubai Taxi
Then a popular excursion in Dubai is always to go on a desert safari. In any case, this is not possible to do on your own. You always need a guided tour there. Because the providers know exactly where to go in the desert. Furthermore, there is still a delicious barbecue and a belly dance which is always very impressive. You just can’t do something like that yourself and you should keep your hands off it there. We recommend investing some money in this tour if you want to do something like that.
A very good way of getting around the city is the Dubai Metro. You can achieve a lot with this and also very cheaply. The best thing to do is to buy a day pass where you can use it as often as you like. Then it doesn’t matter if you’ve gotten into the wrong place. The tallest building in the world can be reached via the Burj Khalifa Dubai Mall Metro Station, for example. There is also a transition that leads directly into the shopping center. So it is possible to do it on your own and you don’t need to book a tour.
If you have already been on holiday in Thailand then you probably know that you can rent a taxi there, for example for the whole day. But in Dubai this is also possible, but then simply too expensive and not the best option that you should do. Driving a taxi in Dubai is very cheap, but still suitable for getting from A to B very quickly. In our opinion, the Hop On Hop Off bus is certainly the better choice that you should use. But it is possible that you can be driven from the hotel to a sight or shopping mall.
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Many hotels in Dubai offer hotel guests the opportunity to use a free shuttle bus. There you will usually be driven to a large shopping center like the Mall of the Emirates. However, this is not suitable for making trips to Dubai on your own. If you want to go shopping then you have come to the right place.
A very good way to explore the emirate of Dubai on your own is with a rental car. There you are very flexible because you can go anywhere with this. You can take it over as soon as you arrive at Dubai International Airport. Then you take it to the hotel and then take a look at the sights. However, we only recommend this to tourists who have already vacationed there several times. This is not suitable for first-time visitors because you don’t know your way around and the volume of traffic in the city is very high. There are many multi-lane motorways there and then you can be overwhelmed very quickly. It is certainly practical that you can simply return the rental car to the airport before your return flight.
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In principle, it is possible to do numerous Dubai excursions and tours on your own. It always depends on what you want to do. In our opinion, it is always deciding whether you are vacationing there for the first time or whether you are already familiar with the city. If you don’t want to book the expensive excursions of the tour operator then you should definitely do the Hop On Hop Off tour. This is not very expensive and a bus takes you through the city.
