Is it possible to visit Dubai on a budget? Before visiting Dubai, everybody told me that this city was expensive to visit!
With this in mind, we planned a short visit here so we stayed within our budget.
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Searching for hotels online, we soon realised there were many 4-star hotels for very affordable prices.
This was a big surprise, perhaps we could actually visit Dubai on a budget?
Yes, visiting Dubai on a budget is possible!
Getting Around – Buy a Metro Card at the Airport
Do yourself a favour and buy a silver transport card at the arrivals hall at the airport. This will save you heaps of cash on transport in this city. All of the small convenience shops sell them.
Pay 25 AED (6.80) for the card, which is 6 AED for the card purchase and 19 AED credit.
We walked out to the front of the airport and waited for a bus to take us right near to our hotel. Buses and metro are air-conditioned. Buses keep the front half of the bus separate for women and children only. Metros have two carriages dedicated only to women and children also.
Each metro or bus ride one-way costs between 3-5 AED ($0.80 – 1.30)
Taxis are affordable
A taxi from the airport is relatively cheap; however, an airport flag fee of 25 AED ($6.80) is charged to you on top of the fare.
Walk out of the arrivals terminal and catch one further out on the street to avoid paying this fee.
Read more: Is Dubai a Country? Where is Dubai?
Stay Connected
You can purchase a sim card within 5 minutes in Dubai. We recommend getting a sim card with ‘Esilat’. The cost is 105 AED ($29.00) to register for a sim card, you must show your passport to get one. Better yet, buying an eSIM would be cheaper and easier.
Either way, a sim card or eSIM is great to have for navigating around the city using buses and the metro.
Using public transport is a must if you want to see Dubai on a budget.
Where to Stay in Dubai on a budget?
We booked the Monaco Hotel in the Deira area of Dubai. We paid $27 per night, including tax. Our room was great! Very clean and comfortable, which included a kettle, a small fridge and excellent wifi.
Dubai is a great city, well-planned and easy to get around. The city is separated into districts, and the area we chose to stay in was a working-class district.
This was good for us as this was the epicentre of all the great, cheap food! It also allowed us to visit Dubai on a budget while staying in a great place! Check price and availability here.
Our hotel was only a 7-minute walk from the Al Rigga Metro station. You can view all budget hotels here.
We knew that if we wanted to visit Dubai on a budget, we had to learn how to use public transport.
Best place to view the Palm in Dubai on a budget
Within 4 stops of our hotel, the metro took us to Dubai Mall and Burj Kalifa and other sights. We rode the metro for 35 minutes to reach the other side of town. From here it was a short walk to view ‘the Palm’ from the Marriott hotel Observatory Deck, located on the top floor.
Tip: Go for a drink between 4-8 pm for Happy Hour (cocktails and most drinks 30 AED or $8.00). Sit at the window and watch the sunset.
This part of Dubai is also full of beautiful skyscrapers and stunning 5-Star Hotels, and it’s popular with tourists and expats.
We walked around the marina after leaving the bar. You can find many great restaurants here (although expensive ones). It’s a nice place to take a walk as Dubai is a visually pleasing city.
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Where to Eat in Dubai on a Budget
Choosing awesome, affordable places to eat – our favourite thing to do in any new city! Below are some of our favourite small eateries and restaurants in different districts around Dubai.
Most meals we enjoyed at these places cost between $5-10 each.
Location: Deira District – A working-class district, we enjoyed it. Lots of deliciously cheap food can be eaten around here, including great Middle Eastern and Filipino food.
Sultan Dubai
We ordered a plate of hummus, a plate of falafel, and lots of bread and olives. The total was 24 AED. ($6.50). They serve good Turkish coffee for 7 AED.
You can also order amazing manakeesh and shawarma.
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Where to Find the Best Sweets
A few doors down is Qwaider Al Nabulsi – A sweets shop that serves the freshest Arabic sweets available.
My favourite was the kanafeh. It reminded me of all those wonderful sweets I ate during my trip to Syria.
Are you craving the best baklava in Dubai? – go to ‘Al Samadi’ and buy more than you think you’ll be able to eat, it’s so good.
Damascus Restaurant – Middle Eastern Food.
It is a very busy place with outdoor dining. We shared a fatteh with shawarma meat, a fattoush salad, lots of bread, a big salad and pickles. Total of the bill was 42 AED ($11.50). We’d definitely eat here again. You can look forward to huge portions, too, perfect for sharing.
Location: Al Satwa
One of the Best Meals Ever
RAVI Restaurant – Best Pakistani food I have ever eaten. It was definitely on par with all that food I consumed on that awesome Food Tour in Karachi, Pakistan.
Ravi Restaurant has ticked all the boxes here! Great price, good portions and very busy.
We ordered Palak paneer 15 AED, mutton Peshwari (the best I’ve ever eaten) 22 AED, dahl fry 8 AED, as much fresh naan bread as you want and large chilled water.
The total bill was 55 AED or just under $15.
This was hands down one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever eaten. The restaurant is clean and quite basic, but the food was something to write home about. I look forward to returning to eat here again for my next visit to Dubai, that’s for sure.
Location: Karama
Al Ustad – Persian kebabs.
This place has been serving kebabs for over 38 years. Busy every night of the week, the small canteen-style eatery has it sorted. The menu is short, the options are awesome.
Take your pick from hummus, chicken soup and a range of different kebabs. These are all served with either rice or bread and tomato, cucumber, onion and a side dish of garlic sauce.
Expect to pay around 40-50 AED ($10-13) per person for a generous meal.
Read more: 10 Best Things To Do In Bahrain
The Sights
Dubai is a city packed with things to see and do! To help with planning your trip to Dubai on a budget, check out Viator or GetYourGuide to keep you entertained in this spectacular city.
Check for any great flight deals with Skyscanner. Search for flights from Dubai to other Middle Eastern countries, Africa or Europe.
If you’re unsure where you’d like to go next, enter the origin (Dubai) and then put EVERYWHERE in the destination box.
You’ll be given cheap flights to many countries, in ascending order. I always do this on Skyscanner it’s a great feature and it’s a great way to save money for more travel.
If you enjoy the UAE, we recommend making the time to discover the beauty of Oman. This country borders with UAE, and we absolutely loved our time spent here. What a surprising gem this was!
Check out our post Road Trip in Oman 7 Day Itinerary. This is the perfect itinerary that details distances covered, where to stay, where to eat and so many amazing things to do in Oman.
Travel Tips for Asia
We have many travel guides and tips for Asia— a fascinating continent!
Delicious cuisine can be enjoyed across Asia, and our food map of Asia will inspire your food journey.
These top 5 best street foods in Asia are unmissable! We explain Central Asian food, including seven popular foods in this region.
Our Southeast Asia packing list will be helpful if you’re travelling here.
Furthermore, if you plan to travel long-term (or at least until the money runs out), these 21 cheapest countries to visit will help you make your hard-earned dollars stretch a bit further.
Not surprisingly, our top 10 best countries for food lovers include a few Asian countries.
You’ll need to stay connected while travelling in Asia. We recommend eSIM. It’s easy, reliable and affordable. View eSIMs for individual Asian countries, or consider a regional eSIM for Asia (which covers 18 countries).
If your travels in Asia are part of a much larger global adventure, then a Global eSIM may be the answer. It connects you in 124 countries, offering data-only eSIM and data/call/text eSIM. The Global eSIM has been a game-changer; we couldn’t imagine travelling without it now.
If you want to travel with like-minded travellers, consider joining a group tour. Check out our Group Tours first for any upcoming departures in Asia, or view Tourradar for great deals on tours in Asia.
Check out our best-ever travel tips compiled from more than twenty years of experience.
Travel Planning Resources
✈️ Flights: We use Skyscanner to book cheap flights worldwide.
🏨 Accommodation: Booking.com is our preferred platform for booking hotels and accommodation. We use Vrbo to book apartments and long-term stays.
🏥 Travel Insurance: We recommend Heymondo (Get 15% off Heymondo) & SafetyWing
🚌 Transportation: Trainline is the best website to reserve trains. We use Omio to book transport worldwide. For travel in Asia, we use 12Go.
🚘 Car Rental: We use DiscoverCars to book rental cars worldwide.
👫 Group Tours: We now offer Group Trips; view them here! Alternatively, we recommend searching the Tourradar website. For Europe, Expat Explore is a good choice. *Get 5% off when you quote code VERYHUNGRYNOMADS to your Expat reservations agent. (*Valid for new clients only).
📸 Day Tours & Trips: GetYourGuide & Viator are the only two platforms you need.
📚 Lonely Planet: The Best Range of Travel Guides & Ebooks, and FREE Shipping! (use code RACHELDAVEY10 for a 10% discount)
🎒 Luggage: Osprey Farpoint 40L Backpack or Samsonite Luggage Range.
🛄 What to Pack: Don’t forget your Universal charger and a good power bank. To help you pack the essentials, here is our ULTIMATE Packing List for all Travellers.
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💰 Send Money Anywhere: WISE & Revolut are the best online accounts that let you send money, get paid, and spend money internationally. Both are so easy to use and way cheaper than any bank transfer.
📶 Stay Connected: Airalo eSIM allows you to get connected the moment you land at your destination, and you can avoid those expensive data roaming charges. We LOVE this product! Use code RACHEL5045 to get $3 off your first Airalo eSIM.
✅ Check out our Travel Gear and Travel Resources for more valuable tips to save you money!
9 Comments. Leave new
I’ve always look at Dubai as an expensive city much like Hong Kong with its skyscrapers and luxury hotels. But i’ve also heard that of all the countries in the Middle East, Dubai is the most open of all when it comes to culture. This is a great budget guide for a city like Dubai. Thanks for this!
Thanks Jamie, I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
dubai is always my favorite country, it is no more costly. when I visited China Sri Lanka, then, I feel Dubai is best in his luxury reservations foods security fashion. dubai is the only one country in the world where different cultures and countries peoples lived happily.
thanx for sharing nice pictures love you DUBAI
Thanks for your message, we’re glad you enjoyed the post. Dubai is a great CITY – located in the country of United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) 🙂
Great tips, I think Dubai is as expensive as one wants to be, If someone wants to stay at a luxury hotel and wants private transportation, it’s going to be expensive.
Yes, we agree. There are always other options.
Visit on such an expensive place on a good budget is very difficult. Very nice tips. Thank you for sharing it.
Great tips, I think Dubai is as expensive as one wants to be, If someone wants to stay at a luxury hotel and wants private transportation, it’s going to be very expensive. You definitely put a brand new spin on a subject that’s been written about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!
Great article. This is very useful to us thanks for sharing.