Dubai on a budget does not sounds glamorous, but if you don’t have the budget and still wish to travel there, don’t give up to fast. Check out some of our first hand travel tips and enjoy the city without spending a fortune.
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Travel tips to do Dubai on a budget
1. Cheap Plane tickets
Your first priority for traveling to Dubai on a budget is your plane ticket. If you can get this for a good price you are almost half way there. As we are based in Europe, Dubai is very well connected with two low budget airlines (Wizzair and FlyDubai), but a very affordable flights from Europe are operated by Alitalia, KLM, Airfrance, Emirates too. Follow the prices and as soon as you see a return plane ticket under 300 EUR, go for it!
2. Affordable Accommodations
Traveling to Dubai on a budget has lots to do with accommodations too. We suggest you to find yourself a hotel somewhere in Al Barsha. You can already get a very nice looking room for 67 EUR and up (price for 2+1 person). There are even some very affordable apartments for 4 persons, which will cost you around 80€. Al Barsha is mostly great because it is very well connected with a metro and the hotels are modern. You get the most for your money here. (check hotels in Al Barsha here)
If you think Al Barsha is still too expensive for you, your best bet will be choosing Deira, the most traditional area of the city. That is also why low budget hotels are mostly older and not as nice as in Al Barsha. The price for a 2+1 room starts from 42 EUR. (check hotels in Deira here)
If you can stretch out a bit more, we suggest you to stay at Holiday Inn Dubai Al Barsha hotel. Check out our review here.
Best value hotels are in Al Barsha (Dubai on a budget)
3. Using public transport
If you want to do Dubai on a budget you will need to use its city metro. Don’t panic – it is easy to handle and it is very modern and well organized. The best thing is, it is super cheap. If you want to go somewhere where metro line is not operating, your best choice is to take a taxi. Make sure the meter is on and avoid rush hours or you will be stuck in traffic forever!
Use cheap public transport (Dubai on a budget)
4. What tourist attractions to see?
I guess you know that traveling to Dubai on a budget will not be possible without making some compromises. Tourist attractions are pretty expensive, but hey, who said you have to see all of them, right! Just walking around Dubai’s shopping malls is out of this world.
Some tourist attractions are cheap or even free (Dubai on a budget)
To make your travel more affordable, make sure you buy all your tickets for any tourist attractions online as it will cost you less. One of the must see tourist attractions, even it is not cheap, is Burj Khalifa. The ticket price depends of the hour, so check them carefuly. Luckily the fountain’s show, just underneath the Burj Khalifa, is free of charge – be there early to have good views.
Nevertheless, there are still tourist attractions for which traveling to Dubai on a budget will be possible. A pretty affordable tourist attraction is its aquarium and Miracle botanical garden. If you want to visit the famous hotel Burj Al Arab, be prepared to open your wallet – 90€/pp is how much one cocktail costs and that is also a rock bottom line to spend there. You will also need to be properly dressed for Burj Al Arab (especially in the evening) – men long trousers, women something as a cocktail dress or elegant trousers/skirt with a fancy blouse/top. A nice view towards Burj Al Arab can be seen from a public beach, where also bikinis are allowed. Swimming there is free of charge.
Public beaches are free for use (Dubai on a budget)
Another good tourist attraction which will not costa a thing is visiting the Deira fish market. Don’t even forget to visit some of the more touristy areas like golden market and spice bazaar. All markets are free of charge, what sure is great when planning to do Dubai on a budget. A nice spend time is also a drive over the Creek in an abra (traditional boat). One way ticket is only 1 AED (0,24€). If you like walking, make sure to visit Marina – a luxury neighborhood with fancy apartments and hotels. Stunning!
Admire luxury Marina (Dubai on a budget)
5. Where to eat?
You can spend all your money just for food in Dubai, as there are many high-end restaurants there. The selection is amazing, but if you are traveling to Dubai on a budget you will soon have to forget about them. Luckily you can still eat good and on a budget – due to lots of foreign workers from India, Pakistan, Philippines etc., there are many restaurants where these workers eat. Find a good Indian place and eat like a king for few Euros only! If you want some snacks, buy everything in a grocery store, including water and soft drinks. Groceries even sell some food as take-away, which does not cost much and doesn’t taste bad either. To experience the city on a budget you have to forget about alcohol, as it is only served in hotels and better restaurants. The price for a small beer start at 7€ (the price depends also from the hotel).
Eat in Indian restaurants for cheap meals (Dubai on a budget)
Dubai on a budget means you will have to forget about panoramic helicopter rides, eating in fancy restaurants and partying all night long. But if you really want to visit this spectacular city, this should not be a problem if you know how to adapt. Believe us, Dubai is worth to make some compromises.
*VISA: We did not need visa to travel to Dubai, but some nationalities need it, so do check it out if you are among them too.
Good tips Nina! I spent way too much money on my last trip to UAE, but I had an absolute ball. ????
Thank you! Well, at the end the most important thing is to have fun, no matter if you are doing Dubai on a budget or not… If you want to save money and not having fun, it is better to stay at home. But if you can have fun without spending loads of money, then this is great as well. 😉
Well, traveling to Dubai can be very expensive, but if you don’t have the budget and still wish to travel there, don’t give up to fast. Find a cheap ticket and if you get you are almost halfway there. Try to find low price accommodation. Try to find hotel near Al Barsha where you find cheap price compare to other places. Use public transport for travel which is best and cheaper option. The public transport system is one of the best in the world. Dubai has many budget tourist attractions such as dhow cruise trip. Visit public beaches and try to find cheaper restaurants. Thanks to Pakistanis, Indians and Philippines they have quality food and cheaper compare to others.
Hi there and thank you for the tips, which will definitely be very useful for everyone wtraveling to Dubai on a budget. 🙂
Nice blog. Don’t forget to get your shawarma. It’s cheap, tasty and full.
The downtown Dubai is going to be expensive. It’s hard to budget there if you want to dine or spent of shopping.
But there are other less costly ways to spent that’s worth like the Ski Dubai snow park inside the mall of the emirates. Never miss out the fun of skiing there.
Hi Stacey,
thank you for your tips about Dubai on a budget. 🙂
You are right, shawarma is a must too – delicious and cheap.
We have visited Mall of the emirates, but just had a sneak peek into the Ski Dubai area, which looked fun, but never really tried it… maybe next time, when we are in Dubai. 😉
HI Nina, thanks for sharing this great post.Really like this blog about Dubai. I do find some useful information that I couldn’t find on other people’s blog, and I added some of your recommendations in my list, and for sure, I will buy all my tickets online just to save some money 🙂
Hi Esther,
glad to see this blog post about traveling to Dubai on a budget was helpful. 🙂 Enjoy your stay there!
Cheers, Nina
Your five beautiful tips covered the most of the enjoyment that we can see in Dubai i feel and really great to know such precise yet time saving tips because i am travelling Dubai but this is with some work so i have to come back spending very small time there so i have to cover as much as i can see that short notice of time. Thanks mate
Hi Hana,
I am glad that our five travel tips on how to do Dubai on a budget were helpful. 🙂 Enjoy Dubai!
Happy traveling, Nina
Helpful info. Lucky me I discovered your site unintentionally. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi there, glad to hear you find the article about traveling to Dubai on a budget interesting and useful. 🙂
Dubai is nice place. Whenever we go to roam, we keep a budget outlook and think about how to budget trip. I am reading your blog and i get the really awesome tips you share. Very helpful blog travel to Dubai on Budget. Thanks for sharing.
Hi David, happy to see you found our post about traveling to Dubai on a budget interesting and useful.
Enjoy Dubai, Nina
To ensure that you could save a lot in travelling to Dubai, plan your activities ahead and book you accomodations ahead of time. You can look for great deals online. Just like what me and friends did when we found Al Habtoor Polo Resort’s villa deals, at AED 2500 on weekdays. We really enjoyed their luxurious place, views and private pools.
Thank you for the tip Ameera. 🙂 And you are right, if you plan ahead and book tickets and accommodation soon, it will be cheaper. A luxury vila sounds amazing too, but nevertheless, even if the you are traveling to Dubai on a budget, you still can have fun and enjoy it.
Happy traveling, Nina