How to travel in Dubai on a budget (Updated 2024)

By Joan Torres 22 Comments Last updated on September 16, 2024

Dubai is probably the most expensive and least backpacking-friendly country I have ever been to. Accommodation, food, alcohol and any sort of activity always turn out to be very expensive. On top of this, public transportation is quite limited, therefore on occasions, you are forced to take a taxi.

Besides that, whereas in other expensive cities (such as London or New York), you can always find a cheaper alternative and free events, in Dubai it seems that only the expensive choice is available. For any kind of social event, you always end up paying an exorbitant amount.

And why is that? In Dubai, people have money. All these events are exclusively organized for expats and these expats, are willing to pay whatever is needed in order to enjoy a couple of beers and have fun. They don’t care because they can afford it.

Read: 10 Reasons to visit Dubai

Yeah, backpacking in Dubai on a budget is not easy. This is not a coincidence. Sheikh Mohamed has a very clear objective, which is for Dubai to become the number one destination in the world for luxury tourism.

However, whereas it’s true that, in order to enjoy fancy Dubai, you need to spend a lot of money, there are loads of free activities and ways to save money. I lived in Dubai for over two years and, as the budget traveler I am, I was always trying to have fun at the minimum cost.

In Dubai, activities and events are pretty expensive. Here’s a couple of tips that will help you cut your costs when planning your trip to Dubai.

If you want to know more options, read how to find the right travel insurance

The Entertainer is an endless series of discounts for hundreds of restaurants, bars and all sorts of activities, which all expats have.

Most of the discounts are 2 for 1 and it is valid for 1 year, from January to December. If you bought it in June, it will be only valid for six months. It’s available in book format and for mobile as well.

If you are alone and plan to stay in Dubai for just a few days, it may not be worth it to get it. However, if you have friends to share the cost with or you are planning to stay longer, with only going one night out or to do any activity with your kids, you will already cover the cost.

I would never recommend something which I would not trust or use and the truth is that The Entertainer was an essential tool that helped me cut my budget for Dubai after living there for 3 years.

In order to find out about all the events and free activities, I recommend you to check Time Out Dubai and What’s On Dubai regularly.

They announce all cheap and free events.

This Middle Eastern metropolis is not just about massive shopping malls and expensive and glamorous events but, actually, there’s a lot of cheap things to do in Dubai that are very related and aim at experiencing the authentic Emirati culture. 

One of the few things you can do in Dubai to experience the authentic and real Emirati culture. Camels can run very fast and attend a race is frankly impressive. These races usually take place on Fridays from 6am to 8am, but only from November to March. Where?

In the Dubai Camel Racing Club. This is, definitely, on my top list of free things to do in Dubai.

If you like gold, apparently, the Deira Gold souq sells some of the cheapest gold-jewelry in the world. However, even if you’re not into gold, strolling down the alleys in search of good picture opportunities is also a lot of fun.

At the Deira Gold Souq, you can also find a store window containing the biggest ring in the world and be seeing dozens of tourists posing for a picture in front of it is an attraction by itself.

Read: How to go backpacking in Oman on a budget

Although Dubai has a huge Hindu population, Shiva and Krishna Mandir is the only Hindu temple in the city.

The best time to visit it is on Fridays around noon when all the Hindus go there to bring offerings to their gods. It’s located in the heart of Bastakiya, the old part of Dubai.

One of my favorite ones. This modality of street wrestling is very popular in Iran, Pakistan, and India. On Friday afternoons, the Indian and Pakistani workers, meet and go to enjoy it in the streets of Deira, near the fish market.

The event is not about the fight itself but the atmosphere, really far away from the glitzy and pretentious Dubai.

Read: Saudi Arabia travel guide

Pay only one Dirham and enjoy a fabulous ride in the abra, the traditional water taxi to cross the atmospheric Dubai Creek from Bur Dubai to Deira on the opposite side. The quaint old wooden boat has a fishtail carved out of wood.

One of the best free things to do in Dubai is going to see a horse race, the national sport and also Sheik Mohamed’s favorite. It’s completely free. It takes place on Thursdays at 7pm, from November to March.

A spectacle is guaranteed, and not only because of the horses, but also because of all the different types of people who come and gather.

The general entrance ticket is for free but you can also book more premium seats which allow you access to the bar and restaurant.

For more information, check out the official website.

A traditional Arab souq from the 21st century and built in a fancy Dubai style. There are fountains containing giant turtles and you get to see fantastic views of the Burj Al-Arab.

The Souq Madinat is also a great place to hang out in the evenings, as there is a wide range of bars and restaurants serving alcohol. However, they are quite pricey so you should better come here with The Entertainer.

Bastakiya is the old part of the city, which was destroyed during the 80s to build an office complex.

However, thanks to a preservation campaign, the project was stopped and the houses restored. Nowadays, traditional Arab Gulf buildings and homes stand along its streets.

In Bastakiya, you can also find the Dubai Museum which, for only 3 Dirhams, it gives you a great summary of the UAE’s history, from before the black gold times. It also gives you a glimpse of future innovative city projects.

Update: It’s definitely closed! If you like walking around markets, Deira fish market is, without a doubt, the most authentic one in the city. And it’s not only interesting to visit, but also sells the cheapest fish in town. It’s a real shame that they closed this market, as it used to be one of the best cheap things to do in Dubai.

Dubai is about skyscrapers and the good thing is that they are impressive and free to see. The marina is around 8km long, with fancy yachts moored all along the waterfront.

On each side of the marina, there is a mosque (just one has been built so far) which is also worth seeing.

Jumeirah Mosque is a small but beautiful mosque which non-Muslim people can visit and the only cultural site to visit in the new part of the city.

By the beach, the area next to Dubai Marina is called Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR). It’s sort of a promenade trying to imitate the one in Santa Monica.

There are camels, the beach, clean toilets and free wifi. What else do you need? The Walk is one of the best things to do in Dubai on a budget.

What? This is one of the best cheap places to visit in Dubai, right? At 823 meters, the Burj Khalifa is the highest building on Earth and observing it from the bottom is completely free.

Besides, there is a fountain show which takes place every half hour from 6pm on, every day of the year.

In Dubai, the price of a meal varies significantly among restaurants across the city. One day, you may eat an amazing and filling Vietnamese soup for only $5, and the next day you can end up eating a shitty sandwich and pay more than $30.

What do you need to avoid?

If you really want to travel in Dubai on the cheap, forget about eating in hotels and restaurants where they serve alcohol. They can charge you double just because you can order a beer along with your meal. At the average night pub, a burger can easily cost you around 90AED ($25).

If on top of this you also order a beer, then you’ll end up paying a minimum of $35 for a crappy dinner. So, how to save money on food?

As I said before, The Entertainer offers 2×1 in most Dubai restaurants, including the ones located in expensive hotels. 

I know, they don’t serve the best food ever, but many stalls offer reasonably good meals for as little as 25AED. Food is very varied, from Italian to Lebanese, Indian and Oriental.

Outside of hotels, JBR and downtown, there are plenty of high-quality restaurants offering good quality meals for only 50-60 AED (around 15USD). Dubai is a city composed of hundreds of thousands of expatriates from all parts of the world.

That means there are also hundreds of restaurants with all types of authentic cuisine. Here’s a list of awesome (and cheap) restaurants which I compiled: Best (and cheapest) restaurants where the expats go.

If your accommodation has a kitchen, I suggest you buy groceries in the supermarket and cook at home. LULU Hypermarket is the one with the lowest prices. Apart from groceries, they also sell ready to eat meals cheaply.

There’s a LULU in All Barsha, right next to Mall of the Emirates. Other LULUs are in Bur Dubai or Deira. Carrefour is the alternative to LULU. Prices are slightly higher, but the range is larger. There is a huge Carrefour inside Mall of the Emirates. This would be the best way to bring costs down and keep your trip to Dubai on a budget.

Read: A guide to Liwa Oasis and the Moreeb dune in Abu Dhabi

Dubai is a very conservative, Muslim country, therefore alcohol taxes are fairly high. On average, you pay 40AED ($12) for a pint of beer in the most normal bar. Yes, getting drunk in this city is expensive, and getting wasted even more. How to save money on alcohol?

Guzzle is a mobile application which provides 2 for 1 offers on beverages in a large number of restaurants. You can download and use the app for free. They also offer a premium version, which merely gives you a higher number of discounts

Most of the bars in Dubai push for happy hour from Sunday to Thursday, from 5pm to 8pm. Some of the bars offering good deals are Tribeca (Ocean View Hotel), Barasti (Westin Hotel) and Garden 7 (Media One Hotel).

If you are a girl, then this might be your lucky day because loads of bars give away drinks to all girls. Tuesday is the most popular day for Ladies night. The most famous one is China Grill (Westin Hotel). Girls have open-bar all night long. For free. Promise.

If your objective is to get smashed, I definitely recommend you go for a brunch. What’s going for a brunch? For many expats, Friday brunch is sort of a ritual. It consists of all you can drink and eat from 12 noon to 4 pm. There’s no alcohol limit.

Prices range from 150AED to 800AED. The Entertainer offers 2 for 1 on many of them. If you don’t have it, some of the cheapest and most popular brunches are Pizza Express (Movenpick, JLT) and Double Deckers (Al Murooj Rotana, Downtown).

It seems pretty obvious but the truth is that, in Dubai, you can’t buy alcohol unless you are a resident and have an alcohol license. As soon as you land, go to the airport duty-free, and stock-up on alcohol.

If you run out of duty-free alcohol, only 60km from Dubai, there’s a liquor store named Barracuda where you can buy alcohol without a license. The downside is that you can only get there by car. If you are renting one, great.

Otherwise, remember to buy enough at the airport. How to get there? It’s located in the Emirate called Ajman. Google maps finds it as Barracuda Wine Shop, Ajman.

If you were to ever ask me what’s the thing I hate most about Dubai, I would say that it’s a city built to move around in exclusively by car. It’s a vast city with a very low population density. Distances are huge.

The area of the city is a perfect 40x40km square and there’s only one metro line that goes through it in a straight line. The bus system is not convenient at all. If you can’t reach a place by metro, you need to go by car. Below, I will show you the cheapest way to travel in Dubai.

The cheapest option. Don’t buy single tickets. Ask for a NOL card at the counter. It costs 20AED, but it comes with 15AED of extra credit. A short trip costs 3AED, whereas the longest one costs 8AED.

The metro is convenient only if you go to the main touristic sites: Marina, Burj Khalifa, Deira or Bur Dubai. If you wish to go anywhere which isn’t close to the metro, I recommend you get as close as possible by metro and take a taxi from there.

Honestly, if you are traveling with other people, you should hire a car 100%.

Gas is cheap and outside of Dubai, there are loads of interesting things to do which are accessible only by car. 

The public bus is not convenient at all, except for one line: line number 8.

It goes parallel to the metro from Marina to Bur Dubai but by the sea. It passes by interesting places such as Souq Madinat, Burj Al-Arab and Kite Beach.

Read: 101 simple ways to save money for travel

Given the huge range of prices, it would be very difficult to estimate an average daily price. However, assuming that you travel by yourself, stay in a budget hostel, travel by metro and eat and drink on a budget, the cost of traveling to Dubai would be:

265 AED = $70 a day

Accommodation – Budget dorm: 100AED

Food

• Breakfast at the hostel
• Lunch at the mall (Entertainer 2×1): 15AED
• Dinner at an Indian restaurant (Entertainer 2×1): 50AED

Beers – 2 happy hour: 40AED

Transport

• 4 metro trips:  20AED
• Round trip taxi to go to see the horse races: 40AED

Activities – Only free stuff

📢 In my Travel Resources Page you can find the list of all the sites and services I use to book hotels, tours, travel insurance and more.

• Most authentic restaurants in Dubai
• Dubai off the beaten track
• Where to Stay in Dubai
• VPN for Dubai
• Dubai Itinerary
• Best Desert Safaris in Dubai
• Best tours, excursions and activities to do in Dubai
• Travel Guide to Liwa Oasis and the Moreeb dune

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