B
eing used to typical tourist places, you find Dubai surprising. Don’t get me wrong – you have all the basics there: buses, trams, metro, sightseeing buses, taxis, etc. But the usual understanding of using it turns out to be completely wrong!
TIP! – Dubai is BIG. You look at the map thinking – yeah! Walking distance… But then you check online and you see 3-4 km to walk. You think – why not? Another mistake! Even in 35°Celsius, a walk like that is hard. Add to it the lack of proper pedestrian pavements and it becomes an Odyssey.
Yes! True pavements are rare there. Well – there are pavements, but they serve as a place to plant a palm tree right in the middle of park a car. So forget about sightseeing in residential areas! If you want to have a walk – stick to the tourist places and its surroundings.
Another mistake – a bus. Stops every 100 meters, its timing is unreliable so before you get to a place you are a bit frustrated. But the bus stops are air-conditioned (wow!) and a stop or two with a bus is quite an adventure. This is the way to see some suburbs.
Why? Do you remember that you are in the city built in a desert? The temperature gets to 50°C here in some months. Locals tell that summer months are insupportable – the best is to lock yourself at home, work from there, and go out in the night. They also go on holiday then – but to run from their very hot country.
In these lovely conditions, people learned to use a car. You can say you have car-people population there. You go to a petrol station – they fill your car, they pay for you, you basically do not have to go out of your 4-wheeled shelter. There are drive-through ATMs! Being rich is a plus, but if you can – you have a car.
What is there for all the others – air-conditioned passages and… taxis. Would you imagine that going with a taxi can be cheaper than taking the metro? Especially when there are at least two of you?
Being said – let’s cover them all one by one.
But let us not be too hasty with throwing away this PUBLIC TRANSPORT (bus/metro/tram). It does come pretty handy if you know where you want to go and how to mix everything up.
For example – we rented a room in a hotel not far from the metro station and the old town of Dubai. All worth seeing places were visited on foot and with the help of the metro. You just need to plan a bit.
NOL card
Public transport in Dubai comes with a practical option – it is a simple prepaid card that you can swipe in different places (also to pay for groceries!).
For us tourists – the best options are the Red or Silver NOL. You can get them in the offices in the metro station – look for red RTA letters. Or if you want to stick to the single journey tickets – the machines are at the bus/metro/tram stops.
When you have it in your hand, just swipe them when you go in and out in the dedicated places. Going into the buses remember to leave first 3 rows for women, unless you are one. Metro on the other hand, has a special cart for women and children or a gold cart for VIP passengers (first and last). Public transport is air conditioned, with WIFI and often – points to recharge our mobiles.
The prices depend on the zones you want to travel through. The map of the zones is here, and you have 3 most probable options: 1, 2 or more zones you will pass going somewhere.
Red NOL/normal tickets:
1 zone: 4 AED
2 zones: 6 AED
more than 2 zones: 8,5 AED
If you want to have a rechargeable card (and not the paper tickets from the machine) you will have to pay extra 2 AED for that in the office, we talked about.
Silver NOL:
1 zone: 3 AED
2 zones: 5AED
more than 2 zones: 7,5 AED
Silver NOL costs 25 AED but comes with 19AED that we can use instantly for travelling. The rest is paid for the process of issuing the card (maybe). It is mostly used by the long term travelers to Dubai. The price sounds bad, but it comes with a benefit of lower fares.
TIP! – Remember that the same rules go for each transportation device: buses, metro, and trams!
The busses come with 114 lines you can use! There is a handy app of course and plenty of information on bus stops. Just go in, sit down and enjoy the views.
The metro comes with two lines as for 2020 (here is a link to a great map I’ve found online on DubaiHow).
Red line goes from the airport and along the Sheikh Saeed Road – the main axis of Dubai, as far as Marina City. You will probably use it the most.
Green line can take you to Deira, Al Fahidi and the Creek. You will use it mostly for the last one and to see some fun parks.
The timings are almost the same but watch out for Fridays and public holidays – it works from 10am then, so there is no need to get up very early. It works until midnight (usually) and 1 AM on Thursday night and holidays (including Fridays – the Sunday of the West).
Being said – you would probably switch from the metro to the tram line to go and visit The Palm or Marina City. The blue/violet line that you will see on the maps of Dubai is a tram line – not metro.
There is also a water transport – not NOL covered, so you will have to have some coins in the pocket – 3 AED per person for a Water Bus or abra that will take you to the Gold Souk of Derba.
Taxis
come in the same shape so they are easily spotted – cream color, red roof. You can pay NOL/cash and card there. They are luxurious like Dubai, owned by the branches of the riyal family (just for the sake of knowing it) and make you feel like king or queen.
Prices for taxi:
12 AED for getting inside
(more in hot periods like party evenings or special holidays and the airport)
then 2 AED per kilometer.
On a private example – a taxi from Jumeirah Public beach at La Mer Center to Al Fahidi Metro Station cost us about 20 AED (around 6 PM). Just to be precise – the metro for two people did cost 12 AED, but then we went for a stroll to see how people live… 4 kilometers in a straight line, 35°C!!! That was the best non-alcoholic blissfully cold beer I have ever had on a walk like that!
So… … 20 AED totally worth it!
Here you have it, as it was for the beginning of 2020. I hope you will find it handy. For more info about getting out of the airport go here. And here you will find more about the attractions in the city.
Enjoy Dubai!