Dubai Hotel map and travel info

Getting there

Planes, trains, automobiles, or maybe even helicopter – we tell you the best way to go.

Planes

Dubai airport is a major international hub, and a popular stopover en route to Australasia and Indian Ocean destinations such as the Maldives. From the UK, travel with Emirates Airlines, BA or Virgin, or fly into quieter Abu Dhabi airport (www.abudhabiairport.ae); it’s an hour away, and if you fly with Etihad (www.etihadairways.com), transfers to Dubai are free. Emirates also has regular flights from New York, Houston and São Paolo.

Boats

Traditional wooden abras will ferry you across (or along) Dubai Creek for just AED1; there are abra stations by the souks on both sides. A private abra will cost from AED100 an hour. There’s also a waterbus that runs between Al Sabkha and Bur Dubai every 30 minutes from 6am–10.30pm.

Trains

Public transport is currently almost non-existent, but a four-line Metro system (similar to Bangkok’s Skytrain) is under construction and scheduled for completion in 2009 (www.dubaimetro.eu).

Automobiles

Dubai’s congested roads and high-speed highways are notoriously dangerous (largely due to residents’ pathological determination to ignore speed limits or road etiquette), so we don’t recommend renting a car unless you’ve the patience of a saint and the reactions of Lewis Hamilton. However, it’s worth hiring some wheels to explore the Hajar Mountains and east coast.