Dubai city tour: seven listings compared by price

The two walks are the old city in its plainest form. The $24 Al Fahidi listing covers the district’s alleys, the souks, street food and an abra on Dubai Creek with local guides, and its text promises souks without the stress of being overcharged. The other $24 walk, three to four hours, adds a visit to an Emirati Heritage House and holds 4.9 across 7,614 reviews. Either one is a Dubai old town tour on foot; neither listing mentions the towers of the new city.

The modern half needs wheels. The $27 guided tour lists the Dubai Frame, the Blue Mosque, the Museum of the Future, Palm Jumeirah, Burj Al Arab and Dubai Marina, then a boat ride and Old Dubai, so it is the cheapest guided listing that names both halves. The $128 eight-hour tour describes old Dubai’s traditional souks and the new city’s architecture, with a Burj Khalifa experience in its title.

As Dubai city tour places go, the names that repeat across these listings are Al Fahidi, the souks, Dubai Creek, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina and Burj Khalifa. Among Dubai guided tours on this page, the three cheapest are the three that put a guide beside you; the two bus tickets leave the stops to you.

Both bus listings sell a ticket by the day, not a seat on one departure. The $42 ticket comes as a one or two-day pass. The Dubai city tour attractions it names are Burj Khalifa, the Old Souk, Atlantis The Palm and Dubai Marina Mall, and its title adds a sunset and night tour. It has 6,506 reviews at 4.3.

The $41 ticket is an open-top Dubai city tour bus with one, two or five-day options, panoramic views and multilingual audio commentary, on 3,382 reviews at 4.4. The prices shown are each listing’s starting price; which ticket length that buys is set on the live listing, so check the options for your dates.

A Dubai sightseeing bus makes most sense across a stay of several days, when one ticket carries you between districts more than once. With a single afternoon, the $27 guided tour covers a named list of stops in five to six hours for less money. The two buses are also the lowest rated of the seven, 4.3 and 4.4 against 4.6 to 4.9 for the guided listings.

Start with what people chose. The three listings under $30 hold 25,111 reviews between them, at 4.8 and 4.9. On this page the cheapest tours are also the best rated.

The Dubai city tour cost climbs in one step, from $42 to $128. The $128 day is eight hours against five to six for the $27 tour, and both describe old and new Dubai. What the extra $101 adds on the page is two to three more hours and the Burj Khalifa experience in the title. The listing text does not spell out what that experience is, so read it before you pay for it.

The night tour is easier to check. Admission to Levels 124 and 125 is written into it, and the same levels as a plain entry ticket are listed here at $51. That leaves $81 of the $132 for a four-hour small-group tour with hotel pickup. If you would have bought the entry anyway, those are the Dubai city tour charges to weigh.

The plan can be one booking or two. One booking: the $27 guided tour, five to six hours, with the Dubai Frame, the Blue Mosque, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, a boat ride and Old Dubai in its text.

Two bookings: an Old Town walk at $24 for the souks and the creek, plus a bus ticket for the new districts. At the listed starting prices that pair comes to $65 or $66. Add the $51 Burj Khalifa entry and the total is still under the $128 full-day tour, though you do the joining up yourself.

The capital is a different day. An Abu Dhabi city tour from Dubai is listed here at $42 for nine to ten hours, with the Grand Mosque, Etihad Towers and Qasr Al Watan, on 27,813 reviews at 4.9.