Dubai night tour: the fountain show, the lit-up Marina and the desert, priced

By road, $132 to $360. The small-group evening is four hours with pickup from your hotel: the illuminated Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah and Atlantis The Palm, then the Burj Khalifa with admission to Levels 124 and 125 included. 4.8 across 347 reviews. The private one visits a typical souq and stops for photos of the tallest building in the world from outside; its name adds the fountain show. 4.8 across 49 reviews. One goes up the tower; the other photographs it from the ground and is yours alone.

At the fountain, $20. A wooden abra, the traditional water taxi, on Burj Lake, with the lights of the fountain show seen from the water. Thirty minutes, 4.5 across 21,110 reviews, the largest review base of the six.

On the water or in a seat, $58 to $74. The cruise is ninety minutes in Dubai Marina with live music, an open bar and live food stations, sold as a sunset or a dinner sailing; 4.7 across 6,093 reviews. La Perle is an aqua-acrobatic show of aerial stunts, imagery and technology, ninety minutes, 4.8 across 6,261 reviews. The dinner cruises page has the mega yacht buffet at $82 and the other boats.

In the desert, $814. A private vintage Land Rover at night, a search for nocturnal animals with UV lights, a three-course dinner and tales about the starry sky. Five hours, 4.6 across 27 reviews: the most expensive listing on this site, on a small base.

Take the $132 evening apart. The entry ticket to the same two levels of the Burj Khalifa is listed on its own at $51 (4.3 across 92,696 reviews). The night tour includes that admission and adds four hours on the road past the lit-up Marina, Palm Jumeirah and Atlantis The Palm, with hotel pickup, and is rated 4.8. So $81 buys the evening around the ticket.

The abra ride is the opposite case: $20, 21,110 reviews, and 4.5, the lowest rating of the six. It is half an hour, so plan the rest of the evening around it.

The private evening costs $360 against $132 for the small group, carries the same 4.8 on 49 reviews against 347, and its listing does not describe going up the tower. Pay for it for the privacy.

The night safari at $814 rests on 27 reviews. For a desert dinner at a lower price, the dune safari to a Bedouin camp with a BBQ beneath the stars is $80, 4.6 across 1,190 reviews; the desert safari page has the full range, and the home page cards have all 68 tours by price.