Two days is not long for a city this spread out, and the common mistake is trying to see all of it. The version below does old Dubai properly on one day and modern Dubai on the other, with the two things people actually remember booked for the evenings. With longer than two days, start from our guide to things to do in Dubai instead.

Day one, old Dubai

Morning: the creek

Start in Deira at the gold souk and the spice souk, before the heat and before the coaches. Then take an abra across the creek for one dirham, paid in cash to a man with a tin. Five minutes on the water alongside the trading dhows, and it costs less than anything else you will do here.

On the Bur Dubai side, walk into Al Fahidi: wind tower houses, narrow lanes, small museums and coffee. Thirty to sixty minutes.

Afternoon: out of the heat

From May to September, indoors from eleven. Otherwise, the Dubai Frame in Zabeel Park is twenty minutes away and puts the whole contrast in one view: old city on one side of the glass, skyline on the other. Dubai Frame entry from AED 55.

Evening: dinner on the water

A dhow cruise along the creek you crossed this morning, through the old trading quarter with dinner on board. Two hours, boarding in the evening. Creek dhow cruise with dinner from AED 99.

If you would rather have the skyline than the history, the Marina route from AED 119 sails past the lit towers instead. The difference is set out in Marina or Creek.

Day two, modern Dubai

Morning: the sights, with a driver

The distances defeat the metro here. A half day city tour covers the Burj Khalifa photo stop, Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah and Atlantis, the Burj Al Arab viewpoint and Jumeirah Mosque in four to five hours with a guide and hotel pickup. half day Dubai city tour from AED 100.

Afternoon: the desert

Pickup between 14:00 and 15:00. Dune bashing, a sunset stop on open sand, then a camp with camel rides, sandboarding, a barbecue buffet and live shows. Back around nine. premium desert safari with BBQ dinner from AED 100 per person, hotel pickup included.

This is the single best use of an afternoon in Dubai and it is the thing people describe when they get home.

If you would rather do the Burj Khalifa

Swap the desert for Downtown. At The Top from AED 185, booked for forty five minutes before sunset, then the Dubai Fountain from the bridge below, which is free and runs every half hour.

You cannot sensibly do both the desert and the Burj at sunset on the same day. Pick one. On a two day trip we would take the desert, because the Burj is a view and the desert is an evening. For an indoor evening instead, La Perle by Dragone is seventy five minutes of aqua theatre with no language in it, from AED 199.

If your 48 hours falls in summer

Move everything. Souks and creek from opening until eleven, indoors from eleven until four, and the desert or the cruise from late afternoon. The list of what is air conditioned is in Dubai in summer.

What to leave out

  • Abu Dhabi. It is a full day and ninety minutes each way. On two days it costs you half the trip. Save it for a dedicated day.
  • A theme park. Also a full day, and you will have seen almost none of Dubai.
  • A second observation deck. One is a view, two is the same view.
  • Driving yourself. Two days is not enough to get used to the junctions, and the fines arrive weeks later through the rental company.

Practical shape of it

  • Book the safari and the cruise before you arrive. Both fill in winter, and the pickup times need confirming with you.
  • Stay in Downtown or the Marina if you have the choice. Both put you near a metro station and near what you are doing.
  • Carry a card and a few notes. The abra and the cafeterias want cash; everything else does not.
  • Budget roughly AED 300 to 400 per person for the tours in this plan, before food.

If you have a third day

Abu Dhabi, as a full day from Dubai at AED 100 per person, covering Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Emirates Palace and the Corniche. Read the mosque dress code first, because it is enforced at the door.