Driving in Dubai is easier than driving almost anywhere in Europe: the roads are wide, new and well signed in English, fuel is cheap, and everything is designed around the car. It is also one of the most heavily monitored driving environments in the world, where the rules are enforced automatically and without discretion, and where a hire car comes with a deposit large enough to notice. Both of those things are fine once you know about them in advance.
Before you book
Check your licence eligibility for your nationality. Some national licences are accepted directly for visitors and others require an international driving permit alongside them. The list has been revised over time, so confirm your own case against current official UAE guidance or get it in writing from the rental company.
Get the permit at home if you need one, because it cannot be issued after you arrive.
A credit card in the driver’s name is effectively required for the deposit.
Minimum age and minimum licence held period apply and vary by company and car class.
Additional drivers are charged and must be added formally.
Salik, fines and the deposit
Salik is barrierless tolling. Gantries read a tag on the windscreen and charge automatically on certain roads, and there is no way to pay at the roadside.
The rental company bills you for the crossings after the fact, frequently with an administration fee per charge.
Speed cameras are everywhere, fixed and mobile, and enforcement is automated.
Fines follow the vehicle, reach the rental company, and are charged to your card, sometimes weeks later.
The deposit is held against exactly this and is released only after a waiting period.
Parking in the city is paid, by zone, usually through an app or a machine, and is enforced.
Driving here
Multi lane interchanges are the genuinely difficult part, and missing an exit on Sheikh Zayed Road can cost you fifteen minutes.
Lane discipline is loose and speeds are high in the left lanes. Flashing headlights behind you means move over.
Roundabouts exist and are being replaced by signals in many places.
Fuel is cheap and attendants fill the car for you rather than self service.
Zero tolerance on alcohol. There is no permissible level, and the consequences of ignoring that are severe rather than administrative.
Heat damages phones on windscreen mounts and makes an unshaded car genuinely dangerous to sit in.
When a car is worth it
The desert, including the lakes and the conservation areas, which public transport does not reach.
The east coast and the mountains, which are a very good day out and impossible without one.
Abu Dhabi, if you would rather drive than take a tour.
Families with young children, for the car seats and the flexibility.
Not for a city only trip, where the metro and cheap taxis beat the cost, the parking and the interchanges comfortably.
Practical notes
Sand and dust get everywhere and a car returned filthy can attract a cleaning charge.
Off road driving is excluded by essentially every rental agreement, and taking a normal hire car into soft sand is both a breach and a recovery bill.
Toll and fine charges arrive late, so keep an eye on your card statement for a month afterwards.
Child seats should be booked in advance rather than assumed.
Navigation works well, and you need working data for it.
Where this fits in a Dubai trip
A car is a decision about where you are going rather than about convenience.
For the basics of a first visit and whether your itinerary needs one at all, our first time guide to Dubai covers the ground.
For what your policy does and does not cover when you are behind the wheel, our guide to travel insurance for Dubai covers the gap between the two.
And for the best reason to have a car in the first place, our guide to the Al Qudra lakes and the desert on the doorstep covers where to drive to.
A car also widens where you eat, since the best value cooking in this city is spread across the older districts rather than concentrated where visitors sleep; our guide to where to eat in Dubai covers those neighbourhoods.
The short version
Check whether your national licence is accepted or whether you need an international permit, in writing, before you book. Bring a credit card with room for a deposit that is often larger than the rental and is held for weeks. Expect Salik tolls and camera fines to be charged after the fact with an administration fee on top. Photograph the car thoroughly at both ends. Do not drink anything at all if you are driving. And skip the car entirely if you are only doing the city, because the metro and taxis are cheaper and easier.
