Private Dubai city tour, your route.

Private minibus or hop-on hop-off: who each one suits

Dubai has two honest ways to see the city by bus. One is the hop-on hop-off bus: a fixed loop, fixed stops, a ticket for each person and recorded commentary. The other is a private minibus or coach with a driver, which goes where you tell it and leaves when you are ready. We sell the second, so we are biased. We will still say when the first is the better choice.

For a solo traveller or a couple with a free afternoon, the hop-on hop-off bus is hard to beat on simplicity and usually on cost. For a family of nine or a coach party of thirty, the sums change. Everyone stays together, the bags stay on the vehicle, and nobody queues at a stop to find the next bus is full.

Half day or full day, car or minibus

A private Dubai city tour doesn’t have to mean a coach. For two to four people, an executive sedan or a luxury SUV is the comfortable choice, from AED 950 and AED 1,100 per day. A family of up to seven fits a Mercedes V-Class, from AED 1,150 per day. From eight people, a 13-seater van from AED 900 per day, and for bigger parties the 30-seater mini coach from AED 1,100 per day.

A half day of about five hours covers Old Dubai or the modern city, not both. Old Dubai means Al Fahidi, the abra across the Creek and the gold and spice souks. The modern city means Downtown, the Dubai Mall and the Palm. A full day of up to ten hours does both with a proper lunch in between, and that is what most first-time visitors choose. If you only have a few hours between flights, see our Dubai stopover tour instead.

The comparison, point by point

We have not printed ticket prices for the hop-on hop-off bus, because they change by season and ticket type. Look up the current price, multiply it by your headcount, and set it beside the sums below.

What a private minibus costs per head

Our day rate is per vehicle: up to 10 hours within Dubai, with driver and fuel. Divide it by the people you actually bring and you have your cost per head. The figures below use our starting prices and a full vehicle.

Tolls and parking are listed on your written quote, and a trip that leaves Dubai is priced as an intercity day. Per head only works when the vehicle is reasonably full. Seven people in a 30-seater is poor value, and we would tell you to take the 13-seater.

A full day, hour by hour

This is the route we suggest most often for a first visit. It runs old to new, the way the city grew. The times are a guide: they move with traffic and with how long your group lingers.

• 8.30am: pick-up at the hotels, with a short loop if the group is split across two or three
• 9.15am: Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood in Bur Dubai, with its wind-tower houses and narrow lanes, then an abra across the Creek to Deira
• 10.30am: the Gold Souk and Spice Souk. Allow an hour and a half
• 12.15pm: the coast road through Jumeirah, with photo stops outside Jumeirah Mosque and near Umm Suqeim for the Burj Al Arab
• 1.15pm: lunch around Madinat Jumeirah, with the vehicle parked and the air conditioning cool for the return
• 3.00pm: Palm Jumeirah by road, or the Dubai Frame in Zabeel Park if the group prefers a view over a drive
• 4.30pm: Downtown, with the Burj Khalifa base, the Dubai Mall and the fountain pool. Stay for a show if the group has energy left
• 6.30pm: Dubai Marina and JBR for a walk along the waterfront, then back to the hotels

That is ten hours door to door, and it fits the day rate. Most groups drop a stop or two, and a day with six unhurried stops beats nine rushed ones.

How long is each drive?

Dubai is long and thin, so a city tour is mostly a drive along one coast. Outside the peaks, expect around 15 minutes between Bur Dubai and Deira, 25 to 30 minutes from Deira to Jumeirah Mosque, 15 more to Umm Suqeim, and 25 to 35 minutes between Downtown and the Marina.

The morning and evening rushes can double those figures on Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Wasl Road. That is why the route above keeps Old Dubai early and saves Downtown for the late afternoon.

In summer, keep the middle of the day for indoor stops. The Dubai Mall or a long lunch beats a walk on a hot waterfront.

Half-day and evening versions

You do not need ten hours. A five-hour half day works if you split the city in two: Old Dubai in the morning, ending with lunch in Deira, or the modern half of Jumeirah, Palm Jumeirah and Downtown.

An evening tour starts around 5pm, catches the light on the Jumeirah coast and ends at Downtown for the fountains. Hourly hire starts from four hours within Dubai, so a short tour is charged by the hour. Our hourly hire page explains how.

What the driver does, and what he does not

The driver knows the roads, the drop-off points and which car park is full by midday. He is not a tour guide. For commentary on the Creek or inside a historic house, bring a licensed guide and we will plan around the guide’s schedule.

Parking decides some of the day. In Al Fahidi and around the souks the lanes are narrow, so a larger vehicle may have to stop at the edge of the district and the group walks the last few minutes. We check the drop-off before the day and tell you which stops need a walk.

Tickets for the Burj Khalifa decks or the Dubai Frame are booked by you and are timed. Send us the times and we will set the route around them.

Which size for which group

Add the people, then a few spare seats for shopping bags and the child who suddenly needs a whole row.

• Up to 6 people: a car or the V-Class. For a couple, honestly, a hop-on hop-off ticket may cost less. For a family of four with a pushchair, the car is easier.
• 7 to 13 people: the 13-seater van, which also has the lowest cost per head at that size
• 14 to 16 people: the Sprinter, with more legroom and standing headroom
• 17 to 30 people: the mini coach, with room underneath for bags
• Over 30: the 50-seater coach, or two smaller vehicles if the group wants to split for part of the day

The minibus rental page has the full seat and luggage counts for each vehicle, and our coach rental page covers the larger sizes.

Three examples

These are examples to show the arithmetic. Your own quote depends on your date, route and hours.

Example: a family of nine, three generations, one day. A 13-seater van from AED 900 for the day, so about AED 100 each with four seats spare for the shopping and the grandmother’s rest stops.

Example: a group of 28 on a regional sales trip, with a free Saturday. One mini coach from AED 1,100 for the day, about AED 39 each. A licensed guide takes the morning in Old Dubai, then the group splits for shopping and meets at the Dubai Mall.

Example: a couple, three days, no plan. Not a minibus job. A hop-on hop-off ticket and a taxi or two will serve them better. We would rather say so than quote them a van.

Booking a city tour

Tell us the date, the number of people (children included), the hotel or hotels and the stops you have in mind. Add any timed tickets and anyone who needs step-free access. We reply with a written quote that lists the vehicle, the hours, Salik tolls and parking, and nothing is charged until you confirm.

You can send it through the booking page, by email to info@dubaibusservices.com or on WhatsApp at +971 54 126 1681. In the cooler months, book groups of 20 or more at least two weeks ahead. Our bus rental price guide lists every day rate with what it includes, and a full day for a single car and driver is on the full-day car with driver page.

Related: Minibus rental Dubai · Coach rental Dubai · Event & conference transport · Grand Mosque trip from Dubai · Bus rental prices · Get a quote

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