Dubai group itinerary: 3 and 5 days

How to read these plans

These are sample itineraries for planners who want to see how a coach day is built. They are not tours, we do not sell tickets or book attractions, and every venue sets its own hours and entry rules. Use them as a skeleton, and check the organiser or venue for dates, opening hours and entry rules before you fix a plan.

What we can tell you is how long the road takes and how a group tends to behave on it. Drive times below are about figures in normal traffic, outside rush hour and not on a Friday midday.

Rules that make any itinerary work

• One big block per half-day. Two stops in a morning is comfortable. Four is a rush.
• Leave a buffer after each drive. A coach of 40 takes 10 to 15 minutes to unload and gather.
• Keep indoor time at the hottest hours in summer, and at midday in Ramadan.
• Put the longest drive on the freshest day, not the last.
• Keep one lighter day in a five-day plan. Groups are tired by day four.

The summer heat guide and the Ramadan guide suggest how to adjust.

The 3 day plan

Day 2 is the full day on the road. It uses two drives of 20 to 40 minutes and a hotel return, which leaves most of the 10 hours free for the stops themselves. If you want a skyline or desert experience, the free evening on day 1 or the afternoon on day 3 is the slot.

See our city tour by private minibus for how a single city day is paced.

The 5 day plan

The Abu Dhabi day is the longest. About three hours on the road plus the time in the city makes it a full day within the 10 hours of a day booking, so check the hours on your quote. Our Grand Mosque day trip page shows how that day runs, and Abu Dhabi transfers covers the road.

The driving blocks, and what they cost you

It is easy to underestimate the road. A 30-minute drive on the map is 30 minutes of driving, plus 10 minutes for the group to board, and 10 minutes at the other end to get everyone off and gathered. A day with four stops has four of each. That is where the 10 hours go.

If you want to add a stop, remove one. A day that fits in six hours of activity and four of travel and gathering is a full day. Squeezing in a fifth stop usually costs the group the energy they need for the evening.

Day length and what a day booking covers

A full day is up to 10 hours with driver and fuel, within Dubai. The hours begin when the coach arrives at the first pickup and end at the final drop-off. Waiting while the group is at a venue counts, because the vehicle is yours for the day.

An intercity day to Abu Dhabi is quoted on its own details. Extra hours, tolls and parking are listed on the written quote. Starting prices are on the price page, from AED 1,100 per day for a mini coach and from AED 1,450 per day for a 50-seater, and the quote confirms the exact price for your date, route and hours.

Multi-day bookings and the same driver

Put every day in one request and you receive one quote with each day and each vehicle listed. It is also the way to ask for the same driver for the whole trip. We try to keep the same driver and vehicle across the programme, which helps the group, since the driver learns the pace and the faces.

For a five-day tour, one thing to decide is whether the coach is on standby on the lighter day. If you only need a short transfer, ask for a shorter booking or an hourly vehicle. We can quote the day as a full day or as a set number of hours.

A worked example, labelled as an example

A company of 36 on a five-day reward trip

The group arrives on day 1 at 15:00, and the leader wants a relaxed first day. A 50-seater collects them at Terminal 3, the driver tracking the landing. Day 2 is the city day. Day 3 goes to Abu Dhabi, leaving at 08:00 to be back by 19:00. Day 4 is deliberately light: a morning visit and free time. Day 5, hotel to airport for a 14:00 flight, with a pickup set by the flight time and written on the quote.

Five days, one coach, one driver. As an example, five full days at the starting rate of AED 1,450 would be AED 7,250 before any intercity or extra-hours adjustments. The quote gives the real figure.

Next step

Send the dates, the headcount and the rough plan, even if it is only "three days, city and Abu Dhabi". The quote checklist shows what to include, and the booking page takes the request.

Related: City tour by private minibus · Dubai or Abu Dhabi base · Grand Mosque trip from Dubai · Stopover tour · Get a quote

Keep reading

• Incentive trip transport: Arrival waves, gala dinner moves and free-day options for incentive groups, priced as one written itinerary quote.
• Car with driver for a week: A week in Dubai with a car and driver: which days need one, a seven-day itinerary, what each day costs and how to book it.
• Old Dubai coach tour: Old Dubai with a coach and a group of 13 to 60: the route, where the coach can and cannot stop, and how to plan the walking segments.
• Coach rental Dubai: Mini coaches and 50-seat coaches with a driver for tours, conferences, schools and teams, sized to the group and quoted in writing.
• Abu Dhabi day trip: A coach day from Dubai to Abu Dhabi for groups of 13 to 100: the mosque, the Corniche, the return drive and the buffers that keep the evening on time.
• Chinese groups: Coaches for sightseeing and shopping days: a clear split between the guide and the driver, one fixed quote and a day plan that survives a long lunch.