A Dubai layover, at a gentler pace.

Slow does not mean small

A layover of seven hours or more can still hold a good outing with older travellers. What changes is the shape. You choose one part of the city, you sit down more often, and you leave plenty of time at the end. The pace is set by the group, and the driver follows it.

We move people and do not give health advice. Nothing on this page is a medical or accessibility statement. If anyone in your party has mobility needs, ask us about them before booking and we confirm in writing what we can arrange for your trip.

Count the hours first

Take the layover and subtract about an hour for landing, immigration and the walk to the car. Then subtract the time your airline wants you back at the airport. Most airlines ask for around three hours before an international flight, but check your own. What is left is the time in the city.

The Dubai stopover tour page uses the same sum and says plainly that under six hours is better spent in the terminal. For a slower group, treat the time in the city as a ceiling and use less of it.

First check you can leave the airport

Leaving the airport means passing through immigration. Whether that is possible depends on the passport and visa situation of each person, and the rules change. Check with your airline and the UAE immigration rules before you plan anything, for every traveller in the party.

One area, not three

The distances decide which area suits a short layover. These are outside the rush hours.

• Old Dubai is about ten minutes from the airport. The old houses at Al Fahidi, an abra ride across the Creek and the souks are all close together, so there is little driving between stops.
• Downtown is 15 to 25 minutes from DXB. The Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall sit side by side, and there is a lot of indoor space.
• Dubai Marina and the Palm Jumeirah are 40 minutes or more away at busy times. On a short layover they use up the day in the car.

On a weekday evening, from about 4:30 pm to around 8 pm, the run to Downtown can take 40 minutes to an hour. After 10 pm it is around 15 to 20 minutes. If your flight leaves late at night, an evening outing is quieter on the road, and the Dubai Fountain shows run in the evening.

How many stops, and where people sit

Our suggestion, and it is only a suggestion, is two main stops and one seated meal for a layover of seven to eight hours. A meal counts as a stop. Fewer stops held for longer usually work better than a long list.

Tell the driver before each stop how long the group will want. A driver who knows it is 45 minutes does not hover at the door, and the group is not rushed back to the vehicle. Between stops, the vehicle is a place to sit. It is cooled before pick-up and kept cool between stops, and the hand luggage stays on board while you walk.

Attraction tickets are booked by you, not by us. If you want a timed slot, book it ahead so nobody queues for long in the middle of a short day.

Bags, and what stays with the airline

If your checked bags go through to your final destination, they stay with the airline and you only carry what came off the plane. Anything you carry stays in the car while you visit each stop. If you bring more than hand luggage, the suitcase guide shows what each vehicle holds, and we confirm the fit in writing.

Tell us about walking frames, sticks, folding chairs or anything else you travel with, and the size of each. We cannot promise what we have not confirmed, so we answer in writing before you fly.

Which vehicle

For two travellers, the executive sedan seats four with three bags. The luxury SUV seats six with five bags, and the Mercedes V-Class seats seven with six bags. A group of friends on the same flight can share the 13-seater van, which seats 13 with room for 10 bags.

Choose a vehicle with spare seats. Empty seats give people room to spread out and somewhere to put a coat or a bag. For a bigger party with its own timings, the senior groups guide covers full days and larger vehicles.

Meeting you and getting you back

Send us your arrival flight number. The driver tracks it, so an early or late landing moves the pick-up. After immigration and customs you are met in the arrivals hall with a name board. Pre-booked cars generally cannot wait at the arrivals kerb, so the vehicle is a short walk away, and your confirmation says where. The DXB arrivals pick-up guide explains the walk. Tell us if anyone needs extra time, and we plan around it.

At the end, the driver drops you at the departures level of the terminal your next flight leaves from. Give us the onward flight too, so the whole day is built around it. Ask the driver to start back early rather than late.

What to send us

• Both flight numbers, with terminals if you know them.
• The number of travellers and how many bags you will bring off the plane.
• The hours between landing and the check-in time your airline asks for.
• Anything we should know about mobility, so we can confirm in writing what we can arrange.

We reply with a plan and a fixed written quote by the hour. See hourly chauffeur hire for how hours are counted, and use the booking page to start. If you travel with small children as well, read the layover guide for families with young children.

Related: Stopover tour · Senior travel groups in Dubai · Dubai airport transfer for groups · Meeting your driver at DXB · Chauffeur by the Hour · City tour by private minibus · Get a quote

Keep reading

• Dubai layover with young children: A 6 to 10 hour layover in Dubai with toddlers or babies and no hotel room: the time sum, one area instead of four, bags, a stroller and where the nap happens.
• Senior travel groups in Dubai: For organisers of over-60s groups: how long a day on the road can be, how many stops to plan, where rests go and which vehicle fits the group.
• Stopover tour: A private Dubai stopover or layover tour from DXB: met at arrivals, shown the city at your pace, back at the terminal in good time for your next flight.
• Loading time for group luggage at the airport: A method to estimate the minutes between meeting the driver and leaving the airport with 20 to 70 people, with stated assumptions and six worked groups.
• City tour by private minibus: A one-day Dubai city tour route for a group, how a private minibus compares with a hop-on hop-off bus, and what each option costs per head.
• Three generations in Dubai: transport plan: Grandparents, parents and children on one Dubai trip: which vehicle holds eight to thirteen people with bags, how to split the days and where to build in rests.