Getting Around Dubai: Metro, Tram, Buses, Taxis and City Tour Buses

The Dubai Metro plus a nol card is the cheapest and fastest way of getting around Dubai for most visitors, taxis and Careem fill the gaps the network does not reach, and a hop-on-hop-off city tour bus is worth it only as a first-day orientation rather than as transport. Dubai is a long, thin city strung along one coastal spine, which is exactly the shape a two-line metro serves well: a single Silver nol card costing AED 25, about INR 650, covers the metro, the tram, the buses and the water buses, and a whole day of travel on it is capped at AED 14, about INR 363 (RTA, nol card, accessed 2026-08-10). This guide compares every way of getting around Dubai with dated fares in dirhams and rupees, and it is honest about the two modes most guides get wrong for Indian travellers: the city tour bus, and hiring a car.

This guide is maintained by Zurich Kotak General Insurance, an IRDAI-registered general insurer in India and part of the Zurich Insurance Group. It covers transport inside Dubai. For the wider trip, start from our Dubai travel guide ; for what the whole trip costs and how to hold the budget down, see our guide to the Dubai trip cost from India .

Indians do not get visa on arrival in the UAE on an Indian passport alone: it depends on holding a qualifying visa or residence permit from another country, and everyone else applies for a tourist visa in advance. Check the current position in our guide to the Dubai visa for Indians and on official UAE sources before you book.

Currency note: every AED figure on this page is converted at 1 AED = INR 25.9405, and the tour-bus prices at 1 USD = INR 95.2664, both rates dated 2026-08-10 (Exchange Rate API). The dirham price is the one that stays stable; the rupee figure moves with the rate and with your card’s foreign-currency markup.

Getting around Dubai: which mode for which journey

Use the metro for anything along the coastal spine, the tram inside Dubai Marina, a taxi or Careem for the last mile and for late nights, an abra to cross Dubai Creek, and a tour bus only if you want a narrated first-day loop rather than a way of getting from A to B. The table below sets each mode against the job it does. Figures last reviewed 2026-08-10.

Two things fall out of that table. First, almost everything a first-time visitor wants to see sits within a short walk of a Metro or Tram station, so the transport line in a Dubai budget is genuinely small. Second, the modes are not really competing: a normal Dubai day is a Metro trip, a five-minute taxi at the end of it, and an abra somewhere in the middle.

The nol card: buy this before anything else

A nol Silver card costs AED 25, about INR 650, comes preloaded with AED 19 of travel credit, and is the single ticket for the Metro, the Tram, RTA buses and the water buses, so buy one at the airport station on arrival. RTA publishes four card types (RTA, nol card, accessed 2026-08-10):

The Silver card is the right answer for essentially every Indian tourist. The Red ticket costs less up front but is charged at a higher per-trip rate and is tied to a single mode per journey, so it stops making sense after about three trips. The Gold card buys you the Gold Class cabin, which is quieter and has better views from the front of the train, at roughly double the standard fare.

Fares are charged by zone, not by the number of stops. On a Silver card a journey within one zone is AED 3, two adjacent zones AED 5, and more than two zones AED 7.50, which is about INR 78, INR 130 and INR 195. A Red ticket costs AED 4, AED 6 and AED 8.50 for the same journeys, and a Gold card double the Silver rate at AED 6, AED 10 and AED 15. A day of Silver-card travel is capped at AED 14, about INR 363, and an all-zones seven-day pass is AED 110, about INR 2,850 (fares checked 2026-08-10; RTA’s own nol pages returned card prices but no fare table to our checks on that date, so confirm at a ticket-vending machine or on rta.ae before you rely on a figure). Transfers between Metro, Tram and bus inside 30 minutes count as one journey rather than two.

Cards are sold and topped up at ticket offices and vending machines in every Metro station, including inside Terminals 1 and 3 at the airport (Dubai Airports, Metro, accessed 2026-08-10). Buses will not take cash at all: “A Nol card is required to travel by bus, as cash payments are not accepted” (Dubai Airports, bus, accessed 2026-08-10).

The Dubai Metro: Red Line and Green Line

Dubai’s Metro is a driverless, fully automated two-line network, and the Red Line alone connects the airport, Deira, Bur Dubai, Downtown and Burj Khalifa, Dubai Marina and Expo City, which is most of a first Dubai trip. u.ae describes it as a “driver-less and fully-automated metro rail network”, and RTA describes the two lines as “Dubai Metro, with its Red and Green lines” ( u.ae , public transport; RTA, about the Metro, both accessed 2026-08-10).

The Red Line is the long north-to-south spine, roughly 67 km and 35 stations, and it includes the Route 2020 branch out to Expo City. The Green Line is the shorter loop through old Dubai, roughly 22.5 km and 20 stations, serving Deira, Al Ras, the Gold Souk end of the creek and Al Fahidi (secondary source: Wikipedia, Dubai Metro, accessed 2026-08-10; RTA’s route pages did not render station counts to our checks). Trains run every five to seven minutes off peak, and more often at peak, so there is no timetable to learn: turn up and go.

Operating hours, which catch out late arrivals: Monday to Thursday 05:00 to midnight, Friday 05:00 to 01:00 the next day, Saturday 05:00 to midnight, and Sunday 08:00 to midnight (Dubai Airports, Metro, accessed 2026-08-10). The late Sunday start is the one to plan around; a Sunday-morning flight arrival means a taxi, not a train.

Trains carry three kinds of cabin: a Gold Class cabin for nol Gold card holders, with “wide leather seats and panoramic views”; a cabin designated for “women and children commuters”; and standard cabins. Sitting in the wrong one is a fineable offence, so read the platform markings (RTA, about the Metro, accessed 2026-08-10). RTA also allows “up to two pieces of luggage, including hand luggage” per passenger on the Metro, which is what makes the airport run practical (Dubai Airports, Metro, accessed 2026-08-10).

A third line, the Blue Line, is under construction: RTA describes it as a 30 km project with 14 stations due for completion in 2029, so it will not affect a trip taken now (RTA, about the Metro, accessed 2026-08-10).

The Dubai Tram, and the Palm Monorail caveat

The Dubai Tram is a short street-level line through Dubai Marina and JBR that exists mainly to feed the Metro, and it takes the same nol card and the same zone fares. RTA describes it as running “along Al Sufouh Road and Jumeirah Beach Road”, linking “Dubai Metro and the Palm Monorail”, and notes it was “the first tramway project outside Europe powered by a ground-based electric supply system”, meaning no overhead wires (RTA, about the Tram, accessed 2026-08-10). If you are staying in Marina or JBR, the tram is how you reach the Red Line without a taxi.

The Palm Jumeirah Monorail is a separate system that is not on nol, and at the time of writing it is not running. Its operator stated on 2026-08-10 that “Monorail service is temporarily suspended until further notice due to maintenance” (Palm Monorail, accessed 2026-08-10). Plan a Palm Jumeirah visit by taxi or Careem and check the operator’s site before you build a day around the monorail.

Buses, abras and the water network

RTA’s bus network covers the parts of Dubai the rail lines miss, runs air-conditioned vehicles on fixed schedules, and takes nol cards only. u.ae notes that RTA “operates public bus services connecting most areas” and that buses are air-conditioned and run to schedule ( u.ae , public transport, accessed 2026-08-10). For a short visit, buses matter in exactly two situations: reaching a specific beach, mall or residential address that is a long walk from a station, and getting into the city from the airport outside Metro hours.

The best value in Dubai is still the abra across Dubai Creek at AED 1, about INR 26, paid in coins to the boatman. The traditional motorised abra runs between Bur Dubai Abra Station and Deira Old Souk, and between Dubai Old Souk Station and Al Sabkha; the air-conditioned and petrol abras cost AED 2, about INR 52; and a private one-hour charter is AED 120, about INR 3,110 (fares checked 2026-08-10). It is a two-minute crossing, it is the oldest form of transport in the city, and it is the cheapest thing on any Dubai itinerary. RTA also runs water buses and ferries on the creek and the marina; those do take nol cards, unlike the traditional abras.

Taxis, Careem, Uber and Bolt

Dubai’s metered taxis are cheap by international standards, plentiful and safe, and the ride-hailing apps price the same journeys with the fare shown before you confirm. Dubai Taxi Company operates “24/7 at designated ranks in each terminal” at the airport, with a stated starting fare of AED 25, about INR 650, from DXB (Dubai Airports, taxi, accessed 2026-08-10). In the city, the flagfall is lower, at around AED 12 with roughly AED 2.57 a kilometre after that, about INR 311 and INR 67 (market observation carried from our Dubai trip cost research; Dubai Taxi Company’s own site did not render a fare table to our checks on 2026-08-10, so treat these as indicative).

You can hail a taxi on the street, take one from a rank, or book by calling RTA on 04-2080808. u.ae lists the app alternatives as “Careem (Google Play, App Store) or Uber/Bolt” and notes that “booking charges vary by taxi type and time of day” ( u.ae , public transport, accessed 2026-08-10). Careem is the local incumbent and usually has the deepest supply; Uber owns Careem and runs alongside it; Bolt tends to be the cheapest of the three.

Three practical notes for an Indian traveller. Metered taxis in Dubai are regulated and the meter is used without argument, so there is no haggling to do and no scam to avoid, which is a genuine difference from most South and Southeast Asian cities. Ignore any driver who approaches you inside the terminal and offers a fixed price; use the official rank or the app. And RTA runs specialist fleets, including ladies taxis with women drivers and taxis adapted for People of Determination, which can be requested through the same channels (Dubai Airports, taxi, accessed 2026-08-10).

Dubai city tour buses: what a hop-on-hop-off ticket actually buys

A Dubai city tour bus is an open-top hop-on-hop-off sightseeing loop with recorded commentary, and it is worth buying as a narrated orientation on day one, not as a substitute for the Metro. Big Bus, the largest operator, runs two Dubai routes: the City Tour (Red Route), which it describes as covering “Dubai’s most iconic sights, from the towering Burj Khalifa to intriguing souks and museums in Deira”, operating 10:00 to 17:00 with a 60-minute frequency across 8 stops; and the Beach Tour (Blue Route) around Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah and Media City, operating 10:30 to 16:30 with a 2-hour frequency across 3 stops (Big Bus Tours Dubai, accessed 2026-08-10).

Prices are quoted on the operator’s site in US dollars. At the time of checking, a promotional discount was running (Big Bus Tours Dubai, accessed 2026-08-10):

Read the frequency numbers before you read the prices, because they are the whole story. A bus every 60 minutes on the Red Route and every 2 hours on the Blue Route means that hopping off and back on costs you an hour of your day each time, while the Metro runs every five to seven minutes for AED 3. The honest advice: a 24-hour ticket used as a single narrated circuit on your first morning is good value, because it maps the city for you and the commentary is genuinely useful. A multi-day ticket bought as your transport plan is not, unless the bundled attraction entries alone justify the price. Compare the bundle against paying for those attractions separately, which our Dubai trip cost from India breakdown prices line by line.

Travelling to Dubai? Get covered before you fly. A visa lets you into the country and pays nothing towards a hospital bill, and private treatment in Dubai is expensive and billed upfront. Put travel insurance for Dubai on the booking checklist rather than at the end of it. Get a quote in minutes: enter your trip dates and travellers, pick a plan, and download the policy instantly.

Hiring a car or a two-wheeler: usually not worth it, and read the licence rule first

For a first Dubai city trip, hiring a car is rarely worth it, because the Metro covers the spine, parking in Downtown and Marina is expensive and scarce, and Salik toll gates on the main highways charge you automatically. Every major rental company has a desk at the airport, with Yelo, Europcar, Sixt, Dollar, AVIS, National, Thrifty, Autostrad, Hertz and Budget listed across Terminals 1, 2 and 3 (Dubai Airports, rent a car, accessed 2026-08-10). The case for hiring changes if you are travelling as a family with a lot of luggage, or if your plan is day trips out of Dubai rather than days inside it.

If you do drive, an Indian licence on its own is not enough. An Indian tourist needs their Indian licence plus a valid International Driving Permit, obtained in India before travel, because India is not on the UAE’s IDP-exemption list (Gulf News, accessed 2026-08-10). An IDP is issued by your RTO in India, takes a few days, and cannot be obtained once you have landed. This is a plan-ahead item, not an airport item.

Two costs that surprise first-time drivers. Salik is Dubai’s automatic road-toll system: gates on the main highways charge without a barrier, and the rental company re-bills the charges to you afterwards, usually with an admin fee. Check the current tariff on salik.ae before you drive, because the rate structure has changed in recent years and we deliberately quote no figure here rather than print a stale one. Paid parking applies across most of the city and is charged by zone and time of day.

On two-wheelers, the licence rule is the same and the insurance position needs stating plainly. On Zurich Kotak’s retail Smart Travel policy, a two-wheeler accident claim requires a valid international driving licence and, where locally mandated, a helmet, and the Car Rental Excess benefit excludes motorcycles, mopeds and motorbikes, so damage to a rented two-wheeler itself is not covered by rental-excess. The UAE nuance matters, and it is better news than in some destinations: because the UAE recognises the International Driving Permit and an Indian traveller can obtain one at home, the licence condition is meetable here. So meet it before you ride. Ride on a licence the UAE does not accept, or without a helmet where one is required, and a claim can be declined.

Dubai counts as an Asia-geography destination on Zurich Kotak’s retail Smart Travel product, which offers the Excel and Prime tiers with a sum insured up to USD 500,000 on Prime and a maximum entry age of 70. See what a Dubai policy covers under travel insurance for Dubai .

Putting it together: a transport plan for a first Dubai trip

Buy a Silver nol card at the airport station, take the Red Line to your hotel, walk or tram everywhere inside Marina, use the Metro along the spine, and keep Careem for late nights and the Palm. That plan costs a few hundred rupees a day and needs no advance booking. Layer one narrated tour-bus circuit onto the first morning if you like being oriented, add the AED 1 abra on the day you do Deira and Bur Dubai, and only think about a hire car if your itinerary leaves the city.

Where to point next: our Dubai travel guide covers the trip as a whole, and our guide to the Dubai trip cost from India shows where transport sits against the two lines that really move a Dubai budget, flights and hotels.

FAQ

Q: What is the best way to get around Dubai?

A: The Dubai Metro with a nol Silver card, for almost every visitor. The Red Line links the airport, Deira, Bur Dubai, Downtown and Burj Khalifa, Dubai Marina and Expo City, trains run every five to seven minutes, and fares are AED 3 to AED 7.50 a journey by zone, about INR 78 to INR 195, capped at AED 14 a day. Use a taxi or Careem for the last mile, late nights and Palm Jumeirah, where the Metro does not reach.

Q: How much does a nol card cost and which one should I buy?

A: Buy a nol Silver card at AED 25, about INR 650, which comes preloaded with AED 19 of travel credit and covers the Metro, Tram, buses and water buses. A paper nol Red ticket costs AED 2 but is charged at a higher per-trip rate and is tied to one mode per journey, so it only makes sense for one or two trips. The nol Gold card also costs AED 25 and buys the Gold Class cabin at roughly double the fare. Buses do not accept cash at all, so you need a card either way.

Q: Is a Dubai city tour bus worth it?

A: As a first-day orientation, yes; as your transport plan, no. Big Bus runs a City Tour (Red Route) from 10:00 to 17:00 with a bus every 60 minutes across 8 stops, and a Beach Tour (Blue Route) from 10:30 to 16:30 every 2 hours across 3 stops, with 24-hour adult tickets from about US$40.80, roughly INR 3,890 at the 2026-08-10 rate. Those frequencies mean each hop-off costs you up to an hour, while the Metro runs every five to seven minutes for AED 3, so use the bus for the narrated circuit and the Metro to actually get around.

Q: Do I need an international driving permit to drive in Dubai?

A: Yes. An Indian tourist needs their Indian driving licence plus a valid International Driving Permit obtained in India before travelling, because India is not on the UAE’s IDP-exemption list. You cannot arrange an IDP after you land, so apply through your RTO in India while you are still planning. Also budget for Salik road tolls, which are charged automatically on the main highways and re-billed by the rental company, and for paid parking across most of the city.

Q: Does travel insurance cover a scooter or motorbike accident in Dubai?

A: Only if you meet the conditions. A two-wheeler accident claim requires a valid international driving licence and, where locally mandated, a helmet, and damage to the rented two-wheeler itself is not covered, because the Car Rental Excess benefit excludes motorcycles, mopeds and motorbikes. Because the UAE recognises the International Driving Permit and Indians can obtain one at home before travel, the licence condition is meetable here, so meet it before you ride.

Q: How do I get from Dubai airport to the city?

A: The Metro Red Line runs directly from Terminals 1 and 3 for a standard zone fare, operating 05:00 to midnight Monday to Thursday and Saturday, 05:00 to 01:00 on Friday and 08:00 to midnight on Sunday. Outside those hours, take a Dubai Taxi Company taxi from the rank at your terminal, with a stated AED 25 starting fare, about INR 650, or book Careem, Uber or Bolt from the marked pickup point. RTA buses also run from stands at Arrivals in all three terminals, but they need a nol card because they do not take cash.