Dubai · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Dubai punishes an unprepared wallet, but the metro, the creek souks and the public beaches are genuinely cheap.
Sleep in Deira
Budget hostels and old guesthouses cluster in Deira and Bur Dubai either side of the Creek, on the metro and beside the souks.
What a day costs
A dorm bed runs AED 60–110, street food AED 25–50, metro and abra AED 10–20. Reckon AED 110–200 a day, roughly $30–55.
Getting around cheap
A Nol card covers metro, tram and buses; the abra crossing of the Creek still costs one dirham. Day passes suit heavy sightseeing days.
Free by day
Kite Beach and the JBR shoreline, the wind-tower lanes of Al Fahidi, and the fountain shows on the lake outside the mall each evening.
Kite Beach at sunset
The hostel roof terraces of Bur Dubai fill early, but Kite Beach after five is where travellers and residents actually mix over cheap food trucks.