"How to Make the Most Out of Your Study Abroad in Dubai: Traveling the Middle East" by Aisha Mahmoud
Congratulations on making it to Dubai! It’s a city located in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. The Middle East is an amazing region full of life, culture, and history. It is so exciting to explore and my advice to you during your study abroad in Dubai – don’t let your travels stop in Dubai! Its location is highly effective for weekend trips to other Emirates in the UAE as well as other countries in the Middle East! Here’s my guide to easy travel:
DISCLAIMER: The following information is what I’ve experienced in my stay here in Fall 2022!! Prices, timings, and availabilities of the following may change in the future.
Within the UAE:
It is very easy to get around in Dubai - via metro or taxi. I’ve heard lots about other Emirates such as Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Sharjah, and Fujeirah. However, for the longest time I believed that the only main way to get to these other Emirates was with a car, which I don’t have.
However, turns out there are many easy options to travel around without a car! You just have to know about them. And this is why I’m telling you.
To Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah:
This is something I only learned in my last two weeks here in Dubai.
To Ajman, you can take the E400 bus from the Union bus station in Dubai to Ajman. There’s a bus that leaves to Ajman every 20-30 minutes from 5am to 11pm. It takes about 40 minutes to reach Ajman, and it cost AED 10. Coming back, from Ajman bus station (Marsalla Station in Ajman) to Union Station (Dubai), it costs 15 AED. You scan your nol card to get in (the card you use for the metro) - I recommend having extra AED on it beforehand so you don’t have to wait in line at the station to fill it up.
I noticed at the Union Bus station, there were also buses going to Sharjah, Fujairah, and many other places. Check the schedule. I haven't gone to these places with bus so I'm unsure of the cost and time.
To Abu Dhabi:
There are buses that leave every hour on the dot from Ibn Batutta Mall Bus Station to Abu Dhabi Airport (on the dot meaning they leave every hour at 1:00pm, 2:00pm, 3:00pm… etc).. It costs AED 30 one way, and make sure you bring cash because they don’t accept card. The ride takes about an hour and a half. It’s very reliable and simple - buy your ticket at the office right by the bus station. Of course, there are also trips vice versa, from Abu Dhabi airport to Ibn Batutta bus station (buy your ticket inside the airport at the bus office). The bus (more like a coach) has cushion seats, AC, and USBs to charge your phone!
The metro can take you directly from AUD to Ibn Battuta mall metro/bus station.
International:
To Muscat, Oman:
Go international! There are two bus companies going from Dubai to Muscat and back: Mwasalat, and Al-Khanjary Transport. I used Al-Khanjary so I will speak about it.
Go to Al-Khanjary Station Office in old Deira about 1.5 hours before the bus takes off. Buy your ticket in the office. It’s AED 95 = 10 Omani Riyals = about $25 (one way). They will check your passport to see if you have the correct visa needed to enter Oman. Once you have your ticket, you can board the bus. Again, it’s a nice private coach.
It leaves at three times during the day: 7am, 3pm, and 9pm. The journey to Oman takes about 6 hours overall: an hour or two of that is taken up at the border. After leaving from Dubai, you will drive for about an hour, reach the UAE-Omani border, get out, go through customs (I think we paid an entry fee/exit fee - around 5 dirhams ? idk), then get back on the bus and continue to Oman for the remaining 4ish hours. Personally, I am very used to long car rides, and I bring a book or just sleep the whole time. If you get carsick easily, this may not be for you!
The bus in Muscat arrives at three stations: Burj As-Sahwa, Mabella, and Ruwi. (Look these up on Google Maps). Once you arrive, you can call a taxi to whichever location you go to.
The same is true for vice versa: leaving Muscat to Dubai. Go to one of the station areas, buy your ticket, and get on the bus. I highly highly recommend calling them or texting them on WhatsApp to make sure about the bus times, because it varies depending on which stop you go to.
There is a fee to enter the UAE again. I believe it was around 30 AED (but I really don’t remember at all.) Bring cash!
Your UAE cellular data coverage will stop at the border (in Hatta) so unless you have roaming data, your data will not work in Oman. Plan accordingly, by looking up the address of your hotel or wherever you need to go to before you leave. If you enter Oman via airport, they have a deal “2 GB free Sim Card for tourists” – look into that if you can get it while in the city.
In my two experiences on this bus route, the bus from Muscat to Dubai had Wi-Fi on it (for when we were in Oman- once we reached the border and crossed into UAE, the Wi-Fi stopped).
To Qatar:
There’s no bus from Dubai to Qatar sadly, I checked.
To Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar:
I also had the blessing to travel to these countries as well! It was amazing. These trips required flights. Go to Google Flights and find a cheap flight that works for you! Play around with the dates and the locations. For example, although I live in Dubai, flights from Abu Dhabi international airport are sooo much cheaper than flights directly out of Dubai. It’s cheaper to take the bus from Dubai to Abu Dhabi then fly out of Abu Dhabi than fly out of Dubai directly, so that’s usually what I did.
Think about this whenever you fly to other countries; arriving in the country’s capital will be more expensive than flying to a neighboring city, then simply taking a bus or train from that city to wherever else you want to go. Make sure you do research beforehand on the public transportation in these other countries!
This is how my friends and I found a ticket from Abu Dhabi to Aqaba, Jordan, for $13 !!!! (Yes, 13 USD = AED 46).
We then found a driver to drive us to other destinations in Jordan and to the capital, Amman.
Another example: I flew to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and took a high-speed railway train from Jeddah to Medina, then Medina to Makkah.
Another example: I flew to Doha from Abu Dhabi, but I arrived at Doha International Airport (their older, smaller airport), rather than Hamad International Airport (their larger and main airport).
Warning: cheap flights mean they might be at random times like at 3am, and cheap flights also mean you might have crazy layovers… for example on our way to Doha from Abu Dhabi, we had a 8-hour layover in Muscat, which is funny because a direct flight from Dubai to Qatar is only 50 minutes. But make use of these layovers and try to explore the city if you have a really long one like that! I definitely think all the journeys are worth it. We saw other flights for $30 - $60 roundtrip to Egypt, Turkey, and Greece, but the days of them didn’t end up working out with our class schedules. Maybe you can make it to those places as well!!
Tip: when you book a hotel in another country, make sure you check that the hotel has built-in excursions! If you buy travel packages separately online, it will be much more expensive. The hotel usually has packages of its own where they take care of EVERYTHING for you: including transportation from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to whatever excursion it is, and back to the hotel, as well as other tours. They’re much cheaper and much less hassle for you to worry about transportation and all that!!
In Jordan, we did hotel excursions to Wadi Rum and Petra. In Oman, we did a hotel excursion to go dolphin hunting on a beautiful boat ride.
I hope this list helps you out and helps you broaden your horizon! The Middle East is truly a beautiful place with the most hospitable people. The countries we went to are very safe. In our experience, when we reached out to locals for questions, they went out of their way to help us with whatever it was we needed- and then even went beyond that. They are the kindest people ever with the best food. You will love traveling here!
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me via Amideast. I really want everyone who comes here to Dubai to have a chance to explore other countries and really see the Middle East!
Another tip: Find some friends who are equally as eager as you to explore, and travel together! I’m blessed with finding this group of friends I met at AUD to travel with :)
Aisha Mahmoud is a student from Lyon College participating on Amideast’s Direct Enroll program at the American University of Dubai in Fall 2022.
