OZU /UNITED ARAB EMIRATES /DUBAI /GUIDE
Dubai: practical tips
1 h route4 stopsBest: November to March. In summer the city lives indoorsUpdated July 2026
Check your medication before flying. It’s the most important advice on this page and it isn’t guidebook alarmism: the Emirates have a zero-tolerance drugs policy that includes substances sold in a European pharmacy or even over the counter. Codeine, tramadol, some anxiolytics and CBD are on controlled lists here, and the law applies to minimal quantities, including those already in your body.
The practical rule: if you carry prescription medication, carry the prescription too, in English if you can, and check on the Emirati health ministry’s official site whether your active ingredient requires prior permission. It’s applied for before travelling. It isn’t an annoying formality: it’s what separates a holiday from a very serious legal problem. And from there, this country is one of the easiest and safest you’ll visit, provided you know four more rules.
The route, stop by stop
4 STOPS- 01
The things that are offences here
Zero tolerance on drugs means exactly that: there have been arrests over tiny quantities and over testing positive at a check, with no physical substance on the person. What you consumed legally in another country before flying can still be inside you. And there are common European medicines (codeine, tramadol, some anxiolytics) and CBD products that are controlled here. Carry your prescription and check the ministry’s site before travelling.
The other rules are milder but worth knowing: drink alcohol only in licensed venues, and never in the street.
Being drunk in public is a criminal offence. Public displays of affection beyond holding hands are frowned on and can cause problems. Dress covering shoulders and knees in malls and public spaces: it isn’t a recommendation, there are signs. Relationships outside marriage and cohabitation have been decriminalised in recent years, so that situation differs from a decade ago. And no photographing people, in particular local women: that genuinely can end in a complaint.
- 02
The heat, which here is another category
From June to September, Dubai goes past forty degrees with a Gulf humidity that makes it feel worse, and the city simply moves indoors. It isn’t that it’s hot: being on the street at midday in August is dangerous. The law bans outdoor work during the middle hours in those months, precisely for that reason.
The practical consequence is twofold. If you come in summer, everything you do will be indoors (malls, museums, hotels) and the open-air things in this guide don’t exist: not the desert, not the Creek on foot, not the Marina promenade. In exchange, it’s low season and hotels cost a fraction. If you can choose, come November to March, which is when this city makes sense: twenty-five degrees, terraces, beach and desert.
And a note on rain: in April 2024 a historic amount of water fell here and the city flooded. It circulated widely that cloud seeding caused it. Meteorologists attributed it to a storm system, and seeding clouds doesn’t create storms of that magnitude. It rains very little, but when it does, this city has no drains.
- 03
Ramadan, if it falls on your trip
Ramadan moves about eleven days each year against the Western calendar, so check the dates before booking. During that month, eating, drinking or smoking in public during daylight is prohibited by law, non-Muslims included. In recent years enforcement has relaxed considerably and many restaurants serve normally, sometimes behind a screen, but the rule exists and so does basic courtesy.
What really changes is the rhythm: the working day shortens, the city goes quiet during daylight and erupts at sunset. Iftar, the meal breaking the fast, is an enormous social event, with tents pitched at hotels and giant tables.
And here’s what almost nobody tells you: coinciding with Ramadan can be the best part of your trip if you adapt. Anyone can go to an iftar, non-Muslims included, and it’s the one occasion when you’ll naturally share a table with Emiratis. Hotel prices drop and the nights are long. That said, many bars don’t serve alcohol during the month and some shows are suspended.
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Money, water and the easy parts
The easy parts, which should also be told. Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world in terms of ordinary crime: you walk anywhere at night and theft is very rare. The tap water is potable, it comes from desalination plants, though almost everyone drinks bottled for the taste. Cards are accepted everywhere and the dirham is pegged to the dollar, so the exchange rate doesn’t move. English is spoken absolutely everywhere, more than Arabic in daily life.
A couple more things. Tipping isn’t compulsory but it has become customary: around ten per cent if it isn’t already on the bill, and mind that many restaurants add a service charge and a tourism fee that are already included. Taxis are metered and there’s nothing to negotiate.
And a warning that sounds odd: debts here are a very serious matter, with legal consequences that don’t exist in Europe, so if you hire a car and have an accident or a fine, don’t leave the country without settling it. It isn’t a problem for an ordinary tourist, but it’s worth knowing that here that sort of thing isn’t left pending.
Frequently asked
Which medicines are banned in Dubai?
There are medicines common in Europe that are on controlled lists here: codeine, tramadol, some anxiolytics and CBD products, among others. The zero-tolerance policy applies to minimal quantities, including those already in your body. Carry the prescription, in English if you can, and check on the Emirati health ministry’s official site whether your active ingredient needs prior permission: it’s applied for before travelling.
Can you travel to Dubai during Ramadan?
Yes, and it can be the best part of the trip if you adapt: hotels drop in price, the nights are very long and anyone can go to an iftar, the meal breaking the fast, which is the one occasion when you’ll naturally share a table with Emiratis. Bear in mind that eating, drinking or smoking in public during daylight is prohibited by law, though enforcement has relaxed, that many bars don’t serve alcohol that month, and that the dates move about eleven days each year.