5 Road Trips From Dubai You Can Do on a Weekend
The UAE is surprisingly rewarding for road trips. From mountain fjords to empty quarter sand, here are five routes that fit a standard weekend — with the right rental.
People underestimate how much of the UAE you can reach on a weekend from Dubai. The country is small enough that everything is within a four-hour drive, but varied enough that a weekend away can feel like a completely different country. Here are five routes our team runs regularly, with the vehicle recommendations that actually matter.
1. Hatta and the Hajar Mountains. An easy 1-hour-45-minute drive from Dubai, Hatta gives you mountain roads, a turquoise dam lake, and enough hiking to fill a day. The paved road to the lake and village is fine for any car — a Toyota Corolla will do it. If you want to carry on to the off-road trails at Hatta Mountain Reserve, take a proper 4x4 with ground clearance. Stay overnight at JA Hatta Fort Hotel and drive home via the scenic Madam–Dhaid road instead of retracing Sheikh Zayed Road.
2. Musandam (Oman) and Khasab. This is the fjord coast of the Arabian peninsula, and it's only three hours from Dubai. You'll cross into Oman, which means advance paperwork — most rentals need 48 hours of notice to issue a border permit and extra insurance. Bring your passport and plan to arrive at the border before lunch. In Khasab, book a dhow cruise through the fjords; you will see dolphins, and the scenery is genuinely world-class. Any car will do the trip, but a comfortable sedan is best because most of the drive is highway.
3. The Empty Quarter via Liwa. The longest route on this list — about four hours to the edge of the Rub al Khali, the largest continuous sand desert in the world. The driving is flat and easy until you reach Liwa, where the dunes tower 300 metres above the road. Stay at Qasr Al Sarab for the full desert resort experience, or camp with a guide for a fraction of the price. You do not need a 4x4 for the paved road, but you absolutely need one if you plan to leave it. Never drive into the dunes solo.
4. Ras Al Khaimah and Jebel Jais. RAK is 90 minutes from Dubai, and Jebel Jais is the highest mountain in the UAE with a road that climbs to 1,900 metres. The drive itself is the attraction — switchbacks, cool temperatures, and views that feel like nothing else in the country. Top of the road has a zipline and an extremely photogenic restaurant. You want a car with decent power; a small economy hatchback will do the climb but slowly. A mid-size sedan or SUV is more fun.
5. Al Ain and Jebel Hafeet. Al Ain is the UAE's fourth-largest city and the country's most underrated destination. An hour and a half from Dubai, it has the country's oldest oasis, UNESCO-listed archaeological sites, and the spectacular Jebel Hafeet mountain road that tops out at 1,240 metres. The drive up Jebel Hafeet is often called one of the best roads in the world for a reason. Any car can do it; a sedan with a decent engine is ideal. Stay at the Mercure Grand at the summit if you want to wake up to the view.
General road trip tips. Fill up in Dubai before any long drive — petrol is slightly cheaper here than in Abu Dhabi and much cheaper than in Oman. Top up your Salik account. Tell your rental company where you're going, especially for Oman trips and mountain drives. Bring a proper phone mount and download offline maps of your route; cell coverage is good along major highways but drops in mountain passes and remote desert. And check your tyre pressure at a petrol station before leaving the city — it is the single most common cause of highway breakdowns in the UAE summer.
Which one first? If you have never done any of them, start with Hatta. It is the shortest, the cheapest, the easiest in any car, and it gives you the best feel for what driving outside Dubai is actually like. Once you have done that, Jebel Jais on a Friday afternoon is the obvious second trip — drive up in the late afternoon, watch the sunset from the summit, and be home in time for dinner.