Dubai to Abu Dhabi - transportation issues?
 

We have stayed in Dubai about 4 years ago - for 1 week
We liked it so much, that we want to stay another week shortly after the New Year (Jan 2-9, inclusive).
On both occasions, our preferred option is to fly on Air Canada - to and from DXB.


But we want to see Abu Dhabi as well.
One is an one-day all day Dubai to Abu Dhabi sightseeing tour.
Another option is to go to stay in Abu Dhabi in the middle of our 8 day holiday. If the latter, I am not asking what hotel to stay at?

I am asking the road distance and driving time between those 2 cities. What is the best way to go for myself, my wife, our 22 yr old daughter. We do not plan to rent a car.

A regular taxi will be AED250-300, perhaps a bit more, depending on the points you travel between.

Unless I'm getting a lift with someone I take the bus: these run three or four times an hour from both Al Ghubaiba (central) and IBN Battuta (Jebel Ali) bus stations to the central bus station in Abu Dhabi and cost AED25. They are comfortable and (of course!) air conditioned. Journey time by bus is much the same as by taxi, except of course you are subject to the schedule and to transport time and costs to the bus depots (both of them are served by metro).

Lat week I took an Uber from Deira to Ghubaiba, and the driver offered to take me all the way to Abu Dhabi for 300, which I guess must represent some discount to Uber rates for transport between the two cities. Not surprisingly, i turned him down.

But for three of you, I guess the convenience of a taxi/Uber/Careem is worth it.

I would take the pre-booked taxi. How does one pre-book.

Presumably, booking through the hotel concierge will be a lot more expensive.

I plan to stay at a Fairmont hotel at both sites.

Blacklane is pretty top notch. But I can't see you getting them for AED150 - in fact that's not a realistic target. Maybe USD150, though I reckon you could get away with USD90 - 100 from some companies. Google should find a few. You can use Careem (like Uber, but they take advance bookings)

Buses are nice but when I had to do the transfer back in 2015 I remember there being a long line and having about an hour's wait. I liked Abu Dhabi better than Dubai for hotel quality and bang-for-buck, though there wasn't a subway and you had to take taxis more often. Also rented a car one day and drove to al-Ain and then out the middle of the country to Fujiarah province and the coast there.

I've seen rush hour queues, and lines form for evening weekend getaways: outside these times there's sometimes a wait for the bus to pull up to the stand, and for the driver to open the doors for boarding. At Abu Dhabi you can wait things out in he air conditioned terminal: less convenient in Dubai :eek:

But saving $100 or so, I can take five minute inconvenience !