Dubai to Abu Dhabi Taxi Fare

There is no published fare for this route. Dubai’s RTA sets a fixed AED 20 supplement for trips between Dubai and the Northern Emirates, and Abu Dhabi is not a Northern Emirate, so no tariff covers it. Whatever a driver quotes you is a negotiated number. Our fixed alternative is AED 1,999 per car, or AED 2,499 for the Land Cruiser.

This direction you can calculate. Abu Dhabi publishes a Silver taxi starting fare of AED 5.00 by day and AED 1.82 per kilometre. Over roughly 140 km that is about AED 255 of distance plus the start, booking fee and Salik gates, so expect roughly AED 270 to 310 on the meter.

No. Etihad Rail’s passenger booking site currently lists only two stations, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah, and only routes between those two. There is no Dubai passenger station, so there is nothing to book on this route. A wider network has been announced, so check etihadrail.ae before you plan around it.

The RTA intercity bus. Route E100 leaves from Al Ghubaiba in Bur Dubai and E101 from Ibn Battuta, both to Abu Dhabi bus station. The RTA does not publish the fare on its public pages, so we will not quote one, but it is far cheaper than any car. You see the price when you book at bustickets.rta.ae.

We deliberately do not print a figure. The RTA lists routes E100 and E101 on its public pages but not the fare, and a lot of sites publish a number anyway. Book at bustickets.rta.ae and the current price is shown before you pay.

Around 90 minutes to two hours by car for roughly 140 km on the E11, longer at peak times and if you are heading beyond the city centre. The bus takes longer because it runs station to station and makes stops.

Some will and many will not. The driver cannot pick up a return passenger in Dubai, so they drive 140 km back empty, and that is priced into any quote you get. This is the single biggest reason the outbound leg costs more than the return.

Yes, if you are in a car. Dubai charges AED 4 per Salik gate, and Abu Dhabi operates Darb tolls inside the emirate. In a taxi or rental these are added to your bill afterwards. In our cars they are already covered in the price.

Not usually cheaper, but the price is fixed before you accept, which removes the negotiation entirely. That certainty is worth a lot on a route where no official tariff exists. Expect surge pricing at peak times and late at night.

Often yes, if you are comfortable driving here. Fuel is inexpensive and the E11 is a straightforward motorway. Budget for Salik and Darb tolls, which the rental company bills back later, usually with an administration fee, and for parking in Abu Dhabi.

Comfortably. Ninety minutes each way leaves a full day for Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Louvre, Qasr Al Watan or Ferrari World. The thing that decides whether it works is transport that waits for you rather than being re-booked at each stop.

No. AED 1,999 sedan or SUV and AED 2,499 Land Cruiser, the same at three in the morning as at three in the afternoon, and the same in both directions. There is no night surcharge and no airport surcharge.

Per car, up to 7 guests. That is the main difference between us and a per-seat coach tour. Two people and six people pay the same number.

No, and we do not sell them. You buy your own entry to the Louvre, Qasr Al Watan, Ferrari World or anywhere else, at the published price. We never add a margin to a ticket.

It depends entirely on how you get the car. The Roads and Transport Authority publishes a road pickup start of AED 5 from 6am to 10pm and AED 5.50 from 10pm to 6am. Booking through an e-hail app costs more: AED 9 off-peak, AED 13 in the published peak windows and AED 10 overnight. Airport taxis start at AED 20, or AED 25 for a van, and Port Rashid pickups start at AED 25. People of Determination taxis start at AED 8 by day and AED 9 at night (rta.ae, read 17 August).

There is one published inter-emirate surcharge we can point to honestly. The Official Portal of the UAE Government states that Dubai taxi trips to the Northern Emirates carry an AED 20 surcharge (u.ae, read 17 August). Abu Dhabi is not one of the Northern Emirates, and we could not find any authority publishing an equivalent surcharge for a Dubai to Abu Dhabi run today, so we will not claim one exists or that one does not. Ask the driver to confirm before the meter starts. Our private transfer avoids the question because the price is agreed up front.

Yes on the Dubai side. The Official Portal of the UAE Government states that Dubai toll gate crossings add AED 4 to a taxi fare (u.ae, read 17 August). Abu Dhabi works differently and in your favour: Darb charges AED 4 per crossing during 07:00 to 09:00 and 15:00 to 19:00, not on Sundays or official public holidays, with daily toll caps removed entirely, and authorised Abu Dhabi public taxis are automatically exempt without applying (admobility.gov.ae, read 17 August). So the toll exposure sits mostly at the Dubai end of the trip.

Far cheaper, and if budget is your only constraint you should take it rather than book anything from us. The Roads and Transport Authority operates intercity route E101 between Ibn Battuta Bus Station in Dubai and Abu Dhabi Central Bus Station (rta.ae, read 17 August). Dubai fares are paid by nol card and Abu Dhabi fares by Hafilat card (u.ae, read 17 August). We could not confirm the current intercity ticket price on an official page today, so we are not quoting one. Buy a private car from us only when you need door-to-door timing.

The Roads and Transport Authority runs its intercity E101 service from Ibn Battuta Bus Station in Dubai to Abu Dhabi Central Bus Station, coordinated with the Abu Dhabi transport regulator (rta.ae, read 17 August). Other departure points circulate widely online, but we only publish the station we can verify on an official page today, so check the operator’s journey planner before travelling rather than trusting a blog list. Payment uses a nol card in Dubai and a Hafilat card once you are in Abu Dhabi (u.ae, read 17 August). Timetables change, so confirm on the day.

You can, and the airport start fare is higher than a street hail: the Roads and Transport Authority publishes AED 20 for an airport taxi and AED 25 for an airport van, at any hour (rta.ae, read 17 August). Plan the meeting point carefully, because Dubai Airports states there are no pick-up areas at Arrivals (dubaiairports.ae, read 17 August). If you land early and need to freshen up first, Dubai Airports publishes free shower facilities in Terminal 3 at Gates A and B. For a pre-arranged private car instead, message us on WhatsApp.

Because two official sources genuinely disagree. The Official Portal of the UAE Government lists a Dubai daytime taxi start of AED 8 and an Abu Dhabi start of AED 3.50 (u.ae, read 17 August), while the Roads and Transport Authority publishes AED 5 for a Dubai road pickup and Abu Dhabi Mobility publishes AED 5.00 by day and AED 5.50 at night (rta.ae and admobility.gov.ae, read 17 August). We trust the emirate regulators, because they set and publish the tariff the meter actually runs on. Note also that the older Abu Dhabi transport domains now resolve to Abu Dhabi Mobility.

It depends on your group, and sometimes the answer is neither. A metered taxi charges by distance and waiting time regardless of how many seats you fill (admobility.gov.ae, read 17 August), so a couple travelling light rarely gains from upgrading. Our private tours are priced per vehicle rather than per person, so children add nothing to the total, which is where families and groups pull ahead. If you are two adults with flexible timing and no heavy luggage, the intercity bus remains the sensible choice. Message us on WhatsApp for a vehicle price.

No. Our private trips are priced per vehicle, not per seat, so adding children does not change what you pay. That is the clearest structural difference from a metered taxi, where the fare tracks distance and waiting time and takes no account of how many passengers are aboard, with Abu Dhabi Mobility publishing AED 1.82 per kilometre plus AED 0.50 per minute waiting (admobility.gov.ae, read 17 August). Tell us the group size and any child seat needs when you message us on WhatsApp, so the right vehicle is allocated rather than swapped on the day.

Not legally, but pre-booking changes the price on a metered trip. The Roads and Transport Authority publishes higher start fares for e-hail bookings than for street hails, ranging from AED 9 off-peak to AED 13 in peak windows and AED 10 overnight, against AED 5 for flagging a car down (rta.ae, read 17 August). Booking ahead buys certainty, not savings. With us, booking ahead costs nothing extra: there is no deposit and no booking fee, and you pay on the day of travel. Message us on WhatsApp to hold a vehicle.

The metered rate itself is the same in both directions, since Abu Dhabi Mobility publishes one per-kilometre figure of AED 1.82 with a AED 12 minimum trip fare rather than any directional pricing (admobility.gov.ae, read 17 August). Return-leg surcharges are often described online, but we found no authority publishing one for this direction today, so we will not state that one applies or that it does not. Tolls differ though: authorised Abu Dhabi public taxis are exempt from Darb, while Dubai toll crossings still add AED 4 (admobility.gov.ae and u.ae, read 17 August).

No. We take no deposit and charge no booking fee, and payment happens on the day of travel rather than at the moment you enquire. We are licensed by the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi, and we own and built our own desert camp, so the vehicle and the destination are both ours rather than resold on. If you see a confirmed price anywhere it will have come from us directly; where we have not confirmed a figure with you, the honest answer is to message us on WhatsApp instead of guessing.

Yes. You can cancel free of charge up to twelve hours before your pickup time, and because we take no deposit and no booking fee there is nothing sitting with us to reclaim. That is deliberately simpler than the layered cancellation windows the large booking platforms apply. Tell us as early as you can, by WhatsApp, so the vehicle can be released. If your plans are genuinely unsettled and you are travelling light, the intercity bus asks no commitment at all and may suit you better than holding a private car.

Sometimes, and we would rather be precise than encouraging. A foldable manual wheelchair travels in the Land Cruiser boot provided you declare it when booking. Powered chairs and non-folding frames cannot be carried, and in that case a dedicated accessible vehicle is the right answer instead of us. The Roads and Transport Authority operates People of Determination taxis in Dubai, published with a start fare of AED 8 by day and AED 9 from 10pm to 6am (rta.ae, read 17 August). Tell us the chair type on WhatsApp before you book anything.

Often not. Entry to the mosque is free with a pre-booked online access pass, so the transport is your entire cost, and paying metered fares both ways for one free attraction is poor value. Visiting hours run 09:00 to 20:30 Monday to Sunday, with Friday split into 09:00 to 11:30 and 14:30 to 20:30, and last entry at 20:00; paid Sura night tours run 22:00 to 09:00 (szgmc.gov.ae, read 17 August). Take the intercity bus if the mosque is your only stop. Book a private car only if you are chaining several sites.