From Ras Al-Khaimah to Dubai and back
Page update - Jan 14, 2023
Many tourists staying at Ras Al Khaimah hotels want to go to Dubai at least for one day. Of course, they want to see the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Fountain, the Dubai Mall. How to get to Dubai convenient, fast, cheap? How much will the ride cost by bus or cab? Read the answers on this page.
The fares, timetables, and other information on this page were updated in January 2023.
News in 2023
Starting January 2023, there is a new bus between Ras Al Khaimah and Dubai. It is a special bus to Global Village Park. Read all the details about this bus below on this page.
Tourists in Ras Al Khaimah can now visit the Global Village park relatively inexpensively and get there relatively quickly. This is very good news as there are not many places of interest in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.
Distance between Dubai and Ras Al-Khaimah
Although Ras Al-Khaimah is the northernmost emirate in the UAE and the most distant from Dubai, the distance is not so large - a little over 60 miles (100 kilometers) between the centers of the cities. It is even less between the borders of the emirates - about 35 miles (55 kilometers).
Taxi - fast and comfortable option
The first convenience is you can take a cab directly from the hotel. We recommend ordering a cab, not catching it on the street. If you catch a cab on the street, not every cab driver will agree to drive so far. You can lose time looking for a cab driver to agree. You can order a taxi directly at the hotel reception, you will pay by meter anyway.
An important point! When ordering, ask whether it will be an official RAKTA cab and what will be the fare. Tourists write to us about the cases when the hotel staff called a premium cab with double fare.
Book a cab to Etisalat Metro Station as it's the nearest hence you will pay less for the cab ride. It's already easier to get around Dubai by metro - cheaper and without traffic jams. For the subway map and fares, please see our review "Dubai Metro".
Travel time by cab is 1-1,5 hours. Price - 220-250 dirhams (by the taximeter). For the current exchange rates of the Emirati currency see our review "Dirham UAE". For the cab fares please see our review "Taxis in UAE".
Find your flight |
Al Hamra Bus - cheap option
Bus transportation between Ras Al Khaimah and Dubai (and other emirates) is provided by a local company Al Hamra.
Great news! Finally the online ticketing service started for Al Hamra buses. You can immediately see the timetable, choose the seats and buy the tickets. The website is rakbus.ae (in English). The site requires registration for ticket purchase.
In Ras Al Khaimah, the buses depart from RAK Bus Station (Ras Al Khaimah Bus Station). It is opposite the Cove Rotana Beach Hotel. The buses are marked with the Al Hamra bus logo with a red sail. See the picture of the logo below.
The arrival point in Dubai is Union Bus Station, next to Union subway station.
In the opposite direction (from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah), the Al Hamra buses leave from Union Bus Station and arrive at RAK Bus Station.
Travel time by bus can be up to 2 hours depending on traffic in Dubai. The price is AED 27 (in year 2023).
The Al Hamra bus timetable changes VERY frequently. We don't even take the risk of posting the current timetable. See the timetable at rakbus.ae, it's more reliable. The timetable can be viewed without registration. Just enter the departure and destination points in the form.
For those who are careful with their finances, we would like to point out that you have to take a cab from your hotel to RAK Bus Station. For example, from the farthest (from the bus station) hotels One to One Mughal or Hilton Ras Al Khaimah the cab will cost 35-40 dirhams!
Bus to Global Village
Starting January 2023, there is a new bus to Global Village Park. The bus departs from RAK Bus Station (Ras Al Khaimah Bus Station). The fare is AED 30. The journey time is 1 hour 20 minutes.
There are only two trips from RAK to GV at 3 pm and 5 pm (15-00 and 17-00) and two return trips at 10 pm and 11-45 pm (22-00 and 23-45). The bus runs only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays. If you decide to use this bus, just in case, check the exact timetable at the official website rakbus.ae
The RAK Shuttle bus
The authorities of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah declare their tourism goal of 1 million visitors a year. In order to achieve this goal, special RAK Shuttle buses were launched in February 2018. They run between hotels in Ras Al Khaimah and Dubai Airport.
Warning! As of January 2023, the RAK Shuttle buses are not yet running. RAK Shuttle bus routes were closed in 2020 due to coronavirus lockdown. Expect them to restart soon.
The main convenience of these buses is that they pick up tourists directly from the hotels.
The main inconvenience is the terrible schedule and the buses only run twice a day.
You have to make reservations on the official website http://rakshuttle.com/. Reservations can only be made for tomorrow!
Important note! The bus does not pick up tourists directly from each hotel, but from several large hotels. You need to check in advance if it stops near your hotel, and if necessary, walk to the stop at a nearby hotel.
The fare is 30 dirhams. Travel time is 45 minutes, stated by the organizers. In reality it took more than 1 hour.
Find your hotel |
From Ras Al Khaimah to Dubai there are three routes.
Route 1: picks up passengers at hotels: Hilton RAK, Hilton Garden Inn (near Tulip Inn RAK, DoubleTree, Citymax hotels), Bin Majid Beach (near Mangrove, Ras Al Khaimah Hotel), The Cove Rotana.
Route 2: picks up passengers at hotels: Jannah Resort and Al Hamra Convention Center (near hotels Al Hamra Residence, Waldorf Astoria, Al Hamra Village, Hilton Al Hamra, Ritz-Carlton RAK).
Route 3: picks up passengers at the hotels: Bin Majid Beach, Rixos Bab Al Bahr, DoubleTree Marjan Island, The Cove Rotana. This route picks up passengers all over Al Marjan Island.
All these routes arrive in Dubai at the airport, stopping at terminals 1 and 3 where you can take the Dubai Metro.
Routes 1: at 4:00am and 9:00pm. Routes 2 and 3: at 4:00am and 10:00pm. Once again, please note that there are only two rides a day.
From Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah.
Buses pick up passengers from Dubai Airport Terminals 1 and 3 and take to all hotels listed above.
Rides at: 6-00, 8-00, 10-00, 23-00, 00-00, 01-00.
The disadvantages are more than pluses.
First, you will have to get up very early and miss breakfast at the hotel. Secondly, you will come to Dubai at about 5:30 in the morning, everything is closed, there is nothing to do except look for an open eatery where you can have breakfast.
Consider that on Friday the subway is open only from 10:00. On Friday it's better not to plan any trips at all, as the holy day of the week for Muslims. Read our review "Friday in the UAE".
Thirdly, you'll be back at midnight or even later.
On the plus side, the buses are more comfortable - with free WiFi and free drinks. Another plus is that there will be a lot of time in Dubai.
Hydroplane - very interesting option
Seawings company offers hydroplane flights. Take off from Marjan Island. Next you fly over Ras Al Khaimah. Then in Dubai you fly over the city and enjoy a bird's eye view of the sights. Then the hydroplane lands at Rashid Port or at Dubai Creek in the Deira district in front of Park Hyatt Hotel.
The price is 1,300 dirhams (AED) per person. Book online at https://seawings.ae/. Usually 2 to 3 weeks in advance are fully booked. Book in advance.
Helicopter - luxury transfers
Helicopter transfers are handled by the Emirati company Marutzzi. Passengers are picked up at helicopter landing sites at the Waldorf Astoria and Banyan Tree Resort hotels.
The flight price is about USD 1,000 per one way. The exact price is announced only upon e-mail request. Reservations can be made online at http://marutzzi.com/. Reservations must be made at least 3-4 days in advance. 100% prepayment needed.
What else you need to know
- There are two airports in Ras Al Khaimah, but neither of them will help you get to Dubai. There are no flights on this route;
- There is an option of travel used by expats from India, Pakistan, Iran. They gather at the bus station and join together for the shared cab ride. You can negotiate with them and use this option. But temporarily this option does not always work, because in the UAE now you cannot ride in a cab more than two passengers, it's a covid-security measures;
- On Al Hamra buses you pay only in dirhams. Read our detailed review "How and where to change currency in the UAE";
- If you take the RAK Shuttle to Dubai Airport you need to get into the city from the airport. Read our review "How to get from Dubai Airport to the city".
Have a great trip to the United Arab Emirates, and read our interesting pages about the country (see the list of the pages below).
