1-3 days | AED 1,800 – 4,500/day
Road Trips & Grand Touring
Dubai's best roads are outside the city
The UAE's immaculately maintained highways and mountain roads, combined with some of the cheapest petrol in the world, make grand touring here more accessible and rewarding than almost anywhere in Europe.
Dubai is a starting point, not a destination — at least when it comes to driving. Within 90 minutes you can be carving through the Hajar Mountains on Jebel Jais road, one of the greatest driving roads in the Middle East. Two hours gets you to Hatta's mountain reservoirs or the Omani border. The drive to Abu Dhabi takes you past the Sheikh Zayed Mosque and Yas Marina Circuit. These aren't city drives — they're grand tours. And grand tours demand a grand tourer. A Bentley Continental GT, a Porsche 911, or a Ferrari Roma turns a road trip into a pilgrimage.
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The Experience
The Bentley Continental GT settles into fifth gear somewhere past Sharjah, and the Hajar Mountains begin to emerge from the flat desert horizon. The road narrows. The lanes tighten. Corners arrive with increasing frequency and the car's weight shifts from composed cruise to engaged precision. By the time you reach the base of Jebel Jais, the temperature has dropped five degrees and the landscape has changed from sand to rock. The switchbacks climb for forty minutes — each hairpin revealing a wider view of the valley below. At the summit viewing platform, you park beside the guardrail and look back at the road you just drove. The descent is even better because now you know what is coming. You stop for Arabic coffee at a roadside café in RAK on the way home, the Bentley ticking gently as it cools in the shade.
Tips for Your Road Trips & Grand Touring
- 1Check tyre pressure before any desert or mountain route — temperature changes between Dubai and Jebel Jais can affect handling
- 2Carry 2 litres of water per person and a phone charger; mobile signal drops between Sharjah and RAK on mountain roads
- 3Book a multi-day rental to combine Jebel Jais and Hatta into a weekend circuit — single-day trips feel rushed
- 4Stick to posted speed limits religiously; radar cameras on UAE highways are calibrated with zero tolerance above the limit
How It Works
The three essential UAE road trips: (1) Dubai to Jebel Jais via RAK — 2 hours each way, the road itself is the destination, best in a Porsche 911 or McLaren 720S. (2) Dubai to Hatta — 90 minutes through desert then mountains, surprisingly beautiful, perfect in a Bentley or Ferrari Roma. (3) Dubai to Abu Dhabi — the classic highway cruise, stop at Sheikh Zayed Mosque and Louvre Abu Dhabi, ideal in a Rolls-Royce or Bentley. All three roads are immaculately maintained, speed cameras are everywhere (stick to limits), and petrol is cheap. Multi-day rentals make these trips affordable.
Quick Info
Recommended Cars
Best Cars for Road Trips & Grand Touring
Bentley
Continental GT
British grand touring perfection — 550hp in a hand-stitched leather armchair
Porsche
911 Turbo S
The everyday supercar — 650hp, 4 seats, and you could drive it to work
Ferrari
Roma
The most beautiful Ferrari you can rent — Italian grand touring at its finest
McLaren
720S
The driver's supercar — lighter, faster, and more focused than anything else at this price
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