The best time to visit Dubai

With its enviable location in the UAE, Dubai is a truly year-round holiday destination. However, if you're averse to high temperatures and extreme weather conditions, preparation could be everything to avoid discomfort on your holidays.



Travelling to Dubai at the peak of summer can be inadvisable unless you're accustomed to the heat, especially if you're venturing inland and away from the sea breezes, where temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees. Even if you're staying on the coast, there's no guarantee of milder conditions either - with even the sea reaching temperatures as high as 35 degrees.



If you are visiting in the summer in particular, wearing plenty of sun cream and a hat for shade can be considered essential, and you should avoid sunbathing at peak daylight hours, where the risks of sunburn and other sun damage increase considerably.



Western visitors should also be cautious when dressing for the summer heat, making sure to respect local customs by dressing fairly modestly. This can be especially important if you travel elsewhere in the UAE where attitudes can be somewhat less liberal, such as to Sharjah, Ajman or Al Ain.

The milder and less humid seasons between November and March understandably attract the most international tourists, but this can bring the added problem of overcrowding, especially in the most popular resorts. With summer being classed as off-peak, those who are unconcerned with the higher temperatures could find better deals on everything from hotels to activities, though you will likely find that many entertainments are closed until the climate becomes milder.



It's not just the Dubai weather that could dictate when you visit the country either, with a number of prominent religious and secular events descending on the United Arab Emirates at various times of the year. Some of these can provide an added incentive for visiting in certain months, such as art festivals, while other could be a deterrent.



The most obvious of the latter case is Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting that leads to many businesses shutting up shop and can make it very difficult for foreign visitors to find convenient places to eat and drink. Even as a non-Muslim visitor, you could face problems when eating, drinking or smoking outdoors between the hours of 5am and 5pm, which is why most travellers avoid visiting Dubai and other Muslim countries during Ramadan - which typically falls in September or October.