Road trip from Dubai to GCC countries: every emirate and every border

How far is each emirate from Dubai by road?

Planning a road trip from Dubai to GCC countries or to another emirate starts with distance. Every figure below is a road distance from Downtown Dubai, beside the Burj Khalifa, with the drive time on clear roads.

To	Emirate	Road distance	Without traffic	Main road out of Dubai
Sharjah city	Sharjah	about 26 km	27 min	E11, Al Ittihad Road
Ajman city	Ajman	about 45 km	38 min	E311
Umm Al Quwain city	Umm Al Quwain	about 64 km	55 min	E311
Hatta	Dubai	about 109 km	1 h 26 min	E44
Ras Al Khaimah city	Ras Al Khaimah	about 109 km	1 h 19 min	E311
Fujairah city	Fujairah	about 120 km	1 h 29 min	E44, E102, E84
Khor Fakkan	Sharjah, east coast	about 133 km	1 h 40 min	E44, E611, Khor Fakkan Road
Al Ain	Abu Dhabi	about 136 km	1 h 31 min	E66
Abu Dhabi city	Abu Dhabi	about 139 km	1 h 28 min	E11
Dibba	Fujairah, east coast	about 146 km	1 h 51 min	E311, E87, E89

Figures here use the OSRM route planner with OpenStreetMap data, checked 17 October 2026. Most are averaged over both directions. Weekday peaks on Sheikh Zayed Road and between Dubai and Sharjah add time.

Abu Dhabi has the most choices. Compare them in how to get from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, with the details in our Etihad Rail train guide and Dubai to Abu Dhabi bus guide. Every UAE city pair we drive is on the intercity transfers page.

Which GCC countries can you reach from Dubai by road?

Only two GCC countries touch the UAE by land: Oman and Saudi Arabia. Qatar and Bahrain are reached through Saudi Arabia.

Destination	Road distance from Downtown Dubai	Without traffic or borders	Route
Muscat, Oman	about 409 km	4 h 43 min	Hatta and Al Wajajah
Al Ghuwaifat, UAE border with Saudi Arabia	about 453 km	3 h 58 min	E11 west through Al Dhafra
Doha, Qatar	about 695 km	6 h 38 min	Al Ghuwaifat, Al Batha, Salwa, Abu Samra
Manama, Bahrain	about 837 km	8 h 21 min	Al Ghuwaifat, Al Batha, King Fahd Causeway
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	about 1,055 km	10 h 31 min	Al Ghuwaifat and Al Batha
Salalah, Oman	about 1,225 km	13 h 58 min	E66 to Al Ain, then Oman’s interior roads

None of these times includes the border. Riyadh and Salalah are long days, so plan an overnight stop or a second driver. Kuwait is also a GCC member, but it lies beyond Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and is outside this guide.

Which border crossing do you use for each country?

The Royal Oman Police list Al Wajajah, Hafeet, Khatmat Malaha, Al Darah and Dibba among Oman’s land ports. Saudipedia, from the Saudi Ministry of Media, calls Al Batha the only crossing between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

UAE post	Other side	Usual start	Leads to	Hours we could confirm
Hatta	Al Wajajah, Oman	Dubai, on the E44	Sohar and Muscat	Around the clock in March 2026
Mezyad, near Al Ain	Hafeet, Oman	Abu Dhabi and Al Ain	Inland Oman	Around the clock in March 2026
Khatmat Malaha, south of Kalba	Khatmat Malaha, Oman	Fujairah and the east coast	Sohar and Muscat by the coast	Around the clock in March 2026
Al Darah, Ras Al Khaimah	Tibat, Oman	Ras Al Khaimah	Khasab, Musandam	Confirm for your date
Dibba	Dibba, Oman	The east coast	Dibba, Musandam	Confirm for your date
Al Ghuwaifat	Al Batha, Saudi Arabia	Abu Dhabi and Al Dhafra	Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Manama	Around the clock in March 2026

The hours come from a German Embassy notice of 2 March 2026, written while UAE airspace was closed. Treat them as a guide and confirm before you leave. The same notice said the Oman crossings could be passed only in a vehicle, not on foot.

For Qatar, the route crosses Saudi Arabia to Salwa, then the Qatari post at Abu Samra, more than 8 km on. For Bahrain, it ends on the 25 km King Fahd Causeway, where both countries’ posts stand on Passport Island.

Each Oman crossing is compared in our guide to the UAE and Oman border crossings, and the busiest one has its own Hatta border crossing guide.

What documents does each passenger need at a land border?

Rules depend on the passport, not the car. Check every passenger before you book anything.

• Oman: GCC citizens need no visa. Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lets citizens of more than 100 countries stay 14 days without one, with a return ticket, a hotel booking and health insurance. Others apply on the Royal Oman Police eVisa portal. The German Embassy reported visas on arrival at the border in March 2026, but advised applying online first.
• Saudi Arabia: a tourist visa unless you are exempt, as an eVisa or on arrival. Saudi rules ask for a passport valid for 6 months, approved medical insurance and an address in the Kingdom. The German Embassy said border officers check hotel bookings.
• Qatar: GCC citizens need no visa, and Visit Qatar lists visa-free entry for 102 nationalities. GCC residents apply for the A2 GCC Resident visa on Hayya. You cross Saudi Arabia first, so you need Saudi entry too.
• Bahrain: Bahrain’s eVisa site lists the nationalities that can apply online. Others need a guarantor, such as a hotel or a Bahraini company. Saudi entry comes first here as well.
• Coming back to the UAE: GDRFA’s single-entry tourist visa covers one visit, so leaving by road ends it. The 5-year multiple-entry tourist visa allows 90 days on each visit. UAE residents carry their Emirates ID with their passport.

Our guide to UAE visas explains the UAE side in full.

What does a car need to cross a GCC border?

• Oman: the German Embassy said in March 2026 that a rental car needs a certificate from the rental company and extra insurance for Oman.
• Saudi Arabia: UAE vehicles need Saudi motor insurance, which the German Embassy said could be bought during border processing. The driver needs a Saudi visa as well.
• Bahrain: the King Fahd Causeway Authority sells Bahrain vehicle insurance in its Jesr app, bought before departure.
• Qatar: Visit Qatar asks drivers to pre-register the vehicle on Hayya for the Abu Samra border.

A paid chauffeur trip adds a licensing question. RTA’s activity card for luxury passenger transport says operators deal with the Federal Authority for Land and Maritime Transport when the activity runs outside the emirate. Before we quote a cross-border trip, we confirm the car’s insurance for each country, the chauffeur’s visa and permission to carry paying passengers on that route.

How long do border crossings take, and when are queues worst?

Border time is not in any drive time on this page. You stop twice: at the UAE exit post and at the entry post of the next country. The wait depends on the hour, the day, the queue and how many passengers need a visa processed.

Two things help. The German Embassy advised applying for an eVisa before reaching the border, for both Oman and Saudi Arabia, and called it the faster way through at Al Batha. On the King Fahd Causeway, the Causeway Authority publishes the live average crossing time in each direction on kfca.sa.

If you plan to cross over a public holiday, send us your date early. We allow for border time when we plan the timing of a cross-border trip.

Bus, train, taxi or private chauffeur: which suits which trip?

Trip	Public option	Private car from Downtown Dubai
Abu Dhabi	RTA E100 from Al Ghubaiba and E101 from Ibn Battuta, AED 25; Etihad Rail from Al Yalayis, from AED 39, 64 min	about 139 km, 1 h 28 min
Sharjah	RTA E303, E306, E307 and E307A to Al Jubail Bus Station, and E315 to Muwailah	about 26 km, 27 min
Ajman	RTA E400 from Union Square and E411 from Etisalat	about 45 km, 38 min
Hatta	RTA H02 Hatta Express from Dubai Mall Bus Station, every 2 hours from 7am to 7pm, AED 25	about 109 km, 1 h 26 min
Al Ain	RTA E201 from Al Ghubaiba to Al Ain Bus Station	about 136 km, 1 h 31 min
Fujairah	RTA E700 from Etisalat Bus Station; Etihad Rail from Al Yalayis, about 85 min	about 120 km, 1 h 29 min
Muscat	Buses at about AED 100 to 110 in March 2026, from Al Khanjry Transport at Abu Hail and from Mwasalat with RTA	about 409 km, 4 h 43 min plus the border
Riyadh, Doha, Manama	No RTA route; RTA’s intercity network stays inside the UAE	695 to 1,055 km, plus two or more borders

Bus routes come from RTA’s route list and timetable page, fares from Abu Dhabi Mobility and RTA, and the Muscat bus note from the German Embassy. The Muscat options, stops and booking are in our Dubai to Muscat bus guide.

The bus suits one person with a light bag. A taxi suits a short hop to Sharjah or Ajman. A private car suits groups, suitcases, early starts, stops on the way and any trip across a border. Book it point to point, or as a car with driver by the hour for a day out of the city, and companies moving staff between emirates can use our corporate transport service.

What does a private intercity or cross-border trip cost?

Assure quotes each trip on WhatsApp instead of publishing fares. The price is for the whole car and agreed before you travel. These things move it:

• Distance, and one way or return.
• The car. A sedan for 3, a GMC Yukon or Mercedes-Benz V-Class for 6, a Sprinter for 13.
• Waiting and overnight stays, when the car stays with you in Muscat or Riyadh.
• The length of the day. Riyadh is more than 10 hours of driving before the borders, so we plan the stops and the driving hours with you.
• Tolls and borders. Salik and Darb inside the UAE, and border fees and motor insurance outside it.

How to book a chauffeur-driven road trip with Assure

1. Send the route, date and time, one way or return, the number of passengers and large suitcases on WhatsApp (+971 56 684 8148). For a border trip, add each passenger’s nationality and UAE visa type.
2. We check the route, the border and the documents, then reply with one price for the car.
3. Your chauffeur collects you at your door, or meets you in arrivals with a name board if you land first.

Our RTA licence covers any trip that begins in Dubai. A pickup that starts in another emirate uses a vehicle licensed there, arranged through our partner network on request. Cross-border trips are on request and confirmed per trip, once the papers are in place.

Each country has its own page with border posts, drive times and what we confirm before quoting: Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. The most requested route has its own Dubai to Muscat transfer page, and every country is listed under cross-border transfers. Inside Dubai, the same chauffeurs run our chauffeur service.