Best of Dubai & Abu Dhabi

Touch down at DXB and clear the formalities - allow up to 75 minutes at peak - before the short run to your hotel. With two emirates ahead of you this week, resist doing anything big tonight; an easy waterfront walk and an early dinner set up the next six days properly.

Start on the Creek: Al Fahidi's lanes, an abra ride between the banks, and the spice warehouses of Deira. After a midday rest, Downtown takes the evening - the Burj Khalifa deck if you pre-booked, the fountain show either way. Old city in the morning, tallest tower at night: Dubai in one day.

Morning at leisure or at the Dubai Mall aquarium, then the desert takes over from mid-afternoon: 4x4 over the dunes, sunset from the sand, camp dinner and folk entertainment, home before ten. Put sunscreen and a light layer in the bag - the desert cools quickly after dark.

Palm Jumeirah on the monorail, Aquaventure or beach hours at Atlantis, and a Marina dhow dinner to close. This is the last full Dubai day, so clear any must-dos - Frame, Museum of the Future, one more mall - before the road trip south tomorrow.

Drive the E11 to Abu Dhabi - about 140 km, typically 90 minutes to two hours. Check in, then time Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque for late afternoon, when the marble catches low sun and the coach crowds have thinned. Dress code is enforced: covered shoulders and knees, and a scarf for women.

Louvre Abu Dhabi in the morning, under its perforated dome on Saadiyat Island, while it is cool and quiet. The afternoon splits by temperament - Ferrari World for thrill, Qasr Al Watan for state grandeur. End on the Corniche, the seafront evening most day-trippers from Dubai never see.

The drive back to DXB needs a 2.5-hour allowance including buffer, so build the morning backwards from your flight. Worth asking at quote stage: ask us to quote the trip flying home out of Abu Dhabi instead - it removes this backtrack entirely and is well worth comparing.