A New Year's Eve itinerary for Dubai

The shape of a good NYE

Every good Dubai NYE has the same skeleton: settle your position by early evening, eat where you already are, watch the show from where you ate or a short walk away, and leave on the metro or not at all before 1am.

The beach plan (free to AED 500)

Afternoon at Kite Beach or JBR. Dinner nearby from AED 250. On the sand by 10pm with a blanket. Fireworks overhead at midnight, easy walk out, metro or a short ride home.

The Downtown plan (committed)

Metro in before 4pm, Boulevard position or a booked table, dinner inside the closure zone, the tower goes up at midnight, walk to Financial Centre station whenever you are ready. Accept the crowd as part of the spectacle.

The no-crowds plan

Dinner in Al Barsha or Jumeirah, shisha until 11:30pm, ten-minute drive or walk to a distance viewpoint, midnight with space to breathe, home by 1am while Downtown is still queueing.