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Don't go expecting the Dubai of twenty years ago - it's absolutely rammed with tourists now, especially during peak season.
That said, if you go in late May or September when it's brutally hot, you'll actually have breathing room at most places. I went back last winter and barely recognized some spots because of the crowds, but the desert safaris and the old souks in Deira are still genuinely worth it if you time it right.
The real trick is avoiding the school holidays and winter months when half the world shows up.
i went in march a couple years back and honestly it was packed but like, in a way that actually works if you know what i mean? the infrastructure handles it pretty well since they've basically built the whole city around massive tourism. the malls are airconditioned, the metros are clean, restaurants have reservations. what nobody really talks about is that the experience changes dramatically depending on where you stay and what you do. if you're just hitting the obvious stuff - burj khalifa, dubai mall, the beach clubs - yeah you're gonna be shoulder to shoulder with people. but the real move is the food scene which has gotten insane in the last few years, like legitimately some of the best middle eastern cooking outside the actual middle east because they've got chefs from everywhere.
the crowd thing is real but it's less about "don't bother" and more about being strategic. go to the spice souks early morning before the tour groups hit, or explore neighborhoods like al fahidi where tourists barely go. also the summer actually isn't a total wash if you're cool with staying indoors during peak hours - swimming, arcades, indoor rock climbing, all that stuff. you save money on hotels too since most people are terrified of the heat. personally i'd rather deal with crowds than deal with 50-degree weather outside, but that's just me.
the thing that actually changed my mind about going back is the vibe shifted. it used to feel like this extreme wealth playground, now it's just become this sprawling city where regular people work and live. that's not necessarily bad, just different from what people expect. so yeah still worth it if you go with the right mindset, but temper your expectations about what you're actually gonna experience.
What time of year are you thinking about going?
I took a trip there back in 2019 and found it manageable because I went in late August when most people avoid it due to the heat, and honestly the crowds were way lighter than I expected. The trade-off is you're dealing with temps that'll hit 120°F easy, but if you can handle that and don't mind spending time in air conditioning (which, let's be real, everywhere is), you get a pretty solid experience without fighting through masses of people at every attraction.
The crowding question isn't really binary - it depends on what you're actually there to do. If you're chasing Instagram shots of the Burj Khalifa or lounging on the main beaches, yeah, you'll be elbow-to-elbow with everyone else. But most visitors miss that Dubai has decent diving sites and some legitimate reef structure that draws way fewer people than the touristy stuff; hit up the wreck dives or house reef snorkeling instead of the beach clubs, and you'll actually see marine life without fighting crowds. The heat thing everyone mentions is real, but so is the fact that visiting during those brutal months (May through September) means shorter lines at attractions and hotel rates that won't hollow out your wallet - you just need to accept you'll be mostly indoors or in the water during midday.
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