Driving in Dubai on New Year's Eve: Road Closures and Parking
Updated for the 31 December 2025 closures. The RTA and Dubai Police publish the plan for 31 December 2026 in mid to late December, and this page is refreshed when they do.
Leave the car parked from mid-afternoon on 31 December if you're staying anywhere near Downtown or the Marina. The roads around Burj Khalifa close to private cars from 4pm, JBR goes pedestrian-only at the same hour, and none of it reopens until after 1am. New Year's Eve road closures in Dubai follow the same pattern every year, so you can plan around them before the announcement lands. What closed last time comes first. Then what to do with a rental car for the night, the few real parking options, and what 1 January is like on the road.
What closes, and from when
The RTA announced the 31 December 2025 plan on 26 December, and it was close to a copy of the year before. Expect the 2026 plan to look like this table, and check the year's announcement for the detail.
| Site | Roads affected | From when |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown, phase one | Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Burj Khalifa Street, Al Asayel Street, Al Mustaqbal Street, Lower Financial Centre Road | 4pm on 31 December, or earlier once the car parks fill |
| Downtown, phase two | Al Sukook Street | 8pm |
| Downtown, phase three | Upper Financial Centre Road | 9pm |
| Sheikh Zayed Road | Both directions between the Trade Centre roundabout and the Al Safa and Al Meydan junctions | In stages from 11pm, reopened at 1:19am on 1 January |
| JBR and Bluewaters | King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street and the JBR loop closed to private cars, taxis only. Bluewaters access restricted once the island is full | 4pm |
Downtown and Burj Khalifa
Downtown is the one that matters, because the closure area is large and it starts early. From 4pm the Boulevard loop, Burj Khalifa Street, Al Asayel Street and the lower deck of Financial Centre Road shut to anyone without a pass. That takes out every road into the district from Al Khail Road and from Sheikh Zayed Road. The Boulevard line in the announcement reads "from 4pm, or once parking reaches capacity". The car parks fill by early afternoon, so treat 3pm as the real deadline. Sheikh Zayed Road itself closes in stages from 11pm and reopened at 1:19am last time. Getting out of the district by car takes far longer than that, because 800,000 people are leaving on foot at the same time.
Stopping on Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Khail Road or Oud Metha Road to watch is banned, and the police tow. The hard shoulder at midnight is the most expensive view in the city.
JBR and Bluewaters
JBR closes to private cars from 4pm, and the strip stays pedestrian-only until the crowd clears. Only taxis get onto King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street. Between 11pm and 1am even Careem and Uber cars and hotel limousines are turned away. Bluewaters stays open until the island is full, then access from Sheikh Zayed Road is restricted until enough people leave. If your hotel is on JBR, the car is in the basement from 4pm and that's where it stays. If you're on Bluewaters, be over the bridge before lunch.
The other firework sites
The 2025 map had 48 shows at 40 locations, and most of them came without a road closure. Burj Al Arab, Dubai Creek Harbour, Festival City, Atlantis and the Palm, Expo City and Global Village all had fireworks and none appeared in the RTA closure list. The catch at each is that the car parks fill hours before midnight and the road out afterwards is a single queue. Palm Jumeirah is the worst, because there's one way off the island and everyone at Atlantis uses it at 12:15am. Global Village and Expo City are the easiest by car, with big surface car parks and no closure.
What to do with the car on the 31st
Park it at the hotel or the apartment by mid-afternoon and leave it there. That's the whole plan for most visitors, and it's a better night than any version that involves driving. The Metro ran for 43 hours without a break last time, from 5am on 31 December until midnight at the end of 1 January. The catch is that Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station closes to entry from 5pm, or earlier once it's full. Go to Financial Centre or Business Bay instead and walk the last twenty to thirty minutes.
If you're staying in Downtown itself, the hotel is inside the closure and you need its access pass to get through the checkpoints. Emaar hotels issued badges and wristbands to their guests in 2025, and residents registered through the Emaar One app by 10 December. Ask at check-in what the arrangement is for your stay. Then get the car into the hotel car park before 4pm, because once the closure begins no vehicle is let in, badge or not. If you land on 31 December with a hotel in Downtown, have the car delivered on 1 January instead.
Where you can park for the fireworks
Mostly nowhere near them. What's left is three options, in order of how early you need to be there.
Dubai Mall is the closest legal parking to the Burj Khalifa show, and it's the reason the Boulevard closes when it does. The mall's own car parks, plus Zabeel and Fountain Views on the far side, are the ones the RTA lists. They fill by early afternoon and the exits are controlled after the show, so expect to wait until about 1:30am to get a car out. Charges are the same as any other day, and they're in the guide to parking in Dubai.
The RTA's overflow sites last year were Al Wasl Club and Al Kifaf. Free shuttle buses ran to them between 4pm and 8pm from Al Omlaat Street, behind the Swissotel Al Murooj. After the show the buses run back to the same two sites, where the taxi ranks are. That's roughly 20,000 spaces across the whole plan, and it sounds like a lot until you see the queue for the shuttle at 7pm.
The option we'd take with a rental car is a Metro station car park well outside the zone. Centrepoint, Etisalat by e& and Jebel Ali all have RTA park-and-ride car parks on the Red Line. A Nol card gets you from any of them to Financial Centre in 30 to 40 minutes. You park in daylight and leave when you like.
Driving on 1 January
Two very different days inside twelve hours. Overnight, from 1am to about 4am, every road out of Downtown, the Marina and the Palm is at a crawl, and the drivers on them are tired or worse. The alcohol limit for driving here is zero, with no allowance for a glass at dinner. The New Year checkpoints sit on the same roads out of the Marina, JBR and Business Bay that the weekend ones use. A positive test is a court case, and the drink driving law is worth ten minutes before you decide who's driving back. Speed cameras don't take the night off either. A fine on a rental car reaches you through the company after the trip, at the amount Dubai Police issued, and it comes off the deposit.
By 8am the city is as quiet as it ever gets. 1 January is a public holiday, Sheikh Zayed Road is empty, and street parking is free everywhere except the multi-storey car parks. It's the best morning of the year to drive to Abu Dhabi or Hatta. If you do leave in the early hours, every Salik gate is free between 1am and 6am. A 2am drive back to a hotel in Deira costs nothing at the gates, and the Salik free window has its own page.
Renting over New Year: delivery, return and the small print
Our drivers deliver anywhere in Dubai, and on 31 December they work around the same closures as everyone else. If your address is inside the Downtown or JBR zone, book a morning window on the 31st or the day before. Or give an address outside the zone and take the Metro to it. A driver can't reach a hotel on the Boulevard at 6pm on New Year's Eve, whoever's sending him. The rest of how delivery works is unchanged.
Returns on 1 January are easy because the roads are empty. If you'd rather keep the car for the quiet day and hand it back on the 2nd, an extension is priced at the plan you move into. Cancellation is free before the delivery time, which matters if your plans for the 31st change once the closures are announced. The phone and WhatsApp line runs 24 hours. The last fortnight of December is also the busiest of the year for rentals here. The best time to rent a car explains what that does to prices and availability. The full plan for the night, with the closure map and the Metro hours, is in Gulf News's report on the New Year's Eve traffic plan.
FAQ — Common Questions Answered.
Which roads close in Dubai on New Year's Eve?
The main closures are in Downtown around Burj Khalifa and start at 4pm on 31 December. Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Burj Khalifa Street, Al Asayel Street, Al Mustaqbal Street and the lower Financial Centre Road close first. Al Sukook Street follows at 8pm and the upper Financial Centre Road at 9pm. Sheikh Zayed Road shuts in stages from 11pm between the Trade Centre roundabout and Al Safa. JBR closes to private cars from 4pm as well, with taxis only on King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street. You can expect the same roads and hours in the 2026 plan, which the RTA confirms in the last week of December.
Can you park near Burj Khalifa for the fireworks?
You can, but only if you're inside Dubai Mall or the Zabeel and Fountain Views car parks by early afternoon. You won't get the car out again until after 1am. Everything on the Boulevard closes at 4pm or when the car parks fill, whichever comes first, and stopping on Sheikh Zayed Road or Al Khail Road means a tow. The RTA runs overflow parking with free shuttles from Al Wasl Club and Al Kifaf, and the park-and-ride car parks at Metro stations further out are the calmer choice. For most visitors the honest answer is to leave the car at the hotel and take the Metro to Financial Centre or Business Bay.