Dubai practical info: free museum days, tax-free, lost passport and phrases

Free entry ¹

Museums and sights that are free, always or on certain days. From each place’s official page.

Visitors can get the VAT back here.

For visitors aged 18 or over who do not live in the UAE.

VAT rate: 5%
Minimum purchase: At least AED 250.
Time limit: Leave with the goods within 90 days of purchase.
Where to get it approved: Planet kiosk or desk at the airport (Dubai, Abu Dhabi and others), before you check in your bags.

Shop in a participating store and show the passport you entered the UAE with. You get a Planet tax-free tag.
Before check-in, validate at a Planet kiosk or desk with your passport, invoices and goods.
Choose card or cash. You get 85% of the VAT, minus AED 4.80 per tag.

Official sources: tax.gov.ae, u.ae

If your passport is lost or stolen, here is what to do.

Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in this city. Your foreign ministry’s website lists its address.

Book an appointment with the Turkish mission in this city at konsolosluk.gov.tr and go in person.
If you need to get home, ask for a temporary passport. It is free, valid for one trip to Türkiye or to the country you live in, and usually valid for one month.
Bring your Turkish ID card (if it is lost too, a photo document such as a driving licence), a biometric photo 50 x 60 mm taken in the last six months, and your ticket home.
For a lost passport you do not need a police report.
The temporary passport ends with that trip. Apply for a new passport in Türkiye or at the mission in the country you live in.

Turkish mission here

Consulate General of Türkiye in Dubai

Dubai World Trade Center Building, 29th Floor, Sheikh Zayed Road, P.O. Box 9221, Dubai, UAE

Consular call centre of the Turkish foreign ministry, open 24/7: +90 312 292 29 29

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, konsolosluk.gov.tr (Passport: lost passport, temporary passport).

Sentences in Arabic to show the waiter or the driver.

الحساب من فضلك.
The bill, please.
طاولة لشخصين من فضلك.
A table for two, please.
هل لديكم أطباق نباتية؟
Do you have vegetarian dishes?
عندي حساسية من المكسرات والفول السوداني.
I am allergic to nuts, including peanuts.
هل لديكم أطباق خالية من الغلوتين؟
Do you have gluten-free dishes?
هل يمكنني الحصول على ماء من الحنفية من فضلك؟
Can I have tap water, please?
أين الحمام من فضلك؟
Where is the toilet, please?
من فضلك خذني إلى هذا العنوان.
Please take me to this address.

Checked against phrasebooks. Tell us if a sentence sounds wrong.