Departing from

DXB 🇦🇪

Dubai International Airport

The city that rose from the desert

Dubai is a coastal city on the Persian Gulf that grew in a few decades into a dense spine of towers strung along a single highway. Most of what visitors come for sits near the water or that main road: the beaches, the malls, Dubai Creek, the old trading waterway, and the tallest building in the world. It is hot for much of the year and built around cars and taxis, though a driverless metro runs the length of the city. Distances look short on a map but stretch out in the heat.

Arriving at

LHR 🇬🇧

London Heathrow Airport

A capital of villages

London is a vast, low-slung capital that grew by absorbing villages, so it reads as dozens of distinct neighborhoods rather than one grid. The Underground and a dense rail network make it a transit city at heart; in the center a car is a liability, discouraged by narrow streets and the congestion charge. The landmarks and business districts cluster in the middle, but much of London is the high streets and parks further out. It is large, so crossing town takes longer than the map suggests.

City access

Heathrow is the main airport, west of London and among the busiest in Europe. It has a fast dedicated rail link to the center and is also on the Underground, so reaching the city without a car is straightforward. Allow extra time at peak hours, both on the roads and through its large terminals.