Expat Travel Mom

I arrived in the UAE in the midst of Ramadan, and thankfully, I'd been told what to expect before I got here. Life basically shuts down from sunup to sundown for an entire month, but the nightlife more than makes up for it once the sun goes. If you're planning a trip here during Ramadan, here's what you actually need to know, both the practical rules and what it really looks like from the inside.

What Ramadan Actually Is

Ramadan is the Islamic Holy Month, a time for practicing Muslims to focus on the core values of the religion: fasting, studying the Qur'an, donating to charity, and spending more time with family and friends. Fasting runs from sunup to sundown. Those observing wake early for a small meal called Suhoor, then fast until the sunset call to prayer, when the fast is broken with something small, often just water and a few dates, before a larger meal, Iftar, later that evening with family and friends. A barren, quiet town during the day suddenly comes alive with excitement once the sun goes down.

What to Actually Do

You can find places to eat during daylight hours, just be respectful about it. Many restaurants have shades drawn and private seating for non-fasting guests. If you're traveling with kids, who aren't required to fast, it's still polite to keep snacking discreet, we found ourselves ducking into bathrooms or eating quietly in tinted-window cars more than once. Plenty of places are simply closed until sunset, so don't plan on an early evening out, it'll be dead. Wait until at least sunset, sometimes later, and you'll find the town wide awake, everything open late.

A few rules worth knowing: no eating, drinking, or chewing gum in public during fasting hours (exceptions for young children, nursing or pregnant women, the sick, and soldiers), no loud music or behavior, limited direct eye contact between genders, no smoking, and modest dress, shoulders and legs covered to the knee.

A Conversation with a Friend Who Lives It

A few years into living here, I sat down with a friend, an Australian who married a UAE national and converted to Islam in 2007, to really understand Ramadan from the inside rather than just the visitor's version.

She described a typical day as mostly ordinary, feeding the kids, cleaning, going about normal life, just without eating or drinking herself. About half an hour before sunset prayer, the family gathers, either at her mother-in-law's or at home, with water, juice, dates, fruit, and salad laid out. Her mother-in-law, she told me, is a brilliant cook, and no food gets served during Ramadan unless it's perfect, not for religious reasons, but cultural ones, Emirati hospitality runs deep. The spread is abundant: meat, chicken, fish, rice, soups, salads, samosas, spring rolls, traditional dishes like harees, fruit, juices, everything. Whatever's left over gets packed up and driven out to poorer areas to be donated.

Throughout the night, people visit friends, read the Quran, and eventually eat again before the fast resumes at Suhoor. Toward the end of the month, Eid preparations begin, new clothes, new shoes, and fresh bills from the bank to hand out to children and service workers alike.

When I asked what she wanted visitors to understand, she was direct: Islam is a package. The celebrations are real, but so are the requirements. Dress modestly. Understand that fasting includes more than food, and that flaunting the opposite of that, even unintentionally, can read as disrespect, especially in the first week, before things ease. Someone else's choice not to fast shouldn't bother a fasting person, but the reverse courtesy matters too, this is their home, and visiting respectfully goes both ways.

As for why anyone hesitant should still come during Ramadan, her answer was simple: because life is about experience. You'll sleep in later, stay up later, taste an incredible variety of Arabic cuisine, and get a real, lived sense of Arabia rather than the postcard version. She recommended visiting the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, the Jumeirah Mosque, attending an Iftar buffet at a hotel (and staying up for Suhoor if you're brave), and even trying the fast yourself for a day, just to see.

What It's Actually Like, Day to Day

By the time I written this, I've lived through several Ramadans here, and life genuinely does go on. The hardest part is logistics, getting errands done the night before, since everything closes during the day. You'll be surprised how many places quietly keep serving behind a curtain, and drive-through service often stays open even when dine-in doesn't. Ramadan Kareem, and enjoy it.