There is a moment in The Crown when the weight of a motorcade — the gleaming cars, the unhurried pace, the quiet authority of it all — says more about power and occasion than any speech could. Viewers of the series will recognise it instantly. What is perhaps less expected is finding that same visual language alive and well across the Emirates.
The UAE has long understood that elegance is not incidental. It is architectural, sartorial, and — perhaps most visibly — automotive. For those who arrive here with any appreciation for the finer things, the question of how to move through these cities is not a logistical one. It is an aesthetic one. A luxury rent a car in the Emirates is, in that sense, entirely in keeping with the spirit of the place.
The Emirates and the Language of Luxury
When King Charles visited Dubai for COP28 in December 2023, the motorcade that met him was, by any measure, extraordinary — a procession that knew instinctively what the occasion required. Not ostentatious. Precise.
The UAE has hosted more state visits and royal arrivals than most European capitals manage in a decade. Saudi delegations, Japanese emperors, European monarchs — they have all moved through these streets in vehicles chosen with the same care as the venues that received them.
Visitors who follow in those footsteps — however informally — are moving through a place that has set its own standard, and notices when it is met. Arriving in a well-chosen rented car from a reputable car rental company is, here, less a convenience than an acknowledgement of that standard.
Why the Car You Choose Matters
Sheikh Zayed’s Rolls-Royce Phantom V appeared at the founding ceremonies of the UAE in 1971. Eight years later, it carried Queen Elizabeth II through Abu Dhabi. The same car, two defining moments — that is not a coincidence, but a philosophy.
The Emirates have never treated the choice of vehicle as neutral. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid’s personal Range Rover carries the registration DUBAI 1. These details are noticed because, here, they are meant to be.
To get a rental car in the Emirates through a luxury car rental platform is to step, however briefly, into that same register — one where the vehicle is understood as part of the occasion rather than merely a means of reaching it.
The Emirates as a Destination
Europe’s great cities reward walking. The Emirates reward driving.
Dubai to Abu Dhabi is a ninety-minute drive on the E11. Fujairah is on the far side of the Hajar Mountains, where the coastline faces India rather than Arabia. Ras Al Khaimah is two hours north. The roads connecting them are wide, fast and largely empty outside the cities.
Those who find a car rental service in the UAE before they arrive tend to use it differently than those who book one on arrival — the itinerary opens up, the distances stop being obstacles, and the drive from Dubai to Fujairah through the mountains becomes something worth doing for its own sake. When you rent a vehicle here, the Emirates stop being a single destination and reveal themselves as several.
Palaces, Forts and Royal Heritage on the Road
It is easy to spend a week in Dubai and never see where its rulers actually lived. The house is still there, at Al Shindagha, looking out over the Creek. Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum raised his family in it between 1912 and 1958 — his grandson rules Dubai today.
Abu Dhabi is about an hour and a half down the E11. Taxis will do the trip, but it’s a long meter to watch, and it’s simpler to rent a car and come back whenever you feel like it.
Qasr Al Hosn is the oldest building in the capital. It started out as a watchtower in the eighteenth century, and these days it sits right in the city centre with traffic going past on every side.