United Arab Emirates · Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah
Where to Stay in Ras Al Khaimah, Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah
A working creek splits Ras Al Khaimah, the port city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates.
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Where to stay in Ras Al Khaimah
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Ras Al Khaimah divides along its creek, and where you stay turns on which bank suits you and how close you want to be to the port. The old town in the west gathers the older streets of Ras Al Khaimah beside the water, near the site of the earlier Julfar. For a first visit, this is the side to choose.
Base yourself here if you want the historic core of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah within reach, the port and the creek framing the day. Al Nakheel draws a different traveller. On the eastern bank of the creek, this newer part of Ras Al Khaimah spreads away from the old town toward the wider Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, and it reads as the busier, more built-up side of the city in the northernmost of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates.
Each bank of the creek carries its own pace. Between the two, the creek itself is the line you cross.
About Ras Al Khaimah
What is Ras Al Khaimah known for?
Ras Al Khaimah is known as an industrial port city and the capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, the northernmost of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It is the successor to Julfar, the Islamic-era port and trading hub that stood here long before the modern city. A creek runs through it.
That creek divides the settlement into an old town in the west and Al Nakheel in the east, and the port keeps the working character that has marked this stretch of coast for centuries.
What are the main landmarks in Ras Al Khaimah?
Ras Al Khaimah wears its landmarks along the creek and the old town in the west. The creek is the defining feature, dividing the city into that old town and the eastern quarter of Al Nakheel, and the working port lines the water that has served this stretch of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah for generations. History lies just north.
The site of Julfar, the Islamic-era port that preceded the city, marks the older heart of the northernmost of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates.
What is the history of Ras Al Khaimah?
Ras Al Khaimah is the successor to Julfar, the Islamic-era port and trading hub that stood on this coast long before the modern city took its name. Trade shaped the ground here. Julfar drew merchants to the northernmost reach of what is now the United Arab Emirates, and its port worked the waters at the head of the gulf while the town grew inland along the creek.
The city that followed kept the harbour's calling. Ras Al Khaimah grew as the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, the northernmost of the seven emirates, its creek splitting the settlement into the old town in the west and Al Nakheel in the east. The emirate borders the Omani exclave of Musandam along its northern edge.
As the industrial port of the far north of the country, Ras Al Khaimah carried the old trading role of Julfar into an age of shipping and industry. The port still anchors it.
Where is Ras Al Khaimah?
Ras Al Khaimah sits at the northern end of the United Arab Emirates, the most northern of the seven emirates and the capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. A creek cuts through the city, dividing it into the old town in the west and Al Nakheel in the east, and the emirate borders the Omani exclave of Musandam along its northern edge. The port faces the gulf.
Creek and coast frame the city.
What is the climate of Ras Al Khaimah?
Ras Al Khaimah has a hot desert climate at the northern end of the United Arab Emirates. Summers run long and very hot along the gulf coast of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, with high humidity drawn off the water, while the winters stay mild and warm by day. Rain rarely reaches Ras Al Khaimah.
What little falls comes in the cooler months, leaving the ground around the creek and the port dry for most of the year.
How do you get to Ras Al Khaimah?
Ras Al Khaimah lies at the northern end of the United Arab Emirates, reached by road up the coast from the larger emirates to the south. Roads run north from Abu Dhabi and Dubai, through Sharjah and Ajman, to the capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, and the highway carries most arrivals into the city. The inland city of Al Ain lies well to the south.
The port serves shipping. From the old town and Al Nakheel, local roads link the two banks of the creek across the city.
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Updated July 2026