01
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Eighty-two domes, a courtyard inlaid with floral marble, and one of the largest hand-knotted carpets ever made. Open to visitors outside prayer times; a dress code applies.
01 · Emirate
Abu Dhabi
The capital, at its own pace
The federal capital and by far the largest emirate, reaching from the corniche and the islands of the Gulf to the oases of Al Ain and the dunes of the Empty Quarter. It holds the country's grandest mosque and its most ambitious museums, and it is still the emirate where you can drive an hour and find nobody.
Getting there
Zayed International Airport; about 90 minutes by road from Dubai, with intercity coaches roughly every 30 minutes.
When to go
November to March for the corniche and the desert. The Formula 1 weekend falls in the closing month of the season.
Good to know
The emirate covers roughly five-sixths of the country's land area, so treat Al Ain and Liwa as separate trips rather than day stops.
Cities & areas
Where inside the emirate
City
Abu Dhabi city
The federal capital, built on an island and read best from its corniche.
City
Al Ain
The garden city inland, and the country's only World Heritage inscription.
Neighbourhood
The Corniche, Abu Dhabi
Eight kilometres of waterfront, with a public beach along most of it.
Island
Saadiyat Island
The capital's cultural district, and a turtle-nesting beach.
Island
Yas Island
The entertainment island: a Formula 1 circuit and the parks around it.
Island
Sir Bani Yas
A wildlife reserve island in the western Gulf, reached by boat or air.
Island
Delma Island
An inhabited pearling island with archaeology going back millennia.
Region
Al Dhafra
Abu Dhabi's western region: oases, salt flats and the Empty Quarter.
Signature places
What makes Abu Dhabi itself
02
Louvre Abu Dhabi
Jean Nouvel's dome filters daylight into a rain of light over galleries that hang world civilisations side by side rather than in national rooms.
03
Qasr Al Watan
A working presidential palace opened to the public, with a library of Arab scholarship and a great dome 37 metres across.
04
Al Ain Oasis
Part of the country's first UNESCO World Heritage listing: 147,000 date palms watered by falaj channels that have run for millennia.
05
Liwa & the Empty Quarter
The edge of the largest continuous sand desert on earth, where dunes rise above 300 metres near Moreeb Dune.
See the place
Abu Dhabi before you arrive
Liwa, Abu Dhabi
The edge of the Empty Quarter
0s / 28s
Wide view
Experiences here
What to do here
Abu Dhabi · Desert & dunes
Into the Empty Quarter
Drive south past Liwa to where the dunes stop being scenery and start being terrain. Moreeb rises more than 300 metres and the silence at the top is total.
Full day or overnightAED 650 from
Abu Dhabi · Heritage & forts
The Grand Mosque before the crowds
Arrive as the courtyard marble is still cool. Eighty-two domes, a carpet woven in one piece, and light that changes the building every twenty minutes.
2 hoursFree
Abu Dhabi · Arts & museums
Louvre Abu Dhabi, slowly
Twelve chapters of human history under a dome that rains light. Two hours is the minimum; the sea-facing galleries are the ones people miss.
2–3 hoursAED 63 from
Abu Dhabi · Heritage & forts
Falaj walk, Al Ain Oasis
Shaded paths between 147,000 date palms, fed by channels engineered thousands of years before the pumps. Part of the country's first UNESCO listing.
Half dayFree
Tickets
Book entry now
Abu Dhabi
Louvre Abu Dhabi
Skip the queueInstant
Free for under-18s
AED 63 from
Abu Dhabi
Qasr Al Watan
Instant
Includes the House of Knowledge
AED 65 from
Where to stay
Rooms in Abu Dhabi
★★★★★ · Saadiyat Island
Saadiyat Lagoon Resort & Spa
Ten minutes from Louvre Abu Dhabi, on a protected beach where hawksbill turtles nest between March and June.
BeachfrontTurtle baySpa
Free cancellation · 4 rooms left · 2,841 reviews
AED 1,180per night
★★★★ · Abu Dhabi Corniche
Corniche Tower Hotel
On the eight-kilometre corniche promenade, with the public beach across the road and the old souk behind.
City viewWalk to beach
Free cancellation · 11 rooms left · 1,943 reviews
AED 520per night
★★★★ · Liwa, Al Dhafra
Liwa Dune Camp
Twelve tents at the edge of the Empty Quarter. No generators after ten, which is the entire point of the place.
Empty QuarterStargazingLow impact
Non-refundable · 2 rooms left · 612 reviews
AED 890per night
Eat & drink
Tables worth booking
Emirati · ••
Majlis Table
Harees, madrouba and camel machboos, served the way it is served at home — on the floor, from one dish.
Tours that include it
Let somebody else drive
8 days · 7 emirates
The Seven Emirates Grand Tour
One country, all seven emirates, anticlockwise from the capital so the mountains and the east coast come last.
- 7 nights, 4★ and 5★
- Private guide & vehicle
- All entries
- Airport transfers
AED 7,450per person
3 days · 1 emirates
Capital & Culture: Abu Dhabi in three days
The mosque before the crowds, the Louvre in the afternoon light, and the falaj channels of Al Ain on day three.
- 2 nights, 5★
- Grand Mosque at dawn
- Louvre & Qasr Al Watan
- Al Ain day
AED 2,890per person
7 days · 3 emirates
Family Week: parks, beaches, camels
Paced for children: one big day, one slow day, and never more than forty minutes in the car.
- Theme-park days
- Family rooms
- Aquarium & zoo
- Beach days
AED 6,120per person
What's on
In the calendar
Sport
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Early December
The closing round of the Formula 1 season at Yas Marina, run into the dusk, with concerts on the same tickets.
Ticketed
Grandstand and general-admission tickets are sold by the race promoter, and the concerts are included in the race ticket.
Abu Dhabi
Heritage
Sheikh Zayed Festival
November to March
A months-long heritage and culture festival in Al Wathba, with national pavilions, souks and a nightly fireworks record attempt or two.
Free entry
Entry to the festival grounds is free. Individual rides, shows and food inside are paid at the stand.
Abu Dhabi
Heritage
Al Dhafra Festival
December
A camel beauty and heritage festival deep in the Western Region, where the judging criteria are older than the country.
Free entry
Entry is free. It is a working competition rather than a show, and the days start early.
Abu Dhabi
Food & farming
Liwa Date Festival
July
Held in the heat on purpose, because that is when the dates come in. Competitive categories, and the best khalas you will ever eat.
Free entry
Entry is free. The competitions and the market run through the morning, before the heat.
Abu Dhabi
People who were there
Abu Dhabi, as visitors see it
@dunes.after.rain
Moreeb at first light. Nobody else on the whole ridge for an hour.
Moreeb Dune, Liwa · #VisitUAE
@quietmuseums
Went for the dome, stayed four hours for the manuscripts.
Louvre Abu Dhabi · #LouvreAbuDhabi
@eightytwodomes
Arrived at 09:00 for the marble before it warms up. Worth every alarm.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque · #GrandMosque
Continue the journey
And next door
02 · Emirate
Dubai
Where the record is the baseline
Desert & dunesArts & museums
03 · Emirate
Sharjah
The country's reading room
Arts & museumsHeritage & forts
04 · Emirate
Ajman
Small emirate, long shoreline
Coast & islandsHeritage & forts
05 · Emirate
Umm Al Quwain
The quiet one
Coast & islandsHeritage & forts
Every emirate is within a day's drive of every other.