6 min read
Seven emirates in seven days
It is genuinely possible, and the drive is the best part. A route that never doubles back.
The country is small enough to cross in a morning and varied enough to spend a month in. Seven days is the compromise that works: one emirate a day, moving anticlockwise from the capital, so that you finish on the east coast with the mountains behind you.
Day one and two belong to Abu Dhabi, because the emirate is five-sixths of the country and will not be rushed: the Grand Mosque at dawn, Louvre Abu Dhabi in the afternoon, then Al Ain and the falaj channels on the second morning.
Day three is Dubai from the water rather than the tower: an abra across the Creek, the souks on both banks, and only then the view from level 148. Day four crosses into Sharjah for the museums, and stays for the evening in the old town.
Ajman and Umm Al Quwain fit into day five together — a fort museum, a lagoon full of flamingos, a harbour at unloading time. Day six climbs Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah, and day seven crosses the mountains to Fujairah, where the coral starts a few metres off the beach.