8 Things to See on Your Visit to U.A.E.

Abu Dhabi Skyline

We’ve been trying to get our friends and family to come out to the U.A.E. since we moved to Abu Dhabi but until recently none of them had taken us up on the offer to host and play tour guide. My parents took us up on the offer in the Spring and so we had to come up with an itinerary that also took Shani’s work schedule into consideration.

With that in mind we plotted our tour. Part of our plan was to also make sure we didn’t run ourselves ragged every day! Our actual itinerary was to take my parents out to the Emirates National Auto Museum on their first full day here.  You can read about that here – Our Trip to the Auto Museum.  I added that as a bonus to see if you have the time.

The Giant Power Wagon at the museum.

The next destination on our tour was to get them over to Fujairah.  We thought this would give them a good chance to see some of what the U.A.E. looks like and we also wanted to go by the Bithnah Fort.  We took a nice road trip from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah for overnight and then up the coast and back via a slightly different route.  You can read about that here – Our Weekend in Fujairah. Another good destination for the weekend would have been Ras Al Khaimah and you can read about the trip Shani and I took here – Road Trip to RAK.

The Resort in RAK

During the week while Shani was working I took my parents to some of the must see sites in U.A.E. and we also had them go on some solo adventures. So here is the list of things I think you should see on your trip to the U.A.E.  Several of them are in close proximity to each other so in a day it would be easy to see two or three and not kill yourself.  We did all of the Dubai things in a day, and it was a pretty long one.  You can read about that here – Day Trip to Dubai.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

1. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the number one attraction for Abu Dhabi on Trip Advisor for a reason.  It is absolutely stunning and deserves a post of it’s own!  You can read more about the Mosque here – The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Apparently Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque has been ranked the world’s second favorite landmark as well as winning the Trip Adviser Traveler’s Choice Award for 2016.

The Corniche of Abu Dhabi

2. The Corniche and Emirates Palace – The Corniche of Abu Dhabi is an 8 km. curve of road and beach on the western side of the main island. Beyond just beach and swimming areas, the Corniche also has cycle and walking paths, many fountains and water features and different themed park areas that are very popular for picnicking when the weather will permit. About halfway down there is a food court area with restaurants, coffee shops, and even a Cold Stone Creamery. The Corniche beach area includes both paid entrance and free beach access and at the South end some paid access beach clubs with restaurants and water sport facilities.

Emirates Palace

At the South end of the Corniche lies the Emirates Palace Hotel, one of the most luxurious hotels in the world.  The property includes 1.3 km of private beach and a marina as well as vast gardens and lush landscaping.  The hotel opened in 2005 and cost around 3 billion USD to complete which makes it the second most expensive hotel ever built! At the coffee shop you can order a coffee sprinkled with gold flakes and they also have an ATM that dispenses gold should you feel the need.

Burj Khalifa

3. Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall – No visit to the U.A.E. would be complete without a visit to Dubai! One of the must see items there is the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.  It is stunning to say the least, towering over everything else by quite a ways.  We had a pretty big agenda for our day in Dubai and we were trying to use the metro as much as possible to get us to all the sites.  The metro stops here and it’s a long covered walk to first the Dubai Mall and then outside for the main event. The Dubai mall is also very impressive and worth seeing as there is a massive aquarium full of sharks and rays among other marine animals.

Old Dubai Souqs

4. Old Dubai Souqs – One of the other attractions on our Dubai day trip was the Old Dubai Souq area and the spice and textile souqs.  This involves crossing Dubai Creek in a boat called an Abra.  It is a really great cultural experience and the old boat is a glimpse into the not so distant Dubai past. The souq section is really a feast for the senses with all of the colors and smells and each vendor trying to coerce us into their shop for a quick look.

Ski Dubai

5. Ski Dubai and Mall of the Emirates – The last stop on our whirlwind tour was at Mall of the Emirates so that my parents could see the engineering marvel that is Ski Dubai.  It’s really quite the sight here in the desert when it’s 100+°F to see people bundled up in winter parkas and going up and down the hill!  There are even penguins that get to occasionally mingle with the skiers and other patrons. You can read all about our trip to Dubai here – Day Trip to Dubai.

Dune bashing during the Desert Safari

6. Desert Safari – We thought it would be great to get my folks out to the desert and experience a desert safari and traditional meal with the Bedouins.  The trip included some 4X4 sand dune bashing, camel rides and farm tour, bbq dinner and a belly dancer for entertainment.  We sent them off with Emirates Tours & Safari and they had a great time, the driver Shihab was really good and my parents were impressed with him.  www.eatours.ae for more info on what they offer.

My Parents at Heritage Village

7. Heritage Village – Heritage Village is a reconstruction of a traditional oasis village on the other side of the water from the Corniche.  The little village highlights some of the typical aspects of a desert way of life, has a little museum with historical display sections and has several workshops set up showing traditional ways of making handicrafts. In general, it gives a nice look into Abu Dhabi’s past. Two other excellent cultural/historical options are the Mother of the Nation festival and Qasr Al Hosn Festival.  We were lucky enough to have the first Mother of the Nation Festival while my parents were in town and it was quite good. The Qasr Al Hosn Festival is also excellent but took place in February.

Resort in Fujairah

8. Ras Al Khaimah or Fujairah – As I mentioned earlier, we had great trips to both of these two towns and I recommend getting to them if you can.  The road trips are easy and give a good perspective of the varied landscape and offer alternatives to the Manhattan like Abu Dhabi and the sprawling Dubai.  Road Trip to RAK covers Shani and my trip and Our Weekend in Fujairah has info from the trip we took with my parents.

There are a ton of other things to see and do in the U.A.E. including Yas Waterworld, Ferrari World, Yas Marina Circuit F1 Track, all of the new amusement parks like Lego Land being built and any of the other world class malls not mentioned in this post. Indeed, one of the things my parents loved was Abu Dhabi IKEA where we had Jumbo Prawns for lunch!

If I didn’t include one of your favorite spots just drop me a line and maybe it will get it’s own post!  If you’re thinking about coming to the U.A.E. for a visit and have questions just ask away.  If I can, I’ll be more than happy to answer them.