Having visited Dubai a few years back, I thought Abu Dhabi would be no different. Dubai, after all, is the most popular emirate of the UAE. However, Abu Dhabi blew me away in many different ways, and by far surpassed my impression of an Emirate! Impressive, magnificent and luxurious palaces, grand and plush mosques, the gigantic and modern architecture of buildings and hotels, the world’s largest sand dunes, and yes, the Ferrari World! – the largest indoor theme park on the planet, left me overwhelmed in many ways.
Visa Requirements and Entry Experience
British, US and EU citizens do not require a tourist visa for Abu-Dhabi/UAE. Indian and most of the other countries’ citizens require a visa, which can be arranged by a travel agent in country or by the hotels you plan to stay in Abu-Dhabi for a cost.
Be prepared for delays at the immigration as well as at in-airport car hire booths (if you have to go through one).This, even if you are travelling at off peak hours
Flight booking and traveling in Abu Dhabi
Flight Bookings
Our trip to Abu Dhabi was part of our long itinerary from Mumbai – Ethiopia – Bahrain – Abu Dhabi – Mumbai, hence we made a multi trip flight search on Skyscanner
Once we found the best option, we individually booked all our flights directly through the respective websites of the airlines
We always prefer and recommend booking flights directly from an airline’s website as it helps you a lot in terms of managing your luggage, seats and in case you need a change in date, time, or process a cancellation
We took an Etihad Airways flight from Bahrain to Abu Dhabi, which is a 2 hour journey
Travelling in Abu Dhabi
The best way to explore Abu Dhabi is to hire your own vehicle and drive around at your own pace
British and EU license holders can hire a car without any extra permits. Indian license holders on Tourist visas require an International Driving Permit
We rented a budget car during our 3 days in Abu Dhabi, it was quite affordable as the fuel prices are very low
Driving in Abu Dhabi is pretty straightforward with excellent roads, clear signage, people following rules, ample and free parking options at most of the tourist spots and within the city in general
In case you are interested in trying your hands at dune bashing on your own, in one of the most famous and largest of dunes anywhere, you would need to hire a 4×4, as a normal mid-size vehicle is not good enough
As you can imagine, there are ample tours available in Abu Dhabi to explore tourist spots; however, if possible, my recommendation would be to rent your own vehicle as it definitely makes it much cheaper and gives you the freedom to explore the country at your own pace
Days in Abu Dhabi
Here is the list of places we visited during our 3 day stay in Abu Dhabi. You can visit them in any order based on your convenience. Ensure to leave 2 days aside if you want to visit the world’s highest sand hill, the ‘Moreeb’ dune, with an altitude of approx. 300 meters and slopes of 50 degrees!
Louvre Museum
Every building and construction in Abu Dhabi screams of grandiose, extravagance and uniqueness, and Louvre is no exception. With it’s large web patterned metallic dome ceiling, allowing sunlight to filter in, representing the “rays of sunlight passing through date palm fronds in an oasis”, we spent 2 hours exploring the museum’s periphery and decided to forego going inside due to the long queues for tickets, an exceptionally high crowd, and the fact that we are not the true connoisseurs of art 😉 We came to realize this after having been to various art museums like the Louvre in Paris, Tate Modern in London, MoMA in NYC, and came out a bit nonplussed. Not to mention the fact that we also felt the ticket costs to be a bit unjustifiable!
If you have time and you appreciate art, you can pay a visit as I know they have some great exhibits and many world famous art displays from various part of the world.
Emirates Palace (Hotel)
You can’t miss this luxury 5-star hotel while driving around the city, due to its expanse and the impressive multi-dome structure. It has as many as 100 small and large domes with a pallet of all the colours of sand that you can imagine.
If you enjoy luxury and want to experience it, you can stay and enjoy the hospitality of this 5 star paradise. The basic room rates start at 500 USDight. There is a part of the main hotel building that is open and free to visit for tourists. If you are not staying here, do ensure to have a look. You can also sit in one of their many cafes and enjoy high tea while you visit.
Qasr Al Watan
Qasr Al Watan is the presidential palace of Abu Dhabi, a part of which has been recently opened up for tourists to visit for a fee. It is very crowded during most times of the day, however, I have heard that early mornings are a bit quieter. According to me, the laser show which is scheduled after the sunset, just before the palace closes, is something not to be missed. Hence, we decided to visit the palace around 5 in the evening, so that we can witness the beauty of the place during both the day and after dark, including the laser show, and for sure would recommend the same to anyone else visiting this place.
As far as the beauty of the palace is concerned, I will leave it to you to decide based on the pictures below for now
Shaikh Zayed Mosque
The whole mosque is made up of white marble with a never ending expanse, beautiful gardens, canals, expensive chandeliers with the most expensive, rare and countless crystals, princely washrooms, and some of the largest carpets in the world, and the list is never ending! Everything here left my eyes wide open and my mind overwhelmed. What I loved the most was the silence, serenity and calmness in every corner of the mosque, despite the many tourists and worshipers all around.
Exploring Abu Dhabi by night
Abu Dhabi Skyline
We drove to a photo point which is tagged as “Abu Dhabi Skyline” on Google maps near the Heritage Village for a night view of Abu Dhabi’s Skyline. If you have some extra time, you can actually take your own mat and something to eat and kind of do a small picnic while gazing at the beautiful views. We saw lots of families picnicking and having their tea and shisha, with kids playing around
Wahat Al Karama
Wahat Al Karama is a museum and war memorial which is a must visit not only to get insights on the war history of Abu Dhabi but also for the most mesmerizing view of Shaik Zayed mosque, especially the perfect reflection of this masterpiece!
Here is a glimpse of what I have just said, captured by a young girl for us. You really have to see this place to believe this!
Palaces, mosques and skyscrapers by the night
Now, as and when you drive around the city, you just can’t miss various skyscraper and grand modern buildings, all lit up during the night, something which will clearly give you an idea of this richest kingdom of UAE!
Emirates National Auto Museum
When you search on the internet about “things to see in Abu Dhabi”, this won’t come anywhere on the top; however since we love cars (especially Anuj), this was a must visit in our list! We really enjoyed this place, all to ourselves with just a couple of more tourists around. It displays the history of vehicles owned by the Kings of Abu Dhabi, dating back from 16th century along with a display of heavy vehicles used since the same era. It was kind of an “all in one” museum displaying famous German, American and other brands from the last many decades.
One should plan around couple of hours to visit this museum. We visited this on our way to Moreeb sand dunes!
Liwa Fort
Do not miss to take a pit stop at Liwa fort while driving to Moreeb dunes. You can easily find it in the maps. It is not a big fort but has its own charm, especially due to its setting right in the middle of the desert. In all probability, you will find none or a very few tourists at any time of the day as it is a bit remote.
Moreeb Sand Dunes
We didn’t have enough time to spend at Moreeb dunes and could only spare a few hours to explore them. One should try and stay atleast for a night here if possible, to explore the expanse of these gigantic dunes!
They have a festival, which runs for a couple of weeks at the end of every year wherein people come with their best 4x4s and ATVs to show their skills at dune bashing! You really need to have some skills beforehand to try this else there are great chances that you would get stuck and need a rescue to get out!
We enjoyed witnessing many locals maneuvering their way up the Moreeb dune and picnicking around in the area during the festival. We also got a chance to go up the dune in a Jeep Wrangler test vehicle, which we enjoyed to the core ☺️
Another great part was the last 30 minutes drive to reach the dunes! It was really beautiful driving through these pristine, shining dunes with a never ending expanse!
Ferrari World
This is one of the top attractions in Abu Dhabi for adventure lovers and adrenaline seekers as it houses the world’s fastest roller coaster apart from many other interesting rides.
Unfortunately we couldn’t visit this due to paucity of time as well as Anuj not being a big fan of roller coasters! However, I have promised myself to visit this in the future as I am definitely an adrenaline junkie and love big fast rides ☺️
World largest LED display
Abu Dhabi also houses the world’s largest LED display! If you want to witness this, drive to the Yas hotel in Yas Island and you won’t miss it, unless it is not completely lit! We visited this on our way back to airport and to our luck, it wasn’t completely lit that day. However, do check out the pictures on the internet and I am sure you won’t like to miss and see it in its complete glory when you are in Abu Dhabi ☺️
Food and Accommodation
In terms of local delicacies, we couldn’t try much being vegetarians and stuck to eating out at various Indian restaurants around Abu- Dhabi as it has an ample number of these
We stayed in IBIS Abu Dhabi Gate. It is a 3 star hotel and a bit far from the center of the town, however is just a 10 minutes drive. We didn’t mind staying a bit away as we had rented a car
In terms of the hotel and rooms, though basic, it had comfortable beds, was spacious, quiet and had a good shower; which is all we want unless we are staying at a place which is famous for views from the rooms!
Useful Facts
It’s quiet hot and humid during the day in Abu Dhabi, so stick to cotton clothing as much as you can
If you are visiting a Mosque, either you should come completely covered from head to toe (full pants, full sleeves, non body hugging clothes and a scarf) or be ready to wear the Abaya (for women) provided by the mosque. They check everyone in terms of clothing before you enter the mosque
If you are planning to visit the Oasis and dunes in Abu Dhabi, keep atleast 2 days aside to explore else you will end up hurrying things as we did ☺️
A Quick Spend Guide (2 Pax)
Visa Cost: None
Flights: 500 USD (approx. taken from Skyscanner for 2 Pax. We travelled as part of our extended itinerary to Ethiopia and Bahrain)
Car rental: None as we used our Avios reward points. However, it is quiet cheap to rent a car in Abu Dhabi and the fuel is dirt cheap. Car rentals start at 25 USD/day
Stay: None as we used our Avios reward points. However, hotel cost for a 3 days trip in a 3 star hotel would be around 200 USD)
Food & Drinks: 100 USD
Entrance Fees: 100 USD
Miscellaneous (shopping, souvenirs etc.) : 50 USD
Total trip cost: Approx. 1050 USD (70k INR) for 2 persons
Hope this helps you in planning your trip to this jewel of Emirates soon. Please leave your comments/questions and I would be happy to help and get back to you at the earliest possible.
Keep exploring!!!
PS: Visit https://travelascetic.com/ to read more about me and my travel journeys 🙂