Best of Abu Dhabi: top things to do and to see
Abu Dhabi may not feature as prominently in the public imagination as its glitzzy neighbour a hundred kilometers up the coast, Dubai, but the capital of the Emirates is a prime tourist destination in its own right. This is, of course, on top of being also a major business and airline hub, which means, of course, that it also gets a constant stream of short term visitors that may find this piece of interest, as well.
In this article I have tried to sum up some of my impressions gathered during multiple trips to Abu Dhabi in the course of the last two to three years. Bear in mind, however, that, just as pretty much everywhere in the Gulf region, Abu Dhabi is a work in progress.
As I write these lines, not long after returning from one of these trips to the Emirate, large swathes of Saadiyat and Yas islands are covered in construction cranes. A whole new cultural and museum district is going up, alongside with many other new residentail and commercial developments. So, this post will possibly require frequent updates just to keep up with the times"!
The Abu Dhabi Corniche
This is Abu Dhabi’s downtown, captured in the images that precede this post. The Corniche is, as the name implies, the seaside promenade “par excellence” of Abu Dhabi. Although there is, generally speaking, little in terms of outdoors walking. The place is essentially a line of upmarket contemporary hotels facing the sea, with a motorway separating them from their respective beach clubs.
But perhaps I am being a bit too harsh in this description, because, yes, there is a fair amount of “showing-off” and superficiality embedded in the whole concept, but the place is not without its charms. If you are aiming for a bit of relax this if a great spot, here you have all services at the palm of your hand: food, drink, fast internet, umbrellas and sun beds and a clean sandy beach.
Everything works smoothly as silk and, if you are staying at one of the hotels, you don’t even need to worry about the traffic since you can pretty much walk from your room to the sunbed in your beach attire.
But there is, of course, a lot more to see and to do in Abu Dhabi if you are looking for a more active stay…
The Louvre Abu Dhabi
The first port of call for any visitor to Abu Dhabi, I would say, is the Louvre. That still applies if you have only a few hours between stopovers.
When I first heard that the famous French museum had opened a franchise in Abu Dhabi, my first reaction was one of skepticism. But I have no problem admitting I was wrong! The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a real jewel of modern museology and I will try to explain why in just a few lines.
Unlike other contemporary museums, here both the container and the content are truly interesting.
The museum takes on a rather difficult challenge: to present a cohesive narrative of the history of mankind through several major themes or topics. So, it must do so in a chronologically and thematically coherent way. What’s more, since this is a city that aims to be a truly global node, it tries to do so by taking an approach that people from many cultures and faiths can relate to. Not an easy task, but I must say it succeeds pretty well!
The collections and exhibits are also very remarkable. Of course, the number of artifacts in each of its sections is limited, maybe one, two or a handful at most. But that’s allright, because you don’t get tired of seeing multiple variations of the same thing. This is, again, not for specialists that want to dig deep into a specific topics (those that want to do that should go to the original Louvre, the British Museum or whichever if the flagship museum of their speciality) but to get a holistic view of the history of mankind and the different civilizations on our planet.
Another aspect of the Louvre Abu Dhabi that I find worth of praise is the overall aesthetics. The building itself is remarkable and beautiful (as you can see in the outdoor pictures illustrating this article), but the way the collections are arranged and the visit itinerary is designed are also very well done and quite pleasing to the eye.
It is modern but not in a confusing way and the proportions seem to be also well thought out so that you get a rather intense experience but not too tiring. You also end the visit with the feeling that you have been able to see a good number of interesting things, without the anxiety of having missed lots of stuff.
I have been twice at the Louvre Abu Dhabi and I wouldn’ mind visiting again. So, definitely put this on your list! It is also worth noting that Louvre Abu Dhabi is but the first of several large museums that are going up in this part of the city, which has been designated as a sort of “cultural district”, between the recreational areas of Sadiyat Island (more on this shortly) and Downtown.
Yas Island corniche
Abu Dhabi is, in fact, a collection of islands and peninsulas opening into the Gulf, so, in addition to the aforementioned Downtown Corniche, there are several other seaside districts of interest. One of them is Sadiyat Island, where the Louvre and several hotels and beach clubs are located. Another one is Yas Island, which is closer to the airport.
Formula One fans may be familiar with the name, because the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix takes place in Yas, but this is also an area that hosts several hotels and it also has its own “corniche” and seaside promenade, with plenty of bars and restaurants and quite a few remarkable street art elements!
Staying in Yas Island?
Yas is a few kilometers away from downtown, but, remember that Abu Dhabi is a city where you move by car (or Uber) everywhere, so, as long as you are willing to move around, this location can be as good as any other.
In fact, I had a great stay at the Radisson Blu Yas Island and was preparing to share some of my impressions, but I just learned that the hotel, as well as several other adjacent properties on Yas Island have closed down in order to be redeveloped. A consortium of International Hotels Group (IHG) and a local developer called Aldar have bought the former Radisson Blu in Yas Island and five other hotels (Crowne Plaza, Rotana, Centro, Park Inn and Staybridge Suites), which have now closed down, in order to turn merge them and turn them into a 1,389-room luxury resort under the IHG Vignette Collection brand.
So, in a short period of time, the whole Yas Island accommodation landscape will be totally transformed!
In any case, I am posting here some pictures of how the Radisson Blu Yas Island looked like so that you can get a feel of the place and the type of environment you have in Yas Island.
Taking the Abu Dhabi Desert Tour
This is another activity I would recommend doing in Abu Dhabi. Yes, it is touristy (very touristy, in fact!). But it is a fun and rather unique thing to do.
There are several touroperators and agencies that offer this type of tour. You can book them on Viator, Getyourguide or through any Abu Dhabi hotel. They all do basically the same thing at very similar prices and at the same times (evenings), so I won’t be recommending one in particular. In fact, groups from several operators usually end up converging together on the same places.
So, how is it like?
Basically, they pick you up at your hotel in a 4x4 which you may share with other tourists. You then assemble in a sort of convoy with other such cars and you drive something like 30 minutes out of town to the open desert.
There are different activities included in the experience: first the drivers get into the sand dunes and drive at high speed on top of them, which is something that requires quite some skill not to get stuck (and in fact, it is not rare for one or two of the cars to get bogged down). During this itinerary you stop a couple of times so that you can get to walk on the dunes. They also offer dune sliding with a sort of sleigh. It is quite fun altogether and, to be honest, the views of the desert are breathtaking.
Most tours are in the evening, when it is less hot, and after the dune driving and sightseeing you are taken to a sort of base camp in the middle of the desert where you can also do some camel riding.
The place is mostly outdoors, with a big central courtyard and some facilities around that kind of imitate a traditional caravanserai, or desert trading post. The facilities house mainly services (kitchen, toilets, shops) and are actually quite modern, but they are done in a way that maintain the charm of the experience.
Then it’s dinner time and there is a buffet with several Arabic speciailities and several spectacles, such as belly dancing and traditional music. The food is quite good and abundant, to be honest. And while it is obviously a very “packaged” experience, it is, again, quite fun overall. After dinner you are then driven back to your hotel, arriving before midnight.
Overall I think you get good value from the experience.
Saadiyat Island Beach
Saadiyat Island has also a beach side. Besides the several ultra-luxury resorts that line the seaside part of the island is Kai Beach Club, which is open to day visitors.
This is a concept that may be a bit shocking to visitors coming from parts of Europe or the US where beaches are usually public and open access, but in Abu Dhabi (and in the UAE more generally) “going to the beach” is a serious business which means paying a no small sum of money (in some places even the equivalent of $100) to spend several areas in a secluded recreational environment. Beach clubs have provide towels and sunbeds and have other services such as bar restaurant, shop, toilets, etc.
The beach itself is pretty nice, long and open. In this particular beach club there is also a stretch of land between the seashore and the club’s facilities, so this helps give it a more “natural” feel.
Btw, if thinking about going to the beach in Saadiyat Island, it is better to book the beach club in advance, since they can fill up quickly and have limited capacity!
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the largest in Abu Dhabi and another big landmark which is worth visiting. It is located at the southwestern edge of dowtown and it is really huge. It has also a whole visitors’ center and commercial area adjacent to it.
We arrived quite late in the evening due to some delays in the travel schedule, so could not get inside, but the view from outside is also quite something!
Some great value options to stay in Downtown Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is not short of accommodation, and even if you don’t have a big budget, it is possible to find very solid options. Next I present two four-star hotels in Abu Dhabi that I have had the chance to visit recently, as well as another more budget-ish but also modern and offering good standards and value.
Marriott Courtyard Abu Dhabi
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Street - 5th St, Abu Dhabi
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/auhcy-courtyard-world-trade-center-abu-dhabi/
This is a modern hotel located in downtown Abu Dhabi, pretty close to the Corniche, although not right on the seaside. It occupies a rather interesting, boxy building with a brownish outter structure and its adjacent to a large mall.
It also has a rooftop bar and restaurant with a swimming pool that has the ability to change colour every few minutes (see below). The food was pretty good and substantious and the view, not bad at all!
The rooms are solid standard 4-star modern-corporate hotel stuff. All good, very functional, not much to add on this front that you can not see here in these pics.
The frontdesk staff were super friendly, btw. There is also valet parking.
La Quinta by Wyndham Abu Dhabi Al Wahda
601 Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed St - Al Nahyan - Zone 1, Abu Dhabi
https://laquintaabudhabialwahda.com
This is other hotel is also in downtown, although a bit further from the sea, and it is similar to the Marriott Courtyard in many respects.
The hotel is in a rather tall tower (not sure it can be called skyscraper, though), which means that most rooms get views of the city.
Here the interesting thing was that we were upgraded to an apartment-type room, which means, essentially that you get also a living room, in addition to the bedroom.
Other than that is, again, we are talking about a regular 4-star modern hotel.
Premier Inn Abu Dhabi Capital Centre
National Exhibition Centre - Al Muntada St, Capital Centre
Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre
https://mena.premierinn.com/en/hotel-directory/abu-dhabi/abu-dhabi-capital-centre-hotel
This is a more basic hotel than the other two, but could also be a suitable option if on a short visit to Abu Dhabi.
Premier Inn knows how to deliver great value by offering reasonable prices while still keeping good care of the essentials, such as cleanliness, modern functional decor and good location.
The hotel has also a swimming pool and a gym, btw.
