Abu Dhabi Travelers Recommend

When dressing for an Abu Dhabi desert safari, it’s best to wear some closed toed shoes for walking out on the dunes, as well as bring a change of clothes should you end up covered in sand. After all, many desert trips offer guests the chance to sandboard on dunes, and even though the boards are wide and relatively stable, there’s always the chance a soft landing could leave you covered in sand. Depart from the city in afternoon and four-wheel across the dunes, reaching a point where profound silence is nature’s only sound. Watch the sunset while sipping tea in a pillow-lined Bedouin camp and sit and watch as stars burst through a clear, inky black sky. Throughout the trip, new adventures and unique experiences are found around every bend, from riding a camel, to Henna tattoos, to a belly dancer’s enchantment. Pass a water pipe around a campfire that dances into the night.

While Dubai may get the most tourist attention in the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi -- the capital city -- offers a completely different and more traditional experience. Where Dubai is filled with mega-malls and skyscrapers, Abu Dhabi has grand mosques, luxurious desert palaces and busy camel markets. To fully appreciate the diversity of the UAE, you should plan to spend time in both cities. If you’re basing yourself in Abu Dhabi, it’s possible to visit Dubai on a day trip, allowing you to see some of the highlights of the country’s modern hub. Thanks to a five-lane highway connecting the two cities, the 81-mile (130-kilometer) trip only takes two hours by car or bus. On a Dubai City Sightseeing Tour from Abu Dhabi, you’ll make the quick, air-conditioned drive, followed by visits to the Burj Al Arab -- Dubai’s most recognizable landmark and the Jumeirah Mosque.

The capital of the United Arab Emirates—as well as the largest and richest—manages to hold on to its cultural heritage while modernizing at a dizzying rate. Day 1: Culture and Religion Start with a morning visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, where you’ll see white marble imported from around the globe, the world’s biggest marble mosaic and the world’s biggest carpet Day 2: Past and Future Abu Dhabi pre-oil boom would be almost unrecognizable, and to see what life was once like, spend the morning at the charming UAE Heritage Village. This open air museum includes reproductions of traditional desert-dwelling tents, an old mosque and workshops in local crafts like metalwork, weaving, spinning and pottery. Day 3: Day Trip to Al Ain Al Ain, another significant city in the emirate, is only a two-hour journey through the rolling red sand dunes from Abu Dhabi.