I started my trip of the UAE after landing at Zayed International Airport, in Abu Dhabi. However, due to my itinerary, I only had two full days to explore Abu Dhabi, and a significant amount of that time was spent on visiting its museums. That left me with a very humble amount of time to see what the city offers outside of its museums, and as a result, I ended up focusing on a few sites that I was interested in the most. Join me on a tour around Abu Dhabi from my own eyes, knowing fully well that it merely scratches the surface of the sites to see in this laid-back megacity that is home to some of the kindest people on the planet.
While Abu Dhabi has a gorgeous skyline, you do not really see it yourself when you are staying in its center. For a good view of the city, I suggest you start your tour of the town by going to the Abu Dhabi Theatre, from where you can find a pier that lets you take in this view of the downtown area. This view will make you appreciate why despite having quite a few million souls in it, Abu Dhabi never really feels crowded, let alone claustrophobic. It takes up a lot of space, which does make it impractical to walk in between city’s many landmarks but does make it a far better city to live in than most of the world’s other metropolises in my opinion.
A tour of Abu Dhabi is not complete without a visit to its most renowned landmark, the magical Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. While this was technically the last place I visited in Abu Dhabi, I cannot help but start this list properly with a closer look into this humbling giant structure.
This enormous mosque is free to visit, but you really need to come here with some proper clothing that covers your skin for the most part. To be able to wear trousers and not to feel too uncomfortable with the sun above my head, I actually planned my visit to be later on in the day on purpose. Make sure to check their working hours, when I was there, people could visit it until 10pm. You just need to reserve a time spot using this website, to not risk losing much time doing that there. Also, it serves you best to visit the mosque later on in the day or very early on, because it can be very crowded otherwise.
When I visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, there were still some people lurking around, but there was not enough to cause any concern for anyone. Practically everyone who wanted a photo alone managed to get one, without annoying anyone else for a long time. You can also be left completely alone at certain parts of the mosque, which is the best way to experience it in my humble opinion.
While this is a rather touristic destination, it does not mean that it does not function as a mosque. It is a mosque, one of the largest you can find anywhere on our globe. Therefore, you can see these prayer time clocks all around the premises, and there are easily accessible halls for both men and women to pray in if you so wish to.
Most of the visitors at the time, however, were certainly there to enjoy the architecture, and take in the views. Some of the best-looking parts of the mosque are not actually open for prayers as far as I could tell, at least not normally. They may be utilized for some special occasions, like to celebrate the Eid.
With that being said, being so far away from everything else and certainly most residents, I kind of understand why most of the praying zones in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is off limits for prayers. Most Emiratis and residents alike that I met and saw simply went to the mosque closest to them. One of the most popular one in Abu Dhabi is the Ali Bin Ghanim Bin Hamouda Sandstone Mosque. It is in one of the more central and well populated areas of the town, which is why it seemed to be overflowing with practicing Muslims at certain times of the day. It also has a rather interesting architecture, though that may be just because this was one of the first times I was a sandstone mosque in my life.
While the previous two are all rather famous mosques that Abu Dhabi has, an obscure one near the city’s Umm Al Emarat Park has a most interesting name and deserves more recognition. This one, named Mary the Mother of Jesus Mosque, can be found on what is referred to as the Tolerance Island, a mid-sized area that is home to a ton of temples dedicated to many different denominations of the Abrahamic faith. In fact, this theme of religious tolerance is one that can be observed multiple times across the city.
Most interestingly, you need not go further than Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island to visit what is practically a temple dedicated to religious tolerance itself. The so-called Abrahamic Family House is just that, a spot dedicated to the three religions that collectively make up the Abrahamic faith system.
There are three temples, each one representing and actually functioning as a space for worship for one of the main Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This one was taken inside the mosque, and you can see just how unique its architecture is. It may not be as captivating as Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, but it is at least as interesting of a spot to visit as that one.
Just a minute away, one can find yet another cubic temple, this one acting as a synagogue. I could not tell it from the outside, but then again, it was impossible to tell that the former structure was a mosque as well.
The inside of the synagogue was very humbly decorated, as was the case for the mosque. The goal here seems to be simplicity, showing of the core values of Abrahamic religions, without trying to make a spectacle out of it.
The same scene repeated itself in the church, which at least had some worshippers in it. I suppose it did help that Christmas was right around the corner.
While there were some Christmas related paraphernalia just outside of the church, I was more interested in this creation on the inside, which had a ton of moving parts that made it all come to life. I am not entirely sure what it was, and kind of did not bother asking anyone around, but it was a welcome addition to the otherwise humble interior design that was the norm in this place so far. Oh, speaking of humility, in case you are wearing shorts like me, they will provide you with the necessary clothing to let you visit the premises freely. It is also free to visit this landmark, but then again, it would not really feel right to charge anyone for what it supposed to be a display of religious tolerance.
There are far too many things to note about Abu Dhabi, alas, as I aforementioned, my time here was limited. That is why, I will end my piece by a few short notes on one of the finest parks that the city has to offer currently, the Umm Al Emarat Park. You need to pay 10 AED to visit it, but I soon realized that such an entrance fee was well justified. You see, while the whole park is serene, relaxing, clean, and overall gorgeous, all of this (perhaps except the last one) is only really possible because it is not overcrowded. To keep the people in it to a reasonable number, and to maintain the spotless clean appearance of it with an enormous number of staff working on the premises tirelessly, a humble entrance fee seemed justified to me.
After all, most 5 to 10 AED museums last shorter than a visit to this gorgeous park, and they do not let you enjoy the clean air with some much-needed shadow over your head. There are also a few almost artistic installations like this one spread around the park, and a small botanical garden of sorts that you can see peeking out in the background on the left.
Last but not least, other than some eateries, cafes, ice cream vendors, and playgrounds, there is also a petting zoo here. I am not a huge fan of the idea of zoos myself, so I did not pay the entrance fee to see what was going on in the inside. However, I have to say that the (sadly) enclosed pygmy goats were cuter than I could imagine. I can see why some parents would come here and put their children in close contact with the animals around. One can only hope that these children will grow up with some compassion for them as a result.
Abu Dhabi turned out to be one of those cities where I assumed I could be visited in a short amount of time, and yet had to leave realizing that I could not even manage to see half the things I wanted to see in town. First and foremost, I so wished to explore the local mangroves, which is something you can do on a kayak or aboard a boat. I also wanted to visit the Founder’s Memorial, to find out more about Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Moreover, I would most certainly love to actually swim in the crystal-clear waters of Abu Dhabi’s beaches, those seemed particularly inviting. There are also a few other spots to mention, such as Qasr Al Watan. Thankfully, it was a bit out of budget for me at the time, though that may very well change the next time I am in Abu Dhabi. This is one of those cities that you will want to visit again and again, so I am quite certain that I will be back here to enjoy it more thoroughly later on. However, as things stand now, this little sneak peek into the Emirati capital can hopefully prove useful to some of my fine readers, as it is all I can provide at the moment.