United Arab Emirates · Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

  • Population:1.5M
  • Timezone:GST (UTC+4)
  • IATA:AUH
  • Currency:The dirham is the local currency and cards are accepted almost everywhere; keep a little cash for taxis, tips and the older markets.
  • Key Areas:Corniche and downtown — waterfront, beaches, the central grid · Saadiyat Island — museums, beach clubs, quiet resorts · Yas Island — theme parks, the circuit, hotels · Al Maryah Island — dining and the financial district

Overview

Abu Dhabi is the UAE's capital and its counterweight to Dubai — slower, greener and more spacious, built around a white marble mosque, a museum island and a long waterfront corniche.

Culture

The capital eats much as the rest of the country does — overwhelmingly South Asian, Levantine, Filipino and Iranian, cooked by communities for themselves and consistently better value away from the hotel strips. Emirati food is easier to find here than in Dubai, particularly in the older districts and around Al Ain further inland, and the dishes to look for are machboos, harees and luqaimat. Friday brunch is an institution, and dates and Arabic coffee are the standard gesture of welcome rather than a souvenir. Festivals: Ramadan and the evening iftar tables, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (season finale), National Day, 2 December. Museums: Louvre Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Hosn and the Cultural Foundation, Qasr Al Watan, Heritage Village on the breakwater.

Practical Info

Safety: Abu Dhabi is a very low-crime city and ordinary precautions are sufficient. The genuine hazards are environmental and legal rather than criminal: heat between June and September, traffic that moves fast, and conduct rules that differ from European norms — public drunkenness, public displays of affection and photographing people without asking all cause avoidable trouble. Language: Arabic is the official language and English is the working language of daily life — spoken almost everywhere a visitor goes, with bilingual signage throughout. Currency: The dirham is the local currency and cards are accepted almost everywhere; keep a little cash for taxis, tips and the older markets.

Travel

Abu Dhabi is what people mean when they say the UAE has more than one setting. It is the capital, it sits on an island at the top of an emirate that makes up most of the country's land, and it has spent its money differently from its neighbour ninety minutes up the road — on a mosque, a museum quarter, a corniche and a great deal of green space rather than on height. The result is a city that reads as calmer and more deliberate, and one that visitors increasingly come to for its own sake rather than as a day trip from Dubai. Three things anchor a visit: the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, which is the most photographed building in the country and deserves to be; the cultural island at Saadiyat, where a major museum has opened and others are following; and the waterfront, which is where the city actually relaxes. Yas Island adds theme parks and a Formula 1 circuit for anyone travelling with children or an interest in either. Beyond the city the emirate opens into desert on a scale nothing near Dubai matches, but that is a separate trip rather than an afternoon. The season is the country's: November to March is comfortable, summer is severe, and the day here is planned around the heat rather than the map.

The Grand Mosque is the city's defining building and among the largest in the world — white marble inlaid with floral mosaics in semi-precious stone, eighty-two domes, reflecting pools that double the architecture, an enormous hand-knotted carpet and chandeliers hung under the main dome. Completed in 2007 and named for the country's founding ruler, who is buried beside it, it is a working place of worship that welcomes non-Muslim visitors outside prayer times, free of charge, with free guided tours. Dress is the thing to get right: long, loose clothing covering shoulders, arms and legs, and a headscarf for women — abayas are lent at the entrance to anyone who needs one, so arriving without is inconvenient rather than a problem. Go in the late afternoon and stay into dusk. The marble shifts colour as the light drops and the pools light up, and the difference between a midday visit and a dusk one is the difference between seeing the building and understanding why it is the country's signature image. Allow a couple of hours.

Frequently asked questions

Abu Dhabi is the capital and the quieter, greener, more deliberate of the two — built around a mosque, a museum island and a long public waterfront rather than around height and shopping. It is also the larger emirate by far, with real desert behind it. The two are about ninety minutes apart and many visitors do both; the Dubai city guide covers the other side of that comparison. In short: Abu Dhabi leans cultural and family-friendly, Dubai leans spectacle and nightlife.

Diplomatic missions in Abu Dhabi

4 embassies based in this city, grouped by region.

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