The flashy, beautiful capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi is one of the major tourist destinations around the world. Abu Dhabi is filled with exotic beaches, international restaurants, gold souks (Markets), deserts, complexes, artificially created lakes and theme parks. The city has plenty of places to explore that can make your trip memorable!
Here is a list of a few places that must be on the list while visiting Abu Dhabi:
- Abu Dhabi Corniche: With waterfronts, Abu Dhabi Corniche has some splendid walkways that are used by joggers, walkers and cyclists. The green open spaces can be used for picnics. Abu Dhabi Corniche is filled with many international restaurants and outdoor cafes making it a perfect spot for sitting and enjoying a concert. You will lose yourself in its structural beauty. This is the perfect place for any nature lover.
- Abu Dhabi Heritage Village and Women Handicraft Center: Indulge yourself in the cultural life of the Middle East with two must see places: Abu Dhabi Heritage Village and Women Handicraft Center. The Heritage Village depicts Abu Dhabi’s former life by recreating a Bedouin village filled with goat-hair tents, a souk (market) and a simple mosque. The Women Handicraft Center would leave you bewildered with its traditional weaving baskets, textile, embroidery and many more things.
- Al Hosn Palace and Emirates Palace Hotel: They are the two spectacular structures in Abu Dhabi. Al Hosn Palace is the oldest building in Abu Dhabi, which was the residence of the ruling family. The Emirates Palace Hotel truly represents the wealth of Abu Dhabi featuring Swarovski crystal chandeliers and gold plating.
- Lulu Island: This is a man-made island that can be reached easily via ferry. The island is made with peach-colored sand dunes and offers the visitors opportunity to swim, ride camels and enjoy the city skyline. Saadiyat Island, also called as ‘island of happiness’ by the locals, has two museums Louvre and Guggenheim.
- Arab Markets: Whether you are a shopper or not, you can’t afford to miss the Arab market such as the Madinat Zayed Gold Souk for gold and jewelry, Iranian Souk and Al Meena Souk for the famous Persian carpets and decorative items.
- The Sheikh Zayed Mosque: This is the third largest mosque in the world. It’s famous for its largest interior Persian carpet, aside from having a classic architectural style and is made with some of the world’s best material, such as Italian marble, precious stones, crystals and ceramics.
- Visit the Deserts: The trip to Abu Dhabi is incomplete without a visit to the desert outside the city which has some tallest sand dunes in the world. The trip includes sand-boarding, setting up Bedouin tents with barbeque dinner at night.
Apart from these places, the spectacular city has several other places to explore and travel around, which you’ll come to know of once you hit the Arabian city.