Where to go in United Arab Emirates: neighborhood breakdowns, Dubai Metro transit links, and daily budgets in AED (د.إ).
Soaring from the historic wind-tower alleyways and AED 1 wooden abra boats of Old Dubai Creek to the 828-meter spire of Burj Khalifa, the calligraphy-clad Museum of the Future, and golden Arabian desert dunes, Dubai pairs futuristic engineering with warm Khaleeji hospitality.
The UAE's capital archipelago combines the snow-white Macedonian marble domes of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Jean Nouvel's sunlit dome at Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island with kayaking through eastern mangrove forests and Yas Island's high-speed attractions.
Named UNESCO Capital of Arab Culture and located just 25 minutes north of Dubai Creek (or a scenic 35-minute RTA Marine Ferry ride from Al Ghubaiba), Sharjah preserves coral-stone heritage houses, world-class Islamic art museums, and the Mleiha red desert dunes.
Where the Hajar Mountains plunge toward mangrove lagoons and the Arabian Gulf, Ras Al Khaimah is the UAE's adventure emirate—crowned by 1,934-meter Jebel Jais (where temperatures sit 10°C cooler than Dubai), historic pearl farms, and hilltop Dhayah Fort.
Inscribed as the UAE's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, the inland oasis city of Al Ain (90 minutes from Dubai and Abu Dhabi) shades 147,000 date palms watered by 3,000-year-old subterranean falaj channels beneath the limestone cliffs of Jebel Hafeet.
The only emirate lying entirely on the eastern Gulf of Oman coast (Indian Ocean), Fujairah and neighboring Khorfakkan offer warm coral-reef snorkeling with green sea turtles at Snoopy Island, the UAE's oldest mud-brick mosque (1446), and dramatic Hajar mountain wadis.
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