One Day in Abu Dhabi for Tourists

Heading to the Emirates with Abu Dhabi on your list, but only have one day to explore? Check out our ideas for attractions and activities to enjoy if you only have one day in Abu Dhabi. Whether you’ve spent plenty of time in the Emirates, or this is your first visit to this spectacular part of the world, we hope our sample itinerary has some potential ideas you can incorporate into your own plans. This one-day itinerary includes:

  • Morning Desert Safari
  • Kayak Tour of the Mangroves
  • Sunset Cruise in Abu Dhabi

Save on Admission

Looking to save on admission to these top Abu Dhabi attractions and activities? Pick up the Go Dubai® Card today and save up to 52% on combined admission! Spending more time in Abu Dhabi? Check out our 2-day (weekend) and 3-day itineraries for tourists visiting Abu Dhabi.

Morning Desert Safari

Image of Adult, Male, Man, Person, Shoe, Female, Woman, People, Glasses, This is a great way to start off your one day in Abu Dhabi. Head out into the desert wilderness for an amazing opportunity to experience the sun and sand via this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Enjoy an exhilarating and active ride on a 4X4 vehicle, a camel ride, sand-boarding, and some refreshments, served at a desert camp evocative of traditional Bedouin culture. This safari takes about four hours, so it will be your entire morning. Getting In: Morning Desert Safari tickets are included with the Go Dubai® Card.

Kayak Tour of the Mangroves

Image of Water, Boat, Canoe, Kayak, Rowboat, Vehicle, Lifejacket, Vest, After lunch, you’ll want to explore Abu Dhabi’s most beloved hidden gem – the Mangrove National Park. This gorgeous stretch of wilderness encompasses an unexpected wealth of plant and animal life, including turtles, flamingos, heron, several species of fish, and more. The chance to explore this beautiful expanse via kayak also gives you the opportunity to get a bit closer – and it’s an eco-friendly attraction option, too. Win-win! Your kayak excursions will take about two hours. Getting In: Kayak Tour of the Mangroves tickets are included with the Go Dubai® Card.

Sunset Cruise

Image of Nature, Outdoors, Sky, Sunrise, Scenery, Horizon, Sunlight, Sun, Astronomy, Moon, Night, For your last attraction of the day, you’re back out on the water. But this time, it’s no work and all play aboard this relaxing vessel. Tour Abu Dhabi’s inshore coastline for unbeatable views of Raha Beach, Samaliyah Island (including its traditional-style village), mangrove forests, and the ultra-modern skyline of the city itself. This cruise lasts an hour and a half and is the ideal way to end your one day in Abu Dhabi. Getting In: Sunset Cruise in Abu Dhabi tickets are included with the Go Dubai® Card.

Don’t Forget to Save

As you’re planning your one perfect day in Abu Dhabi, don’t forget to save on your activities. The Go Dubai® Card can help you save up to 52% on combined admission prices versus paying at the gate, and will cover these and other top Abu Dhabi and Dubai-area attractions. Be sure to check it out before your trip!

Katie Sagal
Go City Travel Expert

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Sunset over Dubai Creek
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Things to do in Bur Dubai

Contradictorily meaning ‘mainland Dubai’, Bur Dubai is an island separated from the rest of the emirate by Dubai Creek. The term can be used to describe the entire island that results – stretching across to the At the Top observation decks of the Burj Khalifa in downtown. However, it’s more generally used to describe the area immediately opposite the Deira neighborhood around the Al Fahidi Historic District. You’re sure to find yourself here at some point, so what are the main things to do in Bur Dubai? Site of the original settlement that developed into the modern day city, Bur Dubai has plenty of history and atmosphere. Still an important hub for everything from culture to commerce, you won’t want to miss this neighborhood when visiting the region. Grab a bird’s eye view Whilst Dubai as a whole isn’t short of lofty panoramas, the historic nature of Bur Dubai means most of its structures only rise to three or four stories. One way to take in the mix of old and new is at Dubai Frame, whose upper reaches stand 150 meters over Zabeel Park. Forming a physical link between the historic and the contemporary, the frame’s interior contains a museum detailing the city’s past, and features suggesting how it may develop in future. Its upper levels have the expansive vistas you would expect alongside glass-bottomed floors so that visitors can look roughly 40 stories directly down. Described as the world’s largest picture frame, it may be better to think of it as a magical door between one world and another... Explore the quiet streets of Al Fahidi The Al Fahidi Historic District, lining the northernmost parts of Dubai Creek, takes visitors back to Dubai’s humble origins as a trading post between the sea routes of the Middle East and the home of pearl divers. An unofficial living museum, its alleyways are a huge contrast to the thoroughfares of downtown Dubai, whilst many of its structures date back to the nineteenth century when barjeel wind towers provided cooling air currents in homes long before the advent of modern air conditioning. Although home to important historic documents and photographs, it’s the structure itself of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum House which holds our fascination, being the residence of one of Dubai’s most important rulers from 1912 until his death in 1958. However, the district’s oldest structure is Al Fahidi Fort, now Dubai Museum. Perhaps best reached as part of a Hop-On Hop-Off sightseeing bus tour, it is Dubai’s oldest surviving structure, dating from 1787. As well as slightly twee dioramas of everyday life before the oil boom, there are some real treasures worthy of any museum in the world. Delve into the culture of Bur Dubai If your visit to Dubai Museum has you yearning to discover more about Emirati culture consider making your next stop the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Centre for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU). Established in 1998 to foster cross-cultural comprehension, it organizes a range of events designed to bridge the gap between Dubai’s traditions and visitors’ understanding of them. There are regular visits to Jumeirah Mosque whatever your religious beliefs, as well as the chance to take part in a traditional tea ceremony or Emirati meal, with a host of dishes laid out on the floor in the time-honored manner. For dining with a view, we’d instead recommend a dhow dinner cruise of Dubai Creek. Taking place as the sun sets and the lights flicker on over landmarks including the National Bank of Dubai building, you can tuck in to an all-inclusive buffet dinner of international scope. Hit the shops For shopping in Bur Dubai with a touch of the OTT it’s difficult to beat the ancient Egyptian theme of WAFI Mall. Its name means trustworthy in Arabic, and there are few more trustworthy places to laden your arms with shopping bags than here. Passing the ranks of Anubis sculptures, obelisks and giant pharaonic statues you’ll enter a space that’s home to 350 stores and stained glass pyramids decorating the interior with splashes of color. If money’s no object, check out the designer stores, which include Burberry. They stand beside a range of smaller independent boutiques with just as much to recommend them. The same can be said for the Textile Souk back beside Dubai Museum. Each trader’s wealth of silks, cottons, damasks and colorful linens are ideal for anyone planning some interior design or looking for the next viral post on Instagram – in which case why not share them with @GoCity? Pay a visit to Dubai’s ‘Little India’ Bur Dubai has long been a bastion of the emirate’s Indian diaspora. Al Nahdha Street’s Meena Bazaar will whisk you away to the subcontinent, with a blend of wedding jewelry, ceramics and spices forming the stock of the hundreds of merchants eager to sell their wares. Shopping aside, there’s a choice of spots to satisfy your hunger, from stalls selling takeaway samosas for a few dirham to restaurants serving up authentic curries originating as far afield as Kathmandu in Nepal and Karachi in Pakistan. Keep a look out for the too-good-to-be-true prices of some goods, and thanks to its ambience, there’s a good chance you’ll consider it one of the best places to visit in Bur Dubai! How to visit Bur Dubai When it comes to things to do in Bur Dubai visitors aren’t limited in choice. Though it may not offer the beach vibes of other neighborhoods, it’s one of the easiest places to discover Dubai’s often forgotten history, as well as the culture of the emirate and the people who call Dubai their home. Remember too that the rest of Dubai is only a short metro, boat or taxi journey from Bur Dubai, and there’s no reason you can’t explore Bur Dubai one morning or afternoon before heading to Deira, downtown or Dubai Marina. But whatever you decide to do with your time in Dubai, be sure to do it with Go City. That way you’ll get reduced admission to many of the region’s top attractions, meaning more cash for shopping at WAFI Mall or dining at Meena Bazaar!
Ian Packham
A Christmas panorama at a Dubai mall
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How to spend Christmas in Dubai

Swap the snow for the sands and the insulated jackets for the T-shirts, it’s Christmas in Dubai! The festive season is embraced by the emirate not for its religious importance – since only 14% of residents are Christian – but for its cultural significance. With 200 nationalities living, working and visiting Dubai at Christmas, there’s a vast miscellany of events to put you in the festive mood, from ballet performances to Christmas markets – and all with the sort of weather you probably won’t be getting back home until late spring or early summer. Keen to discover what Dubai is like at Christmas? Take a look at our favorite ideas! Getting into the Christmas spirit Christmas begins to take hold in Dubai from around the second week of December and continues well into January. Interestingly, the big day itself isn’t a public holiday, so you’ll see plenty of people heading to work as usual. This doesn’t stop anyone getting into the Christmas spirit. If you’re staying at one of the grander hotels that dot the cityscape, Christmas will probably kick off with an all singing and all dancing tree lighting ceremony. Christmas trees at many of the best-known names in accommodation soar from their lobbies up multiple stories, dazzling even the most hardened individuals. Catch the unveiling itself and you’ll be treated to some of Dubai’s finest voices, alongside complementary bites to eat and glasses of something special. Failing this, the shopping malls also spare little expense in providing their December visitors with fitting decoration. Head to the Dubai Mall, and as well as checking out the residents of Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, you can also admire the world’s largest bauble, weighing more than a ton! Explore the Christmas markets As you might expect from one of the world’s best shopping destinations, Dubai has plenty of opportunity to splash the cash on unique gifts and keepsakes with a Christmas market never far away. On the southern side of the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Harbor – the outer extent of Dubai Marina – is packed full of seasonal treats. Not only are there the stalls that make it a marketplace, but also a snow zone and ice rink. For further wintry wonderlands, head to Ski Dubai. Besides pitting yourself against the world’s largest indoor ski park, Santa stands by waiting to give out goodie bags to the kids whilst more sedate visitors can sit back and enjoy a Christmas movie at the snow cinema. Elsewhere, Fort Island’s Souk Madinat Jumeirah combines the traditional feel of an Arabian marketplace with a little extra Christmas sparkle. The food and drink options are particularly top-notch here, but there’s also plenty to keep the kids entertained as you soak up the ambience. Book tickets for a show With the Christmas weather in Dubai dominated by temperatures of around 25°C, even if the sun does disappear behind a cloud you’ll have little reason to head indoors. However, you may well want to, given the range of shows. For a traditional Christmas treat visit Dubai Opera. Sometimes overshadowed by its proximity to the observation decks of the Burj Khalifa, it is all the same a concert venue hosting the best comedians, music and performances of the moment. Come December, look out for tickets to the Nutcracker – a ballet set on Christmas Eve – and other seasonal favorites. Or satisfy your nosiness with a behind the scenes tour of the venue instead. The Theatre in the Mall of the Emirates also does all it can to welcome in the spirit of Christmas, putting on live performances of family-favorites such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. One of the newest destinations in Dubai, the QE2 floating hotel and venue has another stellar schedule of modern Christmas tunes and even traditional British pantomimes. Eat, drink and be merry Since the three wise men came from the east, it’s entirely possible their journey contained a stop at the small coastal settlement that Dubai would have been at the birth of Christ. You can get a feel for life in the desert with a safari and BBQ dinner, combining authentic cuisine and hospitality including belly dancing with more contemporary desert adventures. These include sand boarding after topping the dunes by 4WD. But for a full regional culinary experience turn to the Al Hallab restaurant, whose chefs lean on hundreds of years of cookery and recipes to bring you mezze, meat platters and sweet dishes packed full of flavor. If it’s a turkey dinner and all the trimmings you’re after, Dubai won’t disappoint either. There are plenty of restaurants open on December 25 and the surrounding days, with specially prepared seasonal menus listing no end of picks that will take you right back to your childhood. Take advantage of Dubai’s coastal location Anyone used to the frigid water temperatures of North America and Europe at Christmas might first baulk at seeing people in Dubai lounging on its beachfronts just as Santa is heading off on his epic present-giving extravaganza. But the fact is, with sea temperatures equal to those on land in the middle twenties Celsius, there are limited excuses for failing to switch to your swimwear. Drifting along the historic heart of Dubai on a traditional dhow made by craftspeople by hand is just as easy, and a great way to discover the areas of Bur Dubai and Deira, both of which relied on sea trade for centuries for their growth and wealth. An alternative way to take in the area is with a sunset kayak tour, putting you in control of your own vessel whatever your experience and skill level. Visit Dubai at Christmas and save! There’s no doubting Christmas is a good time to visit Dubai. The climate is amenable to getting out and about whether you aim to discover Dubai Creek or the dunes of the desert, whilst the festive offerings come thick and fast. Christmas markets, nights at the theater and food, glorious food are all part of what makes Christmas in Dubai special. But if you needed one more reason, that’s going to be Go City. Travel to Dubai with one of our passes and you’ll discover the magic of huge reductions on attraction admission to many of Dubai’s best things to see and do at Christmas.
Ian Packham

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