Stopping over in Abu Dhabi? This city is more than just a gateway to Europe – stay a couple of days and discover why.

By Mark Dapin

The Modest Gift Shop in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Abu Dhabi is one of the few modest things about the emirate. It’s a handy place to buy modest gifts such as keychains and fridge magnets, for people you like but not very much.

It is also handy for postcards, sunhats, Toblerones and Pringles.

The emirate of Abu Dhabi is also modestly sized, with a landmass a little smaller than Tasmania and a population about three-fifths the size of Melbourne’s.

But the city of Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and everything else is immodest in the extreme.

Thrill-seekers unite on Yas Island

On Yas Island, an 11-minute drive from the airport, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is the world’s largest indoor theme park. The nearby Ferrari World has the world’s fastest roller-coaster, with a maximum speed of 240 km/h. Earlier this year, SeaWorld Yas Island took the Guinness World Record for the world’s “Largest Indoor Marine-Life Theme Park”, although I do not believe this to be a hotly contested title. CLYMB Abu Dhabi has the world’s largest indoor skydiving flight chambers and the world’s tallest indoor climbing wall.

Here’s some other thrilling holidays you might like.

Honey I’m dome!

At the entrance to the city, the impressive Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque lays claim to the world’s biggest dome, most expansive marble mosaic and largest carpet.

On the city skyline, the alarmingly windblown-looking Capital Gate building is the world’s furthest leaning man-made tower. The higher levels of the 35-storey building house a Hyatt hotel, ideal for travellers who like to sleep at a lean of 18 degrees. Yes- it really was designed for the core to have an intentional lean of 18 degrees!

What’s on offer in Abu Dhabi?

The thing is, Abu Dhabi is probably not the most popular tourist destination when compared to Europe, Asia or other holiday spots. It has to build all of these record-breaking places and stunning mosques to give tourists a reason to stopover in the emirate once the oil runs out.

For Australians, its chief importance is as the hub of Etihad Airways, which connects Australia with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Not an adrenaline junkie? Not a problem

But what is there to do in the emirate for normal people who would rather look at things than climb them, jump off them, sleep in them at 18 degrees, or whirl around them at 240 km/h?

Michelin-worthy eats

Well, the Corniche offers a lovely waterside walk along a promenade that runs for eight kilometres from the Fish Market near the Dhow Harbour, past the Al Dhafra Restaurant and several beaches to the Emirates Heritage Village.

The Al Dhafra is one of the few restaurants in Abu Dhabi that serves Emirati cuisine, and dhows (traditional wooden boats) from the harbour carry diners on two-hour dinner cruises along the Corniche. Another Emirati Restaurant is the Michelin-mentioned Meylas in Al Muneera, overshadowed by an apartment complex overlooking a private beach.

 Al Dhafra Camel Festival at Liwa Oasis

While Al Dhafra specialises in seafood, Meylas serves an impossibly delicious Bedouin stew: salonat badu, with lamb and rice. Outside of the capital, Bedouin culture is further celebrated from December to January at the Al Dhafra Camel Festival at Liwa Oasis, a three-hour drive from the city. The festival includes camel beauty contests, although camel beauty is very much in the Alcohol in Abu Dhabi - Drinking Alcohol in the United Arab Emirates eye of the beholder. Since Bedouins are both date and camel growers, there’s also a date festival towards the middle of the year.

Can you drink alcohol in Abu Dhabi?

Long story short, yes. You can buy alcohol in liquor stores, but drinking in public is generally prohibited. Many of the best hotels in Abu Dhabi are clustered around the Corniche and the area is also a centre for Abu Dhabi’s rather restrained nightlife, since all the pubs are attached to hotels.  

Strangely for an emirate, Abu Dhabi is a decent place to enjoy a cold beer when the weather is hot (which is always). Even though it is legal to drink alcohol in Abu Dhabi, it still feels illicit and daring and I did not see a single bar with windows to the street.

Craving something a little more familiar?

The British and Irish pubs in Abu Dhabi resemble the real thing caught in a time-warp of dartboards, HP Sauce and cheap (during happy hour, at least) lager. I recently lost a happy couple of hours in the Sheraton Abu Dhabi’s oxymoronic Tavern Pub, which has an ashtray on every table (I didn’t even know they made ashtrays anymore) and many expat customers who smoke. It felt like 90s London.

This one’s for the art-lovers

But the finest attraction in the emirate is the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a wonder of the art world, with a meticulously curated collection of art and artifacts through which the museum strives to tell the story of humanity through the greatest artistic moments in the history of civilisation.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first institution to open on Saadiyat Island (envisaged as “Museum Island”) and is soon to be joined by other world-class galleries, including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

Visitors can dine over the water at the modestly titled (but nonetheless excellent) Museum Café, or spend bigger at the immodest Fouquet’s, an overseas branch of the storied Parisian brasserie.  

Perks of making a stopover at Abu Dhabi Airport

For frequent travellers, one of the most impressive sights in a stopover is the new Etihad I Business Lounge at Terminal A at Abu Dhabi Airport, a lounge which is bigger than many regional Australian airports. You don’t have to fly business class to get in: Virgin Australia Gold and Platinum frequent flyers have free access, and other economy-class passengers can pay for a lounge pass.

While Etihad has its limitations as an airline – the cheapest economy seats are cramped and confining – its inflight meals are always excellent. The lounge is massive. I wandered around the three-storey Business Lounge for five minutes before finding anywhere to eat- but once I did, the dining stations and bars were truly world-class.

The enormous lounge space encompasses relaxation rooms with Armani Casa furnishings, a Smoking Lounge with Chesterfield sofas (smoking is still very much a thing in Abu Dhabi), a cocktail bar, a Games Room, a Family Room and a top-floor First Class lounge-within-a-lounge. It can be really quite an exhausting place to have a rest.

With everything else in the emirate so big and bombastic, it can be a relief to return to the Modest Gift Shop and browse for keyrings and sunhats.

^{Feature image: iStock/Nikada}

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