The deserts themselves — and what to add before and after your safari.
A safari shows you one corner of the desert for a few hours. The emirate has a good deal more: fossilised dunes and a salt lake you can visit without any dune bashing, a camel race track, the oasis city of Al Ain, and — if you have a day or two — the enormous dunes of Liwa on the edge of the Empty Quarter.
We have grouped the places by kind. The city sights at the end are the ones that fit most naturally around a safari pickup.
Deserts & dunes Where most Abu Dhabi safaris actually happen
The rolling orange dunes between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain are the working heart of the safari business: close enough for a half-day trip, big enough for a proper dune drive, and dotted with the camps where evening safaris end with dinner.
Deserts & dunes Wind-carved sculptures and a salt-crusted lake
A protected field of fossilised dunes — sand hardened over thousands of years and carved by the wind into strange frozen waves — with a short drive on to the man-made Long Salt Lake and its white salt formations. Free, easy and unlike any other desert stop near the city.
Deserts & dunes Winter mornings with racing camels and robot jockeys
The emirate’s main camel-racing venue, where in the cooler months long-legged racing camels gallop a sandy circuit with small remote-controlled robot jockeys on their backs while owners chase them in 4x4s. Watching is normally free.
Deserts & dunes The edge of the Empty Quarter
A hundred-kilometre arc of date-palm villages on the northern rim of the Rub’ al Khali, with some of the tallest dunes in the world behind them. Tal Moreeb, a wall of sand around 300 metres high, hosts the hill-climb races of the Liwa festival each winter.
Deserts & dunes A fortress resort in the big dunes
The Anantara desert resort built like an Arabian fort among the towering dunes of the Liwa desert — the most comfortable way to experience the Empty Quarter, with dune drives, camel treks and sunrise walks run from the hotel.
Al Ain Shaded palm groves in a UNESCO-listed city
A vast grove of date palms in the centre of Al Ain, still watered by the ancient falaj channel system and part of the city’s UNESCO World Heritage listing. Walk or cycle the shaded lanes for a calm, green contrast to the dunes.
Al Ain The mountain road above Al Ain
A limestone ridge rising to roughly 1,240 metres on the Omani border, climbed by a sweeping road of dozens of bends to a summit viewpoint. Hot springs and 5,000-year-old beehive tombs lie at its foot.
Heritage & curiosities Meet the bird behind Bedouin falconry
A working veterinary hospital for falcons, open since 1999 and regarded as the largest of its kind, which runs guided visitor tours. You see patients in the waiting room, learn how feathers are repaired and can hold a falcon on the glove.
Heritage & curiosities A sheikh’s eccentric car collection in a desert pyramid
A pyramid in the desert south of the city housing the private collection of Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan — the “Rainbow Sheikh” — from a rainbow of Mercedes saloons to giant-scale trucks. An enjoyable oddity on the road to Liwa.
City add-ons The essential city add-on
Abu Dhabi’s white-marble landmark: 82 domes, more than a thousand columns, reflecting pools and a main prayer hall with one of the world’s largest hand-knotted carpets. Entry is free and it pairs perfectly with an evening safari.
City add-ons Art under a rain of light
Jean Nouvel’s museum-city on Saadiyat Island, opened in 2017, where a 180-metre latticed dome filters sunlight onto white galleries telling the story of human creativity across cultures.
City add-ons Inside the presidential palace
The palace of the UAE presidency, open to visitors since 2019: a dazzling Great Hall under a huge central dome, a library, displays of diplomatic gifts and manuscripts, and an evening light show on the facade.
City add-ons Ferrari World, Warner Bros. World, Yas Waterworld and SeaWorld
Abu Dhabi’s leisure island gathers four major parks around the Formula 1 circuit. Three of them are largely indoors, which makes Yas the ideal family counterweight to a day in the desert — whatever the weather.
One day: the Grand Mosque in the morning, an evening safari in the Al Khatim dunes. Two days: add the Louvre Abu Dhabi or Qasr Al Watan and a Yas Island park. Three days or more: add Al Ain, or drive to Liwa and sleep among the big dunes.
See all bookable options on the safaris and tours page.
Real-time prices and availability straight from GetYourGuide. Free cancellation on most experiences.
Most Abu Dhabi safaris include hotel pickup, dune bashing, sandboarding and a camel ride, and the evening ones add a BBQ dinner and shows. Compare the options and book in a couple of taps.
