Places to visit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
39 places to visit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Al Ain Oasis, Bidaa Bint Saud, Hili Archaeological Park and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your Abu Dhabi volume.
5 UNESCO World Heritage sites · 16 Famous places to visit · 18 Hidden gems
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Abu Dhabi (5)
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Al Ain Oasis
The largest oasis in Al Ain, a shaded maze of date palm groves in the middle of the city. The palms are still watered by falaj, the old channels that carry water across the gardens, and the oasis is part of the cultural sites of Al Ain listed by UNESCO.
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Bidaa Bint Saud
An archaeological site north of Al Ain, part of the city's UNESCO listing, with Hafit Period tombs and Iron Age irrigation channels. It also has the rare remains of an Iron Age building thought to have shared out water from two aflaj, and its finds are in the Al Ain National Museum.
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Hili Archaeological Park
A Bronze Age site in Al Ain, part of the cultural sites of the city listed by UNESCO. Its best-known monument is the Hili Grand Tomb, a round stone tomb carved with figures of people and animals.
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Qasr Al Muwaiji
A fort in the middle of Al Ain, the birthplace of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, later the second President of the UAE. His father, Sheikh Zayed, was based here while he served as the Ruler's Representative for the Eastern Region.
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Qattara Oasis
Date gardens in Al Ain watered by an old falaj, a channel system that carries water through the palms. Beneath them lies a Bronze Age site from around 1800 to 1500 BCE, and among its 19 old buildings are nine mosques.
Famous places to visit in Abu Dhabi (16)
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Abrahamic Family House
Three houses of worship side by side on Saadiyat Island: a mosque, a church and a synagogue, each in its own building. It was inspired by the Document on Human Fraternity, signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019 by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar.
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BAPS Hindu Mandir
The first traditional Hindu mandir in Abu Dhabi and the largest in West Asia, carved from pink Rajasthani sandstone and Italian marble. It was consecrated in February 2024 by Mahant Swami Maharaj, and its seven spires stand for the seven emirates.
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Capital Gate
Abu Dhabi's leaning tower, a 35-storey office block designed to tilt 18 degrees to the west. That is more than three times the lean of the tower at Pisa, and here it was done on purpose.
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Emirates Palace
A hotel built on the scale of a royal palace, all domes and gilded halls on its own stretch of the Abu Dhabi shore. It opened in 2005 and has been run by Mandarin Oriental since 2020.
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Etihad Towers
Five curved glass towers on the Abu Dhabi waterfront, across the road from Emirates Palace, holding homes, offices and a hotel. A car leaps between two of them in the film Furious 7, and an observation deck sits high in one tower.
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Ferrari World Abu Dhabi
A mostly indoor theme park under a vast red roof on Yas Island, the first in the world built around Ferrari. It is home to Formula Rossa, which held the record for the fastest roller coaster in the world from 2010.
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Jebel Hafeet
A bare limestone mountain on the border with Oman, rising south of Al Ain as an outlier of the Hajar range. A winding road climbs to the top for views over the city and the desert, and hot springs feed the green park at its foot.
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Liwa Oasis
A crescent of date-palm villages in the far west of Abu Dhabi, on the edge of the Rub' al Khali, the Empty Quarter. Some of the highest dunes in the region rise around it, among them Moreeb Dune.
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Louvre Abu Dhabi
An art museum on Saadiyat Island under a vast latticed dome by Jean Nouvel, which lets sunlight fall through in what is called a rain of light. Its galleries set art from every part of the world side by side, under an agreement with France to use the Louvre name until 2047.
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Masdar City
A planned urban community on the edge of Abu Dhabi, built by the state-backed company Masdar as a showcase for sustainable design. Its narrow, shaded streets borrow from old Arab towns to keep the heat down.
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Qasr Al Watan
The presidential palace of the UAE, a great white building in Abu Dhabi used for state receptions and cabinet meetings. It is a working palace rather than a home, and its domed halls are open to visitors.
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Saadiyat Island
A low island 500 metres off Abu Dhabi, being shaped into the emirate's cultural centre. The Louvre Abu Dhabi already stands on its shore, with more museums and galleries planned around it, and long white beaches face the Gulf.
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SeaWorld Abu Dhabi
A marine life park on Yas Island, opened in 2023 as the first SeaWorld outside the United States. It is also the first without orcas, and doubles as a centre for marine research, rescue and rehabilitation.
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Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
The largest mosque in the country, a white marble courtyard ringed by domes and four minarets at the entrance to Abu Dhabi. Its prayer hall holds one of the biggest knotted carpets in the world, and Sheikh Zayed, founder of the UAE, is buried in its grounds.
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Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi
One of the largest indoor theme parks in the world, on Yas Island, filled with Looney Tunes, Batman, Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo. Its 29 rides and shows are spread through themed lands, next to the first hotel built around Warner Bros.
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Yas Marina Circuit
A 5.3-kilometre motor racing circuit on Yas Island, designed by Hermann Tilke. It has hosted the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the last race of the Formula One season, since 2009, run from daylight into the night under floodlights.
Hidden gems in Abu Dhabi (18)
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Abu Dhabi Corniche
The 8 kilometre waterfront of Abu Dhabi, with separate paths for walkers and cyclists, play areas, cafés and a public beach. It runs along the city's northwestern edge, facing the Gulf on one side and the towers on the other.
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Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital
A hospital only for falcons, opened in 1999 and now the largest of its kind in the world, treating around 11,000 birds a year. Visitors are shown the clinics and can see falcons up close, the birds of the Emirati falconry tradition.
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Al Ain National Museum
The oldest museum in the UAE, founded in 1969. It covers the archaeology, history and traditional life of the Al Ain region, and holds finds from the area's ancient tombs and settlements.
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Al Ain Palace Museum
The former home of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, at the edge of the Al Ain Oasis. Its sand-coloured courtyards and rooms have been kept as a museum of how the family lived before the UAE was founded.
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Al Ain Zoo
A 400-hectare wildlife park in the foothills of Jebel Hafeet, given over mostly to grazing animals such as Arabian oryx, eland, gazelle and lechwe. It also keeps rare white lions and Nubian giraffes, among 68 species of mammals, 88 of birds and 35 of reptiles.
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Al Jahili Fort
A mud-brick fort built in 1891 in an Al Ain oasis to protect the date farmers, with a round, tiered corner tower. It later housed the Trucial Oman Scouts, and now holds an exhibition on the explorer Wilfred Thesiger.
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Emirates National Auto Museum
A national car museum in a pyramid-shaped building out in the desert south of Abu Dhabi city. It holds the private collection of Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, with rows of vintage cars, off-roaders and outsized oddities.
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Emirates Park Zoo
A privately owned zoo and resort in Al Bahia, on the northern edge of Abu Dhabi, opened in 2012. Its grounds are landscaped to recall Africa and hold more than 1,100 animals of over 220 species, one of the largest collections in the emirate.
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Lake Zakher
A lake in the desert outside Al Ain that nobody set out to make. It formed when treated water released onto the land raised the groundwater until it reached the surface, leaving a sheet of open water among the sand.
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Mangrove National Park
A protected belt of grey mangroves along the eastern shore of Abu Dhabi island, within sight of the city's towers. Shallow channels wind between the trees, and most people see it from a kayak, among herons, crabs and small fish.
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Mezyad Fort
A historic fort at Mezyad, south of Al Ain, on the edge of the desert below Jebel Hafeet. It is part of the Jebel Hafeet Desert Park, which also takes in an ancient necropolis and the mountain itself.
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Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi
The largest natural history museum in the Middle East, in the Saadiyat Cultural District. Its galleries cover 13.8 billion years of the universe and the Earth, with a particular focus on the natural history of the Arabian Peninsula.
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Qasr Al Hosn
The oldest stone building in Abu Dhabi, begun around 1761 as a watchtower guarding the island's fresh water well. It grew into the fort and home of the ruling family, and its whitewashed walls now hold a museum of the city's story.
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Sheikh Khalifa Grand Mosque
The largest mosque in Al Ain and one of the largest in the country, open to the public since April 2021. It is named after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, Ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE from 2004 until 2022.
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Sir Bani Yas Island
The largest natural island in the UAE, 9 kilometres off the Abu Dhabi coast and home to a wildlife reserve founded by Sheikh Zayed in 1977. Thousands of free-roaming animals now live among millions of planted trees, seen on safaris, hikes and kayak trips.
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Wahat Al Karama
A memorial opposite the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, unveiled in 2016 to honour Emiratis who died in the line of duty. It has three parts: a group of leaning pillars, a pavilion of honour bearing their names, and a memorial plaza.
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Yas Waterworld
A water park on Yas Island themed on Emirati heritage, with around 45 rides, slides and attractions. It sits close to Ferrari World and Warner Bros. World, and runs seasonal events and shows through the year.
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Zayed National Museum
The national museum of the UAE, opened on Saadiyat Island in December 2025 as a memorial to Sheikh Zayed, the country's founding father. It tells the story of the Emirates, their history, culture and transformation, beneath towers 123 metres high.
Collecting in Abu Dhabi
What are the best places to visit in Abu Dhabi?
LOQAH lists 39 places in Abu Dhabi. The best known include Al Ain Oasis, Bidaa Bint Saud, Hili Archaeological Park, Qasr Al Muwaiji and Qattara Oasis. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.
How many LOQAH stamps are there in Abu Dhabi?
39, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.
How do I collect a stamp in Abu Dhabi?
Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.
I have been to places in Abu Dhabi before. Can I add them?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Abu Dhabi and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.
More in the United Arab Emirates
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