Looking for an oasis in the desert? Al Ain is your place! By the time we arrived in Al Ain, we had been in United Arab Emirates for just over 2 weeks. This was honestly the place where we saw the most green in one place and there are four different oases within the city. Located on the east side of the Abu Dhabi Emirate, it is about a 1 hour 45-minute drive from Abu Dhabi. Here we explored the Al Ain Oasis, Jebel Hafit, Al Jahili Fort and the Camel Souq over the 2 full days & 3 nights we stayed in the city. Afterwards we finished up our time in the United Arab Emirates with a few days in Abu Dhabi.
Al Ain Oasis
You can’t come to Al Ain without exploring one of the oases! We chose to visit Al Ain Oasis in the center part of town and one of the great parts was that entry was FREE. They have a series of pathways throughout the oasis where you can either walk or rent a bicycle to explore. We decided to rent a 4-person bike to explore – it was 50 AED per hour ($13.61 USD/$17.25 CDN)– and a great way to explore. (There were also individual adult sized bicycles you could rent there.) There were a variety of palm groves with the traditional Falaj running through them. There are 147,000 date palms on 1,200 hectares.
We would stop to read some of the informational signs, but it was nice to set out exploring within the shade of the date palm groves. Near the entrance there was also a garden highlighting some of the desert plants and then an information center about the oases that had videos explaining the oasis and different practices.
Al Jahili Fort
Not far from the Al Ain Oasis is the Jahili Fort, which was a fort built as a symbol of power and a summer residence for the royal family in the 19th Century. The fort was renovated not that long ago in 2007-08. The museum explains a lot of the restoration process, including renovating it with the traditional method of mud bricks and palm branches like they originally did. There is also an exhibit about Sir Wilfred Thesiger, who cross the uninterrupted sand mass of the Empty Quarter part of the desert in the 1940s. The Fort was also FREE to go in and explore!
Jebel Hafit
This is the tallest mountain within the Abu Dhabi Emirate at 1,240 and is a popular spot to come watch the sunset. There is a great road that takes you up all the way toe top with several viewpoints where you can hang out and get a great view. We made our way up to the mountain to watch the sunset. Unfortunately that night there were clouds on the horizon so the sun disappeared, but it still offered great views of the surrounding mountains and valley below.
There are also several things you can explore in the area like the Jebel Hafit Beehive Tombs, which were temporarily closed during our visit. Access to the mountain was also completely FREE.
Camel Souq
Located on the south side of Al Ain there is the Camel Market, where a variety of livestock is sold – including sheep, goats, cattle & camels. We headed here one Saturday morning to check it out. We had read that some of the people will try to get you to come into the pens to take photos and then make you pay them before you get out. However, we just kept to ourselves, and headed to explore and didn’t run into any problems with people hassling. It was an interesting market to walk around – we even saw baby goats and baby camels. One camel looked like it just gave birth and was pretty protective of the baby as we tried to walk by!
Al Ain Zoo
The kids needed a bit of a break from the tourist sites, so we visited the Al Ain Zoo. It was a great zoo and they had a wide variety of animals and great natural enclosures. We headed there in the afternoon to try to miss the main heat. However, we got there about 2 p.m. and it was still really hot until the sun started to set. The only disappointment is that it looks like we came too early, as they have several new displays and animals in the works, including a koala enclosure. Of course, Clara was bummed as she has been wanting to see koalas in person on this trip. This will be the only zoo in the Middle Eastern Region that will have koalas, and one of the few in the world outside of Australia.
It was also super affordable to visit as well. Most zoos back home would easily be $25-35 per person, but it was only 75.60 AED ($20.58 USD/$26.07 CDN) for our family to attend.
Abu Dhabi
To conclude our trip in the United Arab Emirates, we spent 4 days in Abu Dhabi. To be honest, I’m not really sure where the time went. We ended up taking some time to enjoy the pool at our hotel on Yas Island, had to get PCR tests completed and some final trip preparations done for our next country; before we knew it was time to depart. However, we did make sure to schedule in some time to visit the Grand Mosque.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
I didn’t realize how new this mosque was, but it actually took 11 years of construction and was completed in 2007. It is the largest mosque in Abu Dhabi and has over a thousand pillars and other interesting facts about it. We got there and found out there was a tour shortly later, so we waited around for the complimentary tour to begin. The guided tour we went on start at noon, but I haven’t been able to confirm how many other tours they offer during the day and what time they might be at. We just happened to be there at the right time. And our visit to the mosque was completely free as well, except for $3 covers that I had to put over my calves to get access.
The Grand Prayer Hall was so magnificent and beautiful. There was one smaller chandelier that hung in the entry way to the Grand prayer hall and it weighed 2 tons. Then when we got into the main hall, we found out that largest chandelier weighs 12 tons!! They actually have a little staircase built into it as well to clean it!
However, one of the more interesting parts was that they have a large visitor center that is connected to the mosque and it is almost bigger than some malls we had back home, including a Starbucks and a Tim Hortons.
One area that we wish we would have had a bit more time to explore was the Liwa desert to the south of the city, but maybe for another time!
Visiting Abu Dhabi Emirate during Covid-19
Amongst the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Emirate has had one of the stricter policies regarding Covid-19; for a while they were even closed to some of the other Emirates of the UAE and conducted border checks. During the time we visited, some of these were no longer in effect.
However, they have created the Al Hosn app which is required to enter public places and masking was required everywhere, even in outdoor spaces. The Al Hosn app requires proof of full vaccination, as well as a negative PCR test within the last 30 days. Everywhere we went within the Abu Dhabi Emirate (for us that included Abu Dhabi and Al Ain), we had to show this upon entrance. However, when we arrived in the UAE we didn’t get the ID number that is required to activate the actual app. Therefore, we just showed our vaccination record and our negative PCR test upon arrival and they would let us through. We only had one instance, where a McDonalds would only accept the app. However, we were just there for an ice cream dessert, so they served us from outside.
One definite benefit of the Abu Dhabi Emirate was that they provided free PCR testing because everyone there is required to have a negative test every 30 days. Therefore, when it was time to depart the country for our next destination, we were able to get the test for free!
We were really impressed with all that the United Arab Emirates had to offer! Everything was modern, efficient, clean, great conditions and relatively affordable, especially in areas outside of the cities! Now, it’s time to move onto our next country of Saudi Arabia!
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