Whether you are a luxury traveller looking to relax on pristine beaches or spend time shopping in the world’s most glamorous malls, an adventure seeker looking to journey by camel over golden sand dunes or ride on the longest zipline, or someone looking for an entertaining family-friendly vacation with some of the largest waterslide and amusement parks, the UAE offers something for everyone.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates located on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula. The country is known for its safety, beauty and upscale glamorous living. With more than 200 different nationalities calling the UAE home, including approximately 40,000 Canadians, and English spoken throughout the country, Canadian visitors will definitely feel at home.
While the UAE is known for its luxurious cosmopolitan cities, such as Dubai, the country is equally blessed with a rich cultural heritage and diverse landscape — it boasts rugged mountains, deserts of rolling sand dunes, sunny coastlines and an abundance of flora and fauna. Likewise, each of its seven emirates offers a unique experience for visitors, and if you do not have time to visit all of the emirates, you can easily take a day trip to explore different regions.
The UAE’s national airline, Etihad Airways, flies from Toronto directly to the capital, Abu Dhabi, and Emirates Airlines flies directly from Toronto to the metropolitan city of Dubai. Either location is a good option from which to start your UAE visit, with additional direct flights also offered through Air Canada.
Dubai: City of dreams
Dubai could be called the city of dreams, because it’s a place where anything is possible. Opulence and sophistication define this city, which features a stunning skyline of modern skyscrapers, including the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.
The Burj Khalifa, which stands at 828 metres (2,716 feet), is definitely worth a visit. One can enjoy a 360-degree skyline view of Dubai and the surrounding emirates from its sky-high observation decks, dine at the highest luxury restaurant and lounge, spend time at a luxurious spa with pool, or, if you are with children, you can visit a shop filled with heavenly sweets.
A visit to The Park, an 11-hectare green oasis at the base of the Burj Khalifa, is also captivating. This green space includes six spectacular water features, lush green gardens and flowering trees. A dancing water feature, designed by California-based WET, the creators of the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, always attracts the gaze of locals and visitors alike.
After the Burj, you can see one of the most iconic views of Dubai from the water on Dubai Creek. Set in the heart of the city, this clean waterway is bustling with a lively atmosphere day and night. Visitors can travel by dhow, a traditional sailing-style boat used in the Red and Indian oceans that serves as a local ferry, or they can opt for a tour that includes dinner and entertainment, a nice evening option as dusk approaches with the twinkling city lights.
Modern Dubai also offers visitors insight into the UAE’s historic culture and heritage through its Al Bastakia Quarter and Al Fahidi Historic Neighbourhood. As one of the oldest standing residential areas of the city, (established in the 19th Century), the Bastakia Quarter is one of the UAE’s most picturesque and historic sites.
Visitors can walk through narrow winding alleyways, and visit ochre-coloured buildings made of coral, mud and palm wood, which host cafés, restaurants and hotels. They will also find numerous galleries, featuring prominent contemporary and traditional works.
For cultural enthusiasts, the UAE is also home to world-class museums, such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by Jean Nouvel, winner of the Pritzker Prize (often referred to as the Nobel peace prize for architecture). It features 12 galleries, tracing humanity’s artistic achievements from the Neolithic Age to the present day. Famous pieces are abundant and include Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna and Child and an Archaic Sphinx.
The top cultural must-see in the UAE is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. At first glance, it appears to be a larger version of the Taj Mahal, so exquisite that it stops visitors in their tracks. Named after founding president Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, it is also his burial site.
Encrusted with exotic jewels — from amethyst and lapis lazuli to mother of pearl — and lavishly lined with gold and Indian Makrana white marble, which is the same material used for the Taj Mahal, there may be no match to this building’s opulence and beauty anywhere. Visitors will also witness its inlaid delicate flowers, featuring 82 snow-white domes, 1,000 columns covering 500,000 square metres, gold German-made chandeliers with more than a million Austrian Swarovski crystals and the world’s largest silk and wool Persian carpet,
Turning from this beautiful human-made site to more natural ones, the UAE is home to magnificent fine-powder sandy beaches, set beside crystal clear turquoise waters. Whether on a city beach in Dubai, with the dynamic highrise backdrop, or on a beach in Abu Dhabi with its unending coastline, the watersport options, from diving, jet-skiing, paddle-boarding to snorkeling, are endless.
For those looking for an outdoor day trip from Abu Dhabi, visiting the summit of Jebel (Mount) Hafeet in Al Ain is a popular excursion for its expansive views. From the second-highest peak in the UAE, at 1,240 metres, you can view breathtaking panoramas even as your vehicle winds its way up the limestone mountain.
Once at the top, you will have striking photo opportunities of the far-reaching golden desert, and perhaps even catch a glimpse of red foxes, rock hyrax or feral cats that inhabit the area. While you are there, make sure to also visit the stone beehive-shaped Jebel Hafeet Tombs at the base of the mountain. Built during the bronze age, they tell the story of our early ancestors and stand as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Another worthwhile outdoor adventure is a visit to the Al Hajar Mountains, just a few hours by car from Dubai. One can expect winding roller-coaster roads with spectacular scenery as one ascends the mountain. Picturesque small villages along the route make the journey memorable. There are also plenty of hiking, trekking and archeological sites and bird-watching opportunities, as well as dry riverbed valleys (wadis) to explore. In addition, visitors are welcome to camp in most areas.
The magical Arabian Desert
Equally popular with all visitors is a journey into the Arabian Desert, where one can discover its mystique or engage in heart-racing activities. Visitors can take air-conditioned luxury vehicles or more rugged SUVs to travel to the desert, and try dune-buggy racing, camel-trekking or spend time sand-boarding.
For those who like nature, wildlife or history, Sir Bani Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, is home to the Arabian Wildlife Park, with thousands of free-roaming animals, such as giraffes, cheetahs and gazelles, several million tree and plant species, as well as countless archeological sites throughout the island, including the ruins of an ancient Christian monastery estimated to have been built in AD 600.
Many visitors plan a visit from Dubai, but similar trips can be had from Abu Dhabi. Also popular are the Bedouin traditional evening dinners, experienced as the sun sets over the rolling desert sand dunes.
For families, the UAE offers some of the world’s best and largest amusement and waterparks. In fact, TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards named Dubai’s Aquaventure Waterpark, Wild Wadi Water Park and Abu Dhabi’s Yas Waterworld as three of the world’s top 10 waterparks. Dubai’s Aquaventure Waterpark has the tallest and fastest free-falling waterslide outside of the Americas. These dynamic parks also offer artificial surfing machines, shark-filled lagoons and unique pearl-diving experiences.
There are also plenty of adrenaline-pumping amusement parks, including IMG Worlds of Adventure, Ferrari World, Warner Brothers, Legoland and Motiongate. The Ferrari-themed park is home to the fastest roller-coaster in the world, which accelerates to 240 kilometres an hour in just five seconds, while the impressive IMG Worlds of Adventure is housed in an air-conditioned hangar the size of 28 football fields, and is the largest indoor theme park in the world.
Legoland, meanwhile, caters to younger children, aged two to 12, and includes a Miniland, where more than 20 million Lego bricks were used to create 15,000 miniature models of different landmarks from around the world.
For many visitors to the UAE, shopping is also a main attraction, and given the endless options, it is easy to see why. The Dubai Mall, with an enormous aquarium, and the Emirates Mall, with an indoor ski hill, are both epicentres of upscale luxury brand-name shops. But the many exotic souks (traditional markets), are where culture-seekers will find everything from pearls to gold and spices.
All cities have their own souks, and customers are welcome to bargain. Souks are a good place to discover Arab world culture, and find local handicrafts to take home as souvenirs. In Abu Dhabi’s Carpet Souk, there are more than 100 stores selling carpets — from Persian and Afghani to local patterns — while in the Emirate of Sharjah, the lovely Blue Souk building is a popular shopping location, with hundreds of shops selling jewelry, perfume, regional pottery, antiques, carpets and various collectables.
The Fabric Souk in Dubai offers handmade pashminas and rolls of cotton and silk, sold by the yard. Skilled tailors are also on site and can make affordable, high-quality clothes from your fabric purchases.
From the exotic allure of the Arabian Desert, to some of the world’s most innovative architecture, the UAE is a magical place to visit and we look forward to welcoming you there.
Fahad Saeed Al Raqbani is the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates.
