If you’re visiting us only for only a couple of days, these tips will save you time and let you make the most of your stay. Have a great one!!!

1. Hit the dunes
   One of our many travel and tour operators will be glad to take you, along with other guests, for an adventurous dune-bashing experience, which concludes in a barbeque dinner on a desert camp. This exhilarating experience is one you will always remember because of the thrill of the ride (forget Disneyland’s fun rides) and the subsequent yummy treats underneath the starlit sky, away from the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan living.

2. Go back in time
   Likewise, you shouldn’t miss to drop by the Abu Dhabi Heritage Village, situated near the Abu Dhabi Breakwater on your visit to Abu Dhabi. You may visit the village, which showcases Abu Dhabi’s rich cultural heritage, prior or after visiting the Marina Mall for your must-do retail therapy. This experience will provide you with a first-hand experience on how the Bedouin lived during the old times, before the modern irrigation and agricultural system came to existence.

3. Go over the top
   Take a trip to the emirate’s highest point, Jebel Hafeet, or better yet stay overnight in  the scenic hotel located near the mountain’s peak. Ideal time to visit this site is during the cooler months (November to March) where the temperature could drop dramatically especially during the evenings. A lovely view of the city below is an added bonus for the visitor and provides a great photography backdrop for your visit. Jebel Hafeet, which is located in Al Ain, is about an hour and a half drive from Abu Dhabi’s city centre.

   Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet
   Tel: +971 3 7838888
   E-mail: resa@mercure-alain.ae
   Website: www.mercure.com

4. Take a culture trip
   Once in Al Ain, the next stop would be the Al Ain National Museum, which features archaeological and ethnographical artefacts pertaining the history and heritage of Abu Dhabi, dating back to the Stone Age.

    

5. Cruise along the Gulf coast
   Take your loved one or family for a sunset cruise on board one of the commercial dhows or luxury yachts to have a view of the awesome sunset over the Arabian coast. Most of the cruise vessels offer a-la-carte or buffet dinners as well as welcome drinks, which are included in the cruise fee. Most tour operators offer cruise packages.

    

6. Go for gold
   What’s a trip to Abu Dhabi without shopping for some real souvenir items, the kind that could outlast your stock dividends and make you look good at the same time? Go to the Madinat Zayed Gold Souk to bag reasonably priced pieces of jewelries for yourself or your loved ones back home before you head back to the airport. Price haggling, however, is an art you must learn before setting off for this trip. Usually you can bargain for as much as half of the originally quoted price especially if you are purchasing more than one piece of gold jewelry from the same store. Once a price has been verbally agreed on, however, the buyer is expected to make a purchase. The Madinat Zayed Gold Souk is a stone’s throw away from the Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre and the Abu Dhabi Central Post Office.

    

7. Red-carpet welcome
   Admittedly carpets add an unexplained charm to one’s living room or bedroom. The Iranian Souk and Al Meena Souk boast some of the widest collection of the renowned hand-made Persian carpets in Abu Dhabi. Again, some excellent price haggling skills should be kept handy during such trips.

    

8. Laze on the beach
   If your hotel is not located along the Gulf coast or does not offer direct access to the beach, you need not worry. The Abu Dhabi Corniche features a public swimming area, and right across it - accessible via a short boat ride - is a large man-made island (Lulu Island) which features a generous stretch of beach, a haven for just about every beach lover. A public beach, Al Raha Beach, is located a short drive away from the city centre, while a ladies-only beach is located on the West Corniche Road, leading to the Abu Dhabi Ladies Club.

    

9. Food trip
   Conversations over a cup of tea or coffee or a hearty serving of kabab, kofta or shish tawouk and fattoush (an Arabic vegetable salad) could make a quiet evening extraordinary in one of the cafés located near the Abu Dhabi Corniche, or in restaurants that are found in the city centre or right in your hotel’s doorstep. If you’re the adventurous type, you can try a slew of other cuisines from literally all corners of the globe that are prepared in one of Abu Dhabi’s restos. Turkish coffee, Greek salad, all-American steak, English scones and breakfast, Chinese dumplings, Japanese sashimis, Indian curries, and delicious pastas of all sauces, and everything else in between (think African and other Asian gourmet foods) can all be found in Abu Dhabi city’s gastronomic districts. Check out Time Out Abu Dhabi for independent restaurant reviews or our list of restaurants around the emirate.

    

10. Me-time treat
    There are a plenty of excuses to get away for sometime to ease those stiff and aching muscles, whether they were generated by a day-long series of meetings with business partners, a hectic day at the mall or at the hotel looking after the little ones, or from playing a round of golf in the morning. World-class wellness centres and spas in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain will cater to your unique me-time requirements.