Abu Dhabi 360

Looking to soak up Abu Dhabi’s famous year-round sunshine? The immaculate Corniche Beach is one of the best places to do it. This beautiful beach isn’t just home to turquoise water and soft, white sand, it also has a beautiful seaside boardwalk, with well-kept walkways home to manicured gardens and benches overlooking the picturesque Arabian Gulf. Sunset is a great time to capture a few photos, so don’t forget to bring your phone.

The 2km beach is divided into three sections: Al Sahil (Gate 4, free entry) is perfect for singles and larger groups, Gate 2 is ideal for families and has its own quiet zone, with Gate 3 also being great for families and kids. The two latter beaches are shielded from view with a fence. Showers, changing rooms and cabanas are available, and sun loungers and umbrellas can be hired for a fee. A lifeguard is on duty until sunset.

Feel like getting active? Take a stroll to the nearby children’s play area, or check out the cycle and pedestrian pathways and free sports facilities, including five volleyball courts, two football pitches and three playing fields. If you’d like to get out on the water, rent a speedboat off the Corniche and soak up majestic views of the Abu Dhabi skyline, or get into the blue with a snorkelling experience that lets you discover local aquatic life. If all that activity works up an appetite, you’ll find several cafés and restaurants nearby.

The turquoise sea, view of Lulu Island, swaying palm trees and gardens make this spotlessly maintained Blue Flag public beach an unexpected gem in the heart of the UAE capital. Entrance is AED 10 for adults and AED 5 for children. Kids under five go free. You’ll pay AED 25 per sun lounger.

This lavish property is world-famous thanks to its enchanting Arabesque style, award-winning five-star hospitality and wonderfully unique and authentic local experiences. Located in the heart of Abu Dhabi, Emirates Palace's impressive offerings include a pristine 1.3km private beach, landscaped pools, a private marina overlooking a natural bay, a luxe spa offering indulgent treatments, including a 24-karat gold facial, and some of the world's best restaurants.

One of the capital's most well-known landmarks, the main palace building stretches over a kilometre from wing to wing, with its gardens stretching across 100 hectares. The hotel features 114 domes, with the central dome being an imposing 72.6 metres above the ground, meticulously crafted with gold, mother of pearl and crystals. The palace also boasts 1,002 chandeliers, the largest weighing 2.5 tons, with other photo-worthy features including two handmade wall displays portraying the palace. During the day, the hotel's golden exterior contrasts with the lush surrounding greenery, silvery water fountains, and crisp blue sky. At night, the hotel's lighting changes ever so subtly, with an ethereal rainbow effect displayed on the main dome.

After a day spent relaxing on the property or exploring the city's many surrounding sights, satisfy your appetite at the hotel's impressive restaurants, all of which offer moreish dishes that promise to please even the fussiest eaters. Savour gourmet Asian food at Hakkasan, traditional Emirati fare with a fine-dining finish at Mezlai, or - if you're feeling adventurous - a sumptuous camel burger sprinkled with 24-karat gold, or a 24-karat gold-flecked cappuccino with a date and camel milk chocolate, at Le Café.

This iconic hotel is perfect for a once-in-a-lifetime holiday, a magical wedding, or impressive corporate events and meetings in the city's largest hotel conference centres.

If excitement for the entire family is what you’re after, from toddler to teen, parent to grandparent, the mostly indoor theme park, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, is the answer.

Open 365 days a year, the world’s first Ferrari-branded theme park tells the marque’s story with passion, showcasing more than 20 exhilarating and educational rides and attractions, incredible shopping, and authentic Italian dining experiences. The only time you’ll be outside in the sun is on board the Formula Rossa – the world’s fastest roller-coaster. Go from 0 to 240km/h in 4.9 seconds, while soaring to heights of 52 metres. The Flying Aces, meanwhile, comes with the world’s highest roller-coaster loop. Climb 63 metres at a 51-degree angle, and enjoy your ride! The Tyre Change Experience tests if you can match the pace of F1™ pit crews, while Turbo Track offers an epic zero-gravity fall. Those who enjoy a more relaxed experience will love Bell'Italia, a ride that lets you explore a mini Italy in a Ferrari 250 California, circa 1958. The ride also showcases other Italian landmarks such as the Amalfi Coast, Monza Racetrack, the Colosseum di Roma, Venezia and Maranello, the home of Ferrari.

You’ll also find a Family Zone, family-friendly attractions, state-of-the-art simulators, electric-powered go-karts, live shows and an inspiring collection of racing memorabilia.

A nature-based destination home to stunning wildlife, a range of family-friendly adventure activities, five-star boutique hotels, luxury villas, purpose-built stables and historical sites, Sir Bani Yas Island is one of eight islands making up the desert islands of Al Dhafra.

Awarded the World’s Leading Sustainable Tourism Destination at the 2014 World Travel Awards, more than half of this incredible island is made up of the Arabian Wildlife Park, one of the region’s largest wildlife reserves home to more than 17,000 free-roaming animals, including Arabian oryx, gazelles, giraffes, hyenas and cheetahs. Guests can enjoy 4x4 nature and wildlife safaris in specially made vehicles accompanied by expert guides, with the island’s state-of-the-art stables offering a variety of equestrian activities and lessons for the whole family. If you’re looking for a customised tour to explore the island in more detail, Danat Resort Jebel Dhanna, a hotel on the Abu Dhabi mainland, can help you book one.

With three Anantara retreats on the island, guests can indulge in luxurious five-star accommodation at Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara, enjoy beach-front seclusion at Anantara Al Yamm Villa Resort on the eastern shores, and breathtaking natural beauty at Anantara Al Sahel Villa Resort.

This ancient island is also home to the UAE's only discovered Christian monastery, which can be visited during a Desert Islands Resort and Spa Culture Tour. Thought to have been built around 600AD and abandoned in 750AD, the monastery was rediscovered during excavations in 1992.

An exclusive, intimate island experience featuring one- and two-bedroom villas in a private setting on beautiful white sand overlooking the Arabian Gulf. Inspired by traditional Arabic fishing and pearl-diving villages and their barasti (palm frond) houses, the 30 Al Yamm villas – some with private plunge pools – are sustainably built, designed to complement the island's delicate ecosystem and with additional views across a mangrove-filled salt-water lagoon.

With three Anantara resorts on Sir Bani Yas Island, guests can enrich their stay with complimentary transfers between the trio of retreats, giving them the freedom to enjoy all the facilities and pleasures of Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island Resorts, including pampering Anantara Spa rituals, timeless activities such as archery and falconry, a wide range of watersports and, of course, a mouthwatering choice of restaurants.

With a central lodge featuring a Mediterranean restaurant and lounge, Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island Al Yamm Villa Resort offers you privacy with a dash of luxury. Visitors can also enjoy nature and wildlife drives across the island's Arabian Wildlife Park, scuba diving and mangrove kayaking from the Desert Islands Watersports Centre, or simply relax at the on-site Al Yamm Spa Villa.

Describing the world's largest uninterrupted sand mass, explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger wrote, “It was very still, with the silence which we have driven from our world”. 

Today, the magical Rub’ al Khali (Empty Quarter) offers the same serene silence that it did when Thesiger explored it with his Emirati and Omani companions in the 1940s, its fine golden and red sands shifting with the winds to form dunes hundreds of feet high and visible as far as the eye can see.

Beautiful by day or starry night, this ever-changing expanse of desert boasts one of the world’s most luxurious hotels: the magnificent Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara. A fairytale destination reminiscent of the tale One Thousand and One Nights, this luxury five-star oasis resembles an old Arabian fortress town, nestled in a valley of towering dunes. Aside from warm Arabian hospitality, exquisite interiors and sumptuous dining, the hotel also offers solo travellers, couples or families a dose of adventure, from dawn desert walks to camel trekking, dune bashing to falconry and Saluki (desert hunting dog) shows, camp-fire barbecues to fat-tyre biking, and much more.

Perched on the edge of this majestic desert you’ll also find the stunning Tilal Liwa Hotel, a secluded luxury hideaway with all the comforts of modern life, of course. Discover impressive restaurants, an enormous outdoor pool with breathtaking views of the dunes, and a range of desert activities for all ages. 

If you’re in the Empty Quarter, try to get up close and personal with the world’s tallest sand dune, Tel Moreeb, which means Terrifying Mountain. Over 300 metres high and boasting a 50° incline, this photogenic dune is a dream for 4x4 enthusiasts, with experienced bikers and drivers competing to climb to the top during the Moreeb Hill Climb event, part of the Liwa International Festival that takes place in the winter. If you prefer to err on the side of caution, simply watch dune-side and get some covetable photographs.

Perfect for the traveller who wants an authentic and immersive adventure experience, Abu Dhabi’s Empty Quarter is a must-see bucket-list destination.