United Arab Emirates
When
Nov to March
Price
From 1 900€ excl. flights
(based on 2 people sharing)
How long
4 nights
Ideal length
Abu Dhabi, the Emirates' political capital often overshadowed by Dubai in the tourist imagination, offers a more measured, cultural face of the country. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the largest in the world with its eighty-two domes and a Persian carpet woven in a single piece, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, capped by a vast perforated dome designed by Jean Nouvel that casts a rain of filtered light, are its two most striking symbols.
Completed in 2007 after over a decade of construction, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque can hold over forty thousand worshippers and blends Mughal, Moorish, and Fatimid architectural influences in an ensemble entirely of white marble. Its main carpet, woven as a single piece by over a thousand artisans, was for a time among the largest in the world, while its Swarovski crystal chandeliers rank among the most imposing ever made for a place of worship.
Louvre Abu Dhabi, opened in 2017 on the cultural island of Saadiyat, displays works loaned by thirteen French institutions beneath a geometric dome weighing seven thousand eight hundred tonnes that filters sunlight into a shifting pattern, nicknamed the "rain of light." Nearby, Saadiyat's pristine beaches and the future museum district, set to house a Guggenheim designed by Frank Gehry, round out the island's stated cultural ambitions.
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A Villa on the Corniche
A hotel overlooking Abu Dhabi's corniche, within walking distance of the mosque illuminated at night, elegant rooms and an infinity pool facing the Arabian Gulf.
A Saadiyat Island Resort
A beach hotel on Saadiyat Island, steps from the Louvre Abu Dhabi, rooms overlooking a pristine beach ranked among the finest in the Gulf.
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