Two days in Abu Dhabi

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Abu Dhabi is the perfect location to plan a little stopover when you are on your way to your final destination. I also love flying with Etihad. When I was heading to South Korea last month, I actually found a great flight that was stopping over there, which I turned into two days in Abu Dhabi.

It’s nice to split up long flights into two shorter trips. Believe it or not, but it was actually cheaper to stopover for two days in Abu Dhabi than to continue my flight straight away.

I actually had almost three days, I arrived early in the morning and left late at night But the following activities can easily fit into just two days, as I didn’t really do a lot on my last day apart from lying at the beach.

Now let’s get into it, this is how I spent two days in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Day 1

My flight arrived at 6am in the morning and it was the first time that my luggage was checked after immigration which was a bit scary, but I guess everybody gets checked at some point in their life. I tried to figure out how the bus worked but then decided to take a shared cap to Corniche, where my hotel was located.

I usually never stay in hotels but for Abu Dhabi I made an exception. It was only for two days, so I was staying at the Hilton Hotel in Corniche. Corniche is really lovely! It’s probably not the main part of town but it is located right by the beach and close to some tourist attractions, such as Marina Mall.

Here are five things you should do when spending two days in Abu Dhabi.

1. Go to the beach

After an overnight travel this was the first thing I did after finding a supermarket and getting some food. I was really lucky that I could already check in at 8am when I arrived at the hotel. The hotel had a little private area at the beach, where also the pool was located. This is were I spent quite some time, relaxing and trying to get a tan.

It can get really hot in Abu Dhabi, so put on enough sunscreen.

2. Go on a desert safari

Later that day I went on a desert safari. I had such a great time and I can not recommend it highly enough. I got picked up at around 4pm and then dropped off again at my hotel 6 hours later. The desert safari included riding on the sand dunes in a 4WD, visiting a camel farm and having dinner in the desert. I also got a henna tattoo and got a picture with a camel.

The price was 53 euros and I had booked it online in advance, but I also saw some places offering the tour in Abu Dhabi itself.

Day 2

3. Visit Marina Mall

From Corniche this mall was only a 20 minute walk away across a bridge. The mall is absolutely huge and has some really nice stores if you want to do some shopping. Even if you don’t want to buy anything, like I did, then it is also nice to just walk around and enjoy the way this mall is set up and everything. Really impressing!

It’s also a great idea to visit the mall because the walk across the ocean is quite beautiful and you can take really nice pictures of the beach and the skyline.

4. See the Etihad Towers

I really wanted to see these towers, just because they were part of the seventh Fast & Furious movie and I really loved that one. Turned out I actually walked past the towers before without realising it. If you are walking over the bridge, coming from Marina Mall, then you are walking straight towards it. Nice to look at for sure, but everything in Abu Dhabi is really impressing to be completely honest.

5. Visit the Sheik Zayed Mosque

I actually did this on the next day but I could have easily done it the previous day as well time wise. I just ended up spending the rest of the day at the beach again. It was too hot to do anything and I needed an activity to look forward to the next day after checking out of the hotel.

This mosque is like the one thing you can’t miss out on in Abu Dhabi. It is also probably one of the only mosques that can be visited by non-muslims and is considered the key place of worship in the United Arab Emirates.

It is massive and absolutely beautiful and doesn’t cost any entry. You might be wondering what to wear! Or at least I was. In general, it is appropriate to always cover your knees and shoulders and not to wear any tight clothes.

At the mosque, however, if you are not dressed appropriately you can borrow a hijab for no extra charge, which is what most people do.

You can walk around the mosque, but there are some parts that are restricted only for prayers.

Now let me know if you have anything to add to this list!

Read about more things to do in Abu Dhabi and how to travel between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

& have a great day! 🙂

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