Abu Dhabi

A skyline that earns its keep

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is one of the most breathtaking works of religious architecture anywhere in the world, a forest of marble columns and hand-knotted carpet that rewards an entire afternoon. A short drive away, the Louvre Abu Dhabi sits beneath a latticed steel dome that dapples its galleries in shifting rays of light, housing a collection that traces the full sweep of human creativity. The city has collected cultural institutions the way other places collect roundabouts, and the pace shows little sign of slackening. Saadiyat Island is still mid-sentence, with a Guggenheim and a natural history museum among the chapters yet to come.

Islands, speed and the great outdoors

Yas Island packs a Formula 1 circuit, a Warner Bros theme park, a water park and a golf course into a space that never quite feels crowded, which takes some engineering. Beyond the attractions, the emirate offers quieter pleasures: dhow cruises among the mangroves of the Eastern Corniche, flamingos picking their way through the Al Wathba Wetland Reserve, and the vast silence of the Liwa Oasis, where dunes climb to heights that make a grown adult feel reassuringly small. The coastline is clean, the water warm for most of the year, and the beaches are genuinely good.

Dates, coffee and the art of welcome

Emirati hospitality is not a tagline; it is a practice with centuries of form behind it. Guests are greeted with qahwa, the cardamom-laced coffee poured into small handleless cups, alongside a dish of dates so good they tend to end the conversation briefly. The dining scene has expanded considerably beyond tradition, with restaurants representing several dozen nationalities competing cheerfully in the city's malls, corniche side streets and hotel lobbies. The souks in Al Ain and the fish market at the Mina Port repay an early morning visit, and the dates at the Al Ain Oasis Date Market are worth planning a trip around.