Dubai vs Abu Dhabi: Which City Should You Visit in the UAE?

While only a 90-minute drive apart on the United Arab Emirates' Persian Gulf coast, the major metropolises of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are distinctly different. These glittering cities rising out of the desert each have their own charms and devoted fans.

So which is the best? Two Lonely Planet writers who have known and loved these stars of the UAE for years argue their cases.

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Dubai: Best for Food, Fun and Action

Sebastian Modak’s idea of a good time is asking a Dubai cab driver where to get lunch. And then, after a delicious meal, asking the staff at that restaurant where he should go for dinner.

I could take the easy route here by listing all the superlatives attached to Dubai. In a single afternoon, you can take an elevator to the top of the world’s tallest building, hit your 10,000 steps in one of the world’s largest shopping malls and even glide down a colossal indoor ski slope. You can ride the world’s largest Ferris wheel and then kick back in “the world’s only seven-star hotel.” You ask why, Dubai answers, “Because we can.”

But pointing to Dubai’s unmistakable appeal as a kind of living theme park for tourists is too obvious. Instead, I want to point you to its real beauty, as a crossroads of the world. Name a nationality, and you’ll find it in Dubai. Sure, the same could be argued for nearby Abu Dhabi, but as a global financial center, Dubai just has more of it. And it’s a place where encountering the world – without the government bureaucrats and buttoned-up diplomats you’ll find in Abu Dhabi – is just more fun.

The real magic of the city is found where it began, along Dubai Creek and in the low-rise neighborhoods of Bur Dubai and Deira that extend on either side of it. It’s like stepping back in time – the 1960s are ancient history in a city as new as Dubai – and is a reminder of what the city was like before it started growing vertically.

Follow your nose through the souqs and in no time you’ll find the best Filipino, Indian, Pakistani and Iranian food available outside of the Philippines, India, Pakistan and Iran. Overwhelmed? There’s a tour for that: the women-run Frying Pan Adventures offers walking tours with a focus on the immigrant communities and their cultures that flourish away from the five-star hotels and amusement parks.

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Okay, but maybe you came to Dubai because you want the amusement park vibes. You can encounter the world in one of those, too, at the deliciously kitschy turbocharged Global Village, where “village” is an understatement. Spread over a massive space, different countries and regions are given different pavilions to sell food and handicrafts. It’s a celebration of the 190-something nationalities that make the UAE the wonderful place it is, and good family-friendly fun.

Abu Dhabi is your very cultured – but let’s be honest, kind of stuffy – uncle. Dubai is your polyglot friend who knows about that one hole-in-the-wall kebab spot where you can have the best meal of your life for under US$10 but is also going to convince you to go skydiving and splurge on beachside cocktails right afterward. And they’ll have a whole other day planned when you wake up the next morning.

Plan Your Trip to Dubai

Whether you need to know the best time of year to visit, the city's top experiences or what to eat and drink, our expert insight can help you plan your trip to Dubai.

Abu Dhabi: Best for Art, Culture and Tradition

Dr Jenny Walker is a long-term resident in the Middle East where she works in higher education; she has contributed to many Lonely Planet guidebooks on the region over the years, including the first edition of the Abu Dhabi pocket guide.

The straitlaced alter ego of Dubai? Abu Dhabi only appears as such to those who don’t know better. And you could be forgiven for that because, where Dubai likes to talk itself up, boasting "biggest" this and "fastest" that, Abu Dhabi doesn’t feel the need to brag, quietly confident as the Emirati capital.

Modesty shouldn’t be confused with mediocrity, however, and Abu Dhabi is no stranger to world records. But where Dubai measures first in terms of tower blocks, Ferris wheels and shopping malls, Abu Dhabi’s best lists are more culturally unique. Take the magnificent Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque: with its 100,000 tons of marble fashioned into 80 domes, 1000 pillars and four 107m-high minarets, it’s a masterpiece of contemporary Islamic design. Accommodating 40,000 worshippers, the great prayer hall, lit with 12 tons of crystal chandeliers and burnished with 40kg of 24kt galvanized gold, houses the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet. Weighing in at 38 tons, that’s a superlative to boast about!

Or let’s talk dynamic innovation. There’s Capital Gate, a building with the world’s greatest tilt, or Masdar City, built with recycled materials and focused on energy efficiency. The Saadiyat Cultural District will showcase the largest cluster of cultural structures built this century and the Louvre Abu Dhabi is breathtaking with its palm-frond-inspired interior and wealth of art displayed within.

Prefer theme parks to museums? Abu Dhabi has those, too. In fact, it has a whole island dedicated to high-adrenaline fun with a Grand Prix circuit and twilight racing showing off the Yas Island marina complex to its most glittering advantage. Next door, the world’s fastest roller coaster, at Ferrari World, hurls the brave from zero to 240km/h in 4.9 seconds.

So no, this capital city is not shy of world records, nor is it as parochial as its neighbor would have you believe. Abu Dhabi doesn’t need a Dubai-style Global Village because it encompasses the real thing. Grown wealthy on oil (and formerly pearling), it knows about trade, and its international malls and restaurants add accretions to the cultural mix, like the layering of a Gulf pearl.

Stroll the Corniche, and it’s quickly apparent that Abu Dhabi isn’t simply a blandly globalized entrepôt. It identifies with Bedouin roots, celebrated in camel races, dog-rearing at the Arabian Saluki Centre and bird-husbandry at the Falcon Hospital. In fact, Bedouin culture is everywhere – from coffee-drinking hospitality in the Qasr Al Sarab desert resort to cross-legged storytelling on a Liwa Oasis sand dune. Yes, in Dubai you can ski on a black run, but you might be able to do that closer to home on real snow. Where other than Abu Dhabi, though, can you paddle by kayak through herons in a thicket of mangrove in search of sea cows?

Plan Your Trip to Abu Dhabi

From exploring local culture to following a 5-day itinerary visiting museums, mosques, wetlands and other city highlights, our expert insight can help you plan your time in Abu Dhabi.