Abu Dhabi

We had a great week away for the winter in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The whole week had highs in the low 70s F and wonderful sunny skies. The sun rose and set at normal times. I doubt I'd want to be there in the summer, but the winter weather makes it a great tourist destination if you're living somewhere towards the northern extreme. There's also plenty to see and do for a week if you want to do more than lounge in the sun.

I've heard it was an expensive destination, but that depends on what you do. We started with a cheap direct flight from Riga on airBaltic. There are surprisingly affordable options at very nice hotels. The other costs of the city can be higher than average, but it can be an affordable vacation spot with mall food courts as a cheap dining option.

A lot of our tourism was done with the Big Bus 5-day pass. This was a great value with the inclusion of a full day excursion to Al Ain. We hit many of the places over the week that Big Bus took us. If you have a tighter schedule or want to see less of where they go, then the affordable taxis or renting a car might be better. We hired a driver for a day to see some of Dubai and visit the top of Burj Khalifa. The cost wasn't too bad for having our own driver for a day.

I'll make additional posts for Dubai, Grand Mosque, Presidential Palace, and Louvre (yes, related to the other Louvre). Here's a few pics of our stay at the Beach Rotana Hotel. It was super convenient at the hub for the two Big Bus routes. It's also connected to Abu Dhabi Mall for shopping and cheaper food options.

That's just a small look at our environment for the week. It was a great hotel with an extensively tasty breakfast buffet to start each day. There's a pool too, but we actually didn't consider it warm enough to bother with swimming. The rest of this post looks at the UAE Heritage Village. It gives you some hints of the old UAE before the oil riches built these cities out of the sand. I'd really recommend touring around Al Ain for more of their history and heritage, but this is a good stop if you're short on time.