Al Ain

Al Ain offers mountain scenery and open desert, with Jebel Hafeet and Al Ain Zoo. It is the oasis city of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, about an hour and a half from both the capital and Dubai.

In 2011 UNESCO inscribed the Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and the Oases Areas) on the World Heritage List. You walk beneath date palms still watered by falaj channels, past circular tombs from around 2500 BC, and at Hili see one of the oldest known falaj systems, from the Iron Age.

Jebel Hafeet rises some 1,240 m above the plain, and its winding road is one of the finest drives in the region. Go up before sunset to see the city and the desert in gold, then visit the Jebel Hafeet Desert Park and its ancient tombs at the foot of the mountain.