Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

In 2024, Erth became the first Emirati restaurant in the world to receive a Michelin star — a recognition that the UAE’s own culinary tradition, long overshadowed by the city’s international restaurant scene, had produced something genuinely irreplaceable. Located beside the historic Qasr Al Hosn, the menu uses regional ingredients from farms in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and across the Emirates to produce creative interpretations of the dishes that define Gulf identity: camel tenderloin, slow-braised lamb machboos, Liwa dates in multiple preparations, and luqaimat (fried dough balls with date syrup) as both street food memory and fine dining reinvention. This is the most important table in Abu Dhabi.

Navigate the food geography of old Abu Dhabi with a local guide: the Al Mina fish market at dawn where the day’s catch from the Arabian Gulf arrives in ice-filled wooden crates, the date souk with over a hundred varieties of Emirati date, the traditional bakeries producing khameer bread and chebab pancakes, and the neighborhood restaurants where machboos (spiced rice with meat), harees (slow-cooked wheat and lamb), and saloona (aromatic Gulf stew) have been made by the same families for decades. This walk is the fastest way to understand the culinary culture that predates the oil wealth and the towers — the Bedouin and pearling traditions that built the city’s identity long before the skyline.

A Michelin-selected all-day Emirati restaurant in the tranquil Al Muneera beachside development, dedicated to preserving Emirati culinary traditions through time-honored recipes and locally sourced fresh ingredients. The breakfast menu is the most authentic and comprehensive Emirati morning spread available to visitors: balaleet (sweet vermicelli with egg), khameer bread with date syrup, chebab pancakes, and the traditional Arabic coffee and fresh dates that are the correct preamble to every Emirati meal. The setting — a waterside terrace with views of the Arabian Gulf in the morning light — makes it the finest start to a day in Abu Dhabi.

Enter a private Emirati kitchen to document the foundational recipes of Gulf cuisine — a culinary tradition shaped by the Bedouin desert, the Arabian Sea, and the spice trade routes that connected the Gulf to India, Persia, and East Africa for centuries. The curriculum covers lamb machboos (the national dish: slow-cooked spiced rice, the Emirati answer to biryani), luqaimat (fried dough balls with date syrup and sesame), and the ritual preparation of qahwa (cardamom-and-saffron Arabic coffee) that precedes every Emirati gathering. This class encodes culinary knowledge that the city’s international restaurant scene, for all its Michelin stars, cannot replicate.

Built at a cost of $3 billion along 1.3 kilometers of private Corniche coastline, the Emirates Palace is the most opulent hotel in the Arab world and the defining architectural statement of Abu Dhabi’s ambition. Its 114 domes, gold-leaf interiors, and half-kilometer of marble corridors function as a deliberate counterweight to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque — two expressions of the same extraordinary vision of what a capital city could become. The camel milk cappuccino dusted with 24-karat gold at the Caffé Coffe is now among the most photographed drinks in the world. The private beach and the seven swimming pools complete a property that has no peer in the Gulf.

Rising from the Liwa Desert — the largest sand desert on earth outside the Sahara — this fortress resort sits among dunes that reach 300 meters in height and extends 160 kilometers toward the Saudi border. The architecture is Arabic fortification: towers, battlements, and arched corridors in warm sandstone that becomes indistinguishable from the landscape at dusk. The infinity pool dissolves into the dune horizon and the falconry sessions at sunrise are the most atmospheric wildlife experience available in the Gulf. Rated 9.6 out of 10 by Trip.com in 2025, it is consistently among the highest-rated hotels in the entire Middle East.

On the white-sand beach of Saadiyat Island — five minutes from the Louvre Abu Dhabi and directly adjacent to the site of the forthcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi — the St. Regis occupies the most culturally charged address on the Arabian Gulf. Its soaring ceilings, turquoise-accented interiors, and ocean-view balconies create an airy coastal luxury that is the deliberate counterpoint to the urban grandeur of the Emirates Palace. The private beach, the world-class Iridium Spa, and the 18-hole golf course make it the most complete resort stay in Abu Dhabi for travelers who want both beach and culture in the same address.

A serene, low-rise beachfront resort on the Saadiyat Island coastline, rated 9.5 out of 10 and consistently ranked among the top scenic hotels in Abu Dhabi. Its villa-style architecture, private beach, adults-only pool, and yoga program make it the most genuinely relaxing address on the island — a direct contrast to the urban intensity of the mainland city. Dolphin and turtle sightings from the beach are frequent. The main pool, the main restaurant’s breakfast spread, and the private plunge-pool villas are the three things every returning guest mentions first.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the most awe-inspiring interior in the Gulf: 82 domes, 1,000 columns of white Macedonian marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, 24-karat gold chandeliers imported from Germany, and the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet — 5,627 square meters, woven by 1,200 Iranian craftspeople over two years. The mosque was commissioned by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as a house of worship for all humanity, and entry is free for non-Muslims with modest dress. At the blue hour, when the exterior reflective pools illuminate the domes from below against the darkening sky, it is among the most extraordinary architectural visions in the world.

Jean Nouvel’s flying-saucer dome — a 180-meter latticed aluminum canopy that filters the Gulf sunlight into thousands of moving “rain of light” beams across the galleries below — is the most ambitious piece of architecture in the Arab world after the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The permanent collection documents the full arc of human civilization from prehistoric artifacts to contemporary art, organized by theme rather than origin — a deliberate argument that human creativity is a single story. The museum sits at the edge of the Arabian Gulf on Saadiyat Island, and the waterfront promenade at sunset, with the dome reflected in the still water, is one of the most beautiful public spaces in the Middle East.

Opened to the public in 2019, the Presidential Palace of the UAE is one of the most complete expressions of contemporary Arabic architecture: a domed central hall whose arabesque stucco ceilings, inlaid marble floors, and crystal chandeliers document the living tradition of Gulf craftsmanship at its most ambitious scale. The Palace’s permanent exhibition traces the history and governance of the UAE from its 1971 founding with artifacts, manuscripts, and interactive installations. The 240-meter main facade, the 170-meter central dome, and the surrounding formal gardens make it the most photographed new building in Abu Dhabi. The evening Palace of Light show transforms the entire facade into a projection of Arabic geometric art.

The Liwa Oasis sits at the northern edge of the Rub’ al Khali — the Empty Quarter, the largest continuous sand desert on earth — and the dunes here reach 300 meters, making them the tallest accessible dunes in the world. A full-day safari from Abu Dhabi combines 4x4 dune bashing across the golden sea, a camel ride at the base of the Moreeb Dune (the steepest in the UAE), sandboarding, and a traditional Bedouin camp dinner under a sky that, 160 kilometers from the nearest city, shows more stars than most visitors have ever seen. This is the experience that connects modern Abu Dhabi to the Bedouin desert civilization it was built upon.