- Hotel selection
- Transport
- Souvenirs and other purchases
- Nutrition
- Entertainment
Abu Dhabi is the capital and one of the most luxurious and lush cities in the United Arab Emirates. If a modern tourist saw Abu Dhabi a few decades ago, he would be shocked: in the place of the present city in those days there was a village whose inhabitants huddled in huts. Nowadays, Abu Dhabi has completely transformed: on the shores of the Persian Gulf, skyscrapers reflecting the sun's rays rise, immersed in the greenery of parks, huge fountains and majestic mosques delight the eye nearby. Abu Dhabi is amazing, enchanting and memorable for a long time.
Holidays in Abu Dhabi are chosen by both family tourists and fans of sightseeing trips, and fans of a relaxing, beach pastime. You can come to the Emirates for a week or two, but in order not to spend your entire budget on a trip in the very first days, you should understand how much money to take in Abu Dhabi, what prices are set here, which is worthy of the attention of true travelers. The question of possible spending worries every tourist. It is best to distribute the money allocated for vacation for accommodation, meals, movement around the city, excursions and shopping at home.
In the Emirates, they pay in dirhams, although in exceptional cases, for example, in oriental bazaars, sellers will gladly take dollars and euros. The exchange rate in this case will be unprofitable, so take care of exchanging the required amount in advance.
Hotel selection
Abu Dhabi is a rather expensive city. Accommodation prices are set higher than in the emirate of Dubai, which is also considered expensive. There are practically no hotels with a small number of stars. On the other hand, there are a sufficient number of three- and four-star hotels. Around a third of local hotels are rated five stars.
There are such accommodation options in Abu Dhabi:
- hotels 1 and 2 stars. Rooms in them will cost 150 dirhams per person per day;
- 3 star hotels. Prices start at AED 300;
- 4 star hotels. You can rent a room in them for 333-800 dirhams;
- 5 star hotels. Apartments in them will cost from 370 dirhams.
Renting an apartment makes sense if you are going to live in Abu Dhabi for at least a month. The cost of one-room apartments will be about 5-7 thousand dirhams. Three-room housing will cost 12-14 thousand dirhams.
In addition to the amount for accommodation, hotels located in Abu Dhabi will also charge additional tourist taxes. One of them is called "tourist dirham" and is 15 dirhams per day. One thing pleases: the fee is charged for the room as a whole. That is, if you are relaxing together, you will still pay only 15 dirhams. In addition, each person will be charged 2% of the room rate as a city tax, 5% VAT (it was introduced not so long ago, and this immediately caused a wave of indignation among travelers), and 10% in favor of the state (this tax is called “service charge "). In total, be prepared to pay at the hotel about 17% higher than the stated amount. It is better to set aside this money in advance, otherwise by the end of the vacation it may simply not be there.
Transport
There is no metro in Abu Dhabi, so those who do not have their own or rented car and want to save money on taxis use buses. The cost of a single bus ticket is AED 2. It seems that this is not so much, but for an unprepared tourist who is not familiar with local realities, it is not at all easy to understand local routes. There are exceptions to this rule: intercity buses. You can safely use them. They will take you to neighboring emirates in a matter of hours. A bus ticket Abu Dhabi - Dubai will cost 25 dirhams.
Most tourists prefer to travel around Abu Dhabi by taxi. Passengers pay 5 dirhams for boarding, each kilometer is estimated at 1, 82 dirhams. For the trip from the airport to the central districts of Abu Dhabi, they ask about 90 dirhams. If you are traveling with your family or company, then such a trip may even be beneficial.
You can also get around the city on the hop-on-hop-off tourist bus, which makes stops near all the main attractions of the capital of the Emirates. A one-day ticket for such a bus costs 248 dirhams (67 dollars), a two-day ticket - 296 dirhams (80 dollars).
Finally, in Abu Dhabi, many tourists rent cars in order not to depend on buses or taxis. Gasoline is cheap here: 1 liter is estimated at 2 dirhams. For parking per day, they ask 15 dirhams.
Souvenirs and other purchases
The national transport of the Bedouins, who from time immemorial lived in the Rub al-Khali desert on the territory of the Arabian Peninsula, is the camel. And now in the Emirates there are camel markets, and in some places camel racing is quite popular. It is not surprising that the image of a camel is considered the best souvenir from the UAE and Abu Dhabi - on a magnet, a plate, a cup, and even just in the form of a plush toy. The cost of such souvenirs starts from 5 dirhams. Magnets will not cost more than 20 dirhams. The figurines can be estimated at 200 dirhams, depending on the material and the time that the master spent on their production. An interesting gift for family and friends will be a glass model of a local landmark. These fragile items cost around AED 60-70 and must be carefully transported.
Abu Dhabi, like other big cities in the UAE, is a great shopping destination. The local malls and markets sell clothes, shoes, gadgets of the world's most famous brands. All this costs about 20% cheaper than in other countries, since very little VAT is set in the Emirates. For example, an iPhone of the latest model can be purchased here for 2,220 dirhams. Brought from Abu Dhabi and gold jewelry.
A pack of dates will be an excellent gift for colleagues, friends and acquaintances. For 1 kg of this delicacy, they want about 30 dirhams. Dates in the UAE are more expensive than in neighboring Arab countries, but they are very tasty, so it is worth spending money on them.
Nutrition
There are many cafes and restaurants with different prices in Abu Dhabi. You can have a snack in the city:
- in inexpensive cafes reminiscent of our canteens. The average check in them will be about 30-40 dirhams;
- in fast food restaurants like "McDonald's". The food in such establishments is familiar to the Europeans, so many of our compatriots are happy to dine with hamburgers and fries. At a time, a tourist leaves about 35 dirhams in such a restaurant;
- in cheap but colorful restaurants of Arabian, Indian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Pakistani cuisine. There are a lot of such small establishments in Abu Dhabi. They are fed tasty and satisfying food. You can dine in these cafes for 50-60 dirhams;
- in elite restaurants specializing in European or Arabic cuisine. It is here that you can taste exquisite delicacies: baked lamb, assorted fish and seafood, and much more. The bill in such restaurants can reach up to 300 dirhams. Gourmets can leave a tidy sum of 2000 dirhams for 30 grams of beluga caviar at the restaurant of the Emirates Palace hotel. It is believed to be the most expensive food on the planet.
For those who are used to eating on the go, we recommend paying attention to shawarma and kebabs on the street. The price for them is very democratic - 5-10 dirhams. You can also buy ready-made meals in large supermarkets with culinary departments, or buy fruits, vegetables, and snack bread in grocery stores. Fruit prices start at AED 5, bread can be found for AED 4.
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Entertainment
Abu Dhabi is a beautiful, landscaped city with many free attractions. These include the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, the beautiful Emirates Palace Hotel, where you can explore the lobby with an imposing dome, covered with a layer of gold, and the gardens around the complex, Heritage Village, where actors in ancient costumes show visitors how the locals lived before the oil was discovered …
For visiting museums in Abu Dhabi, tourists allocate 200-300 dirhams. The most interesting local gallery is the Louvre, which displays about 300 exhibits from Parisian museums and an excellent collection of ancient archaeological and historical artifacts. A ticket to this museum will cost 63 dirhams.
There is an entertainment area on the artificial island of Yas. You can watch and even ride a bike on the professional race track Yas Marina Circuit for free, but for a visit to the nearby theme park "Ferrari World" you will have to pay from 300 to 2000 dirhams - depending on the ticket chosen and the services that are included in its cost. The wonderful Yas Water World water park is also located on Yas Island. An adult ticket costs a minimum of AED 250, a child ticket costs AED 210. The beach on Yas Island is also paid. The ticket will cost 50 dirhams. For this amount you can use a sunbed and an umbrella.
You can see Abu Dhabi from a bird's eye view by going up to the observation deck located on one of the Etihad towers. There is also a cafe serving excellent coffee. For the opportunity to be on the site, tourists pay 95 dirhams, of which 55 can be spent on sweets and drinks in the cafe upstairs.
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So, we recommend that you take at least $ 1000 with you on vacation in Abu Dhabi. This money should be enough for food in restaurants, entertainment, several excursions and great shopping. By the way, this amount does not include accommodation fees.
In general, experienced tourists recommend taking extra money with you to the Emirates. What if you want to pamper yourself with expensive perfume or oriental carpet on the spot? Or maybe you decide to fly over the Persian Gulf in a hot air balloon or helicopter?
