Abu Dhabi 360 TEST

Looking to soak up Abu Dhabi’s famous year-round sunshine? The immaculate Corniche Beach is one of the best places to do it. This beautiful beach isn’t just home to turquoise water and soft, white sand, it also has a beautiful seaside boardwalk, with well-kept walkways home to manicured gardens and benches overlooking the picturesque Arabian Gulf. Sunset is a great time to capture a few photos, so don’t forget to bring your phone.

The 2km beach is divided into three sections: Al Sahil (Gate 4, free entry) is perfect for singles and larger groups, Gate 2 is ideal for families and has its own quiet zone, with Gate 3 also being great for families and kids. The two latter beaches are shielded from view with a fence. Showers, changing rooms and cabanas are available, and sun loungers and umbrellas can be hired for a fee. A lifeguard is on duty until sunset.

Feel like getting active? Take a stroll to the nearby children’s play area, or check out the cycle and pedestrian pathways and free sports facilities, including five volleyball courts, two football pitches and three playing fields. If you’d like to get out on the water, rent a speedboat off the Corniche and soak up majestic views of the Abu Dhabi skyline, or get into the blue with a snorkelling experience that lets you discover local aquatic life. If all that activity works up an appetite, you’ll find several cafés and restaurants nearby.

The turquoise sea, view of Lulu Island, swaying palm trees and gardens make this spotlessly maintained Blue Flag public beach an unexpected gem in the heart of the UAE capital. Entrance is AED 10 for adults and AED 5 for children. Kids under five go free. You’ll pay AED 25 per sun lounger.

Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi is where luxurious comfort, impeccable service and unique dining experiences come together in an enchanting setting. From a distance, the hotel looks like something out of an Arabian fairytale, with the main building alone stretching over one kilometre from one wing to the other and the gardens spreading across 100 hectares. Walking in, you will find a sense of deep relaxation washing over you. With a pristine 1.3km private beach, stunning pools, a private marina and natural bay, a beautiful spa and highly-rated dining venues - you can't go wrong with a holiday here.

Emirates Palace is one of the most remarkable buildings in Abu Dhabi when it comes to architecture. Picture this: During the day, the palace's golden exterior contrasts with the lush greenery, silvery water fountains, and crisp blue sky. And at night, the hotel's lighting changes subtly, with an ethereal rainbow effect displayed on the main dome. Featuring 114 domes, the palace's central dome is a striking 72.6 metres above the ground, meticulously crafted with gold, mother of pearl and crystals. The building also boasts 1,002 chandeliers - the largest weighing 2.5 tons - with other photo-worthy features, including two handmade wall displays portraying the palace.

Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like riding the world's fastest rollercoaster, Formula Rossa, here at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. Feel the exhilaration as you go from 0 to 240km/h in 4.9 seconds while soaring 52 metres in the air. The whole family will find an adrenaline-fueled ride just for them; everyone can join in the high-octane fun. The Ferrari-branded theme park on Yas Island is home to more than 20 record-breaking attractions, including the highest loop ride, and it all happens underneath the tallest space-frame structure on the planet.

Describing the world's largest uninterrupted sand mass, explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger wrote, “It was very still, with the silence which we have driven from our world”. 

Today, the magical Rub’ al Khali (Empty Quarter) offers the same serene silence that it did when Thesiger explored it with his Emirati and Omani companions in the 1940s, its fine golden and red sands shifting with the winds to form dunes hundreds of feet high and visible as far as the eye can see.

Beautiful by day or starry night, this ever-changing expanse of desert boasts one of the world’s most luxurious hotels: the magnificent Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara.