AUH visit and car hire

[get me outta here]

I am interested in seeing the architectural 'wonders' of AUH and have 3 days there. My host has suggested a 1 day car hire which does not appeal much with no navigator. Has anyone driven in AUH or Dubai - I don't imagine they are much different?

And, it's yonks since I hired a car so which companies are recommended, give good points on which card, that sort of thing?

Or, maybe you have even used or heard of a decent car and driver?

 

[Renato1]

I haven't driven in either place, but I've been to plenty of places with worse traffic than Dubai. Though if you hired a car, you'd want to have a good GPS navigator of the type that tells you which side of the road you should be moving to with plenty of warning - as there are lots of multilane roads. Traffic in Abu Dhabi didn't seem as dense as in Dubai the day we visited.

I'm a bit puzzled by the "wonders" in Abu Dhabi. I assume this means the sites are outside Abu Dhabi, because in my DK "Top 10 Dubai" book, Abu Dhabi occupied only a few pages down the back of the book - and there wasn't much listed. On our day trip to Abu Dhabi, the bus stopped outside of the main city at the Formula 1 race track hotel complex and at the Ferrari World amusement complex, which wasn't of great interest to me.

Certainly the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is worth a visit, though your wife will probably melt with all the gear she has to wear to be allowed in (after spending $50 on a head scarf for her, I had to spend another $100 on a jumper because what she was wearing was deemed "see-through" even though one couldn't possibly see through it).

And there is a hugely long promenade area adjacent the sea that may be worth a very long wander, if you can handle the heat. The other big landmark is a huge luxurious hotel - but at the end of the day, it's a hotel. I really enjoyed the shopping centre we visited there - mainly because it was cool.

Please let me know what else is there after your visit, as I'm thinking of flying Etihad and stopping there next year.
Regards,
Renato

 

[get me outta here]

I have just this minute read that you have to have an international drivers licence. I won't bother checking up on that now, but may just go for a guide or a taxi.

There are a few buildings to look at as well as the Mosque and the Emirates Palace hotel (where I have booked to have a gold encrusted cappuccino, but I really just want to see the building and the gardens). I hope to see what the progress is on Saadiyat Island where being constructed is the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum and The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, all designed by Pritzker Prize winning architects.

I am booked to do a tour of the Falcon Hospital.

At the Grand Mosque now women are loaned an abaya (covering from top of head to toes in black, but not the face, it sounds dreadfully hot). You just need a photo id, maybe not yr p/p but a drivers licence.

Etihad has some good deals it appears and you can get two tours for the price of one on the Abu Dhabi stopover. I am in an Airbnb in the Etihad Towers.

Yes, sadly it will be very hot. I'd suggest a visit in their 'winter' which is a lot earlier than late March.

I haven't driven in either place, but I've been to plenty of places with worse traffic than Dubai. Though if you hired a car, you'd want to have a good GPS navigator of the type that tells you which side of the road you should be moving to with plenty of warning - as there are lots of multilane roads. Traffic in Abu Dhabi didn't seem as dense as in Dubai the day we visited.

I'm a bit puzzled by the "wonders" in Abu Dhabi. I assume this means the sites are outside Abu Dhabi, because in my DK "Top 10 Dubai" book, Abu Dhabi occupied only a few pages down the back of the book - and there wasn't much listed. On our day trip to Abu Dhabi, the bus stopped outside of the main city at the Formula 1 race track hotel complex and at the Ferrari World amusement complex, which wasn't of great interest to me.

Certainly the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is worth a visit, though your wife will probably melt with all the gear she has to wear to be allowed in (after spending $50 on a head scarf for her, I had to spend another $100 on a jumper because what she was wearing was deemed "see-through" even though one couldn't possibly see through it).

And there is a hugely long promenade area adjacent the sea that may be worth a very long wander, if you can handle the heat. The other big landmark is a huge luxurious hotel - but at the end of the day, it's a hotel. I really enjoyed the shopping centre we visited there - mainly because it was cool.

Please let me know what else is there after your visit, as I'm thinking of flying Etihad and stopping there next year.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

I have just this minute read that you have to have an international drivers licence. I won't bother checking up on that now, but may just go for a guide or a taxi.

There are a few buildings to look at as well as the Mosque and the Emirates Palace hotel (where I have booked to have a gold encrusted cappuccino, but I really just want to see the building and the gardens). I hope to see what the progress is on Saadiyat Island where being constructed is the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum and The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, all designed by Pritzker Prize winning architects.

I am booked to do a tour of the Falcon Hospital.

At the Grand Mosque now women are loaned an abaya (covering from top of head to toes in black, but not the face, it sounds dreadfully hot). You just need a photo id, maybe not yr p/p but a drivers licence.

Etihad has some good deals it appears and you can get two tours for the price of one on the Abu Dhabi stopover. I am in an Airbnb in the Etihad Towers.

Yes, sadly it will be very hot. I'd suggest a visit in their 'winter' which is a lot earlier than late March.

Well, an international drivers licence costs around $36 from the RACV down here and it lasts a year - you just need to provide an old passport type photo.

They seemed to be busily working away at Saadiyat Island when we drove past it back in November. They do things very fast over there - maybe it will be finished by the time you get there?

I wonder what a gold encrusted cappuccino tastes like? Please let us know.
Cheers,
Renato