In our new series, Condé Nast Traveller Middle East will take you on a day trip to some of the UAE's loveliest corners….
Al Ain is unlike anywhere else in the UAE. Even the drive from Dubai is a refreshing change of pace. Once you leave the frenetic Al Khail Road and head out on the Al Ain highway, past groups of racing camels being exercised in Lisaili and hot air balloons being transported back to base after sunrise flights over the desert, this is a drive that’s leisurely enough for even those behind the wheel to appreciate the changing scenery.
An ancient oasis town in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, Al Ain hugs the Omani border on one side and is fringed by ochre-coloured dunes on the other. It’s a calm, quiet, friendly place that moves at its own gentle rhythm, its streets flanked by neem trees and well-tended lawns where cattle egrets stalk the grass looking for lunch. Archaeological findings show that travellers have been passing through here since 1,300 BCE, drawn by the abundant water sources that continue to feed the town, home to more than 147,000 date palms.
The main oasis in the centre of town makes for a good first stop, and is easy to access by foot or bike – there are rental cycles at the main entrance – on winding stone paths that separate the individual farms. Huge palm fronds provide shade, the air is filled with the twittering of sparrows and the ground is covered in fallen yellow acacia blossoms, feeling like an Emirati version of Japan’s sakura season. Follow the signs to the lovely, leafy Ethr cafe and join Al Ain locals for sourdough toast topped with sliced figs, zaatar and honey, slices of saffron milk cake, and cups of Date Iced V60, a woody, earthy drink made of date seeds.
The nearby Al Ain Palace Museum and the Al Ain National Museum are currently closed for renovation, but the town has plenty of other historical sites worth visiting. The handsome mudbrick Qasr Al Muwaiji fort dates back more than 100 years, and houses exhibitions on Abu Dhabi’s ruling Al Nahyan family. The small onsite boutique stocks retro-chic souvenirs like stickers and pins featuring dial-up phones and vintage TVs, as well as notebooks, totes and tumblers emblazoned with pictures of palm trees and falcons.
Coffee time is taken very seriously in Al Ain, and Qasr Al Muwaiji has two excellent onsite cafes. Bayn Coffee sits in a glass box beneath the palms, with one tree popping out of the roof rather than being cut down to make space. On the other side of the fort, open from afternoons onwards during the winter season, Le Pré is an elegant outdoor spot for healthy salads balanced out by decadent desserts.
For more history, head to the 19th-century Al Jahili fort. With an entrance flanked by cylindrical towers and photogenic crenellated walls, the fort is home to a permanent exhibition of photography taken by British explorer Wilfred Thesiger on his expeditions into the Empty Quarter by camel in the 1940s. The Al Qattara Art Centre’s basement showcases layers found through archaeological excavations that span a period from the Iron Age to the Late Islamic period, outlining different settlement cycles throughout history. Upstairs, Zoi cafe makes for a good lunch spot, with falafel and labneh manakish fresh from the oven and a deliciously gooey kunafa French toast. Over at pastel-coloured Bait Mohammed bin Khalifa, where the walls are painted in shades of pale pink, blue and green, exhibitions detail Al Ain’s urban transformation over the past 60 years. Built in 1958, the house was once a centre of community gatherings and has now been restored to fulfil the same purpose.
But to go even further back in time, head to the Jebel Hafit Desert Park. Archaeological finds here date back 8,000 years to the Neolithic period when nomads would come to gather rocks that they would carve into tools and hunting arrowheads. This is also the site of more than 500 beehive-shaped Bronze Age tombs. Some have been excavated, revealing artefacts showing that their makers had trade links with Mesopotamia, Iran and the Indus Valley 5,000 years ago.
Towering above the park is Jebel Hafit, Abu Dhabi’s only mountain. Before making the journey back home, make a pit stop at the peak for views of the surrounding desertscape. The winding road up is a fun drive, and at the top is a vast car park with an old-school cafeteria where you can pick up drinks and snacks. Alternatively, stop in at the Mercure Grand hotel on the way back down for sundowners on the terrace as the sun sets in an orange sky, the city lights begin to twinkle, and Dubai starts to feel much further than a two-hour drive away.
