The UAE is celebrated for its soaring skylines and bustling urban centres, but beyond the glittering towers and manicured boulevards lies a vast landscape ripe for exploration.
Embarking on a road trip in the Emirates is an immersive experience, one that demands not only a spirit of adventure but also, crucially, a well-prepared vehicle. As anyone who has navigated the vastness of the Empty Quarter will attest, foresight is the most valuable co-pilot.
So, buckle up, ensure tyres are checked, satnav is set, and a sense of adventure is fully inflated. Bear in mind, though, distances will vary significantly – the ones listed are approximations, taking into account the fact you might want to do a little exploring en route.
Here are seven compelling road trip itineraries, designed to showcase the diverse tapestry of the region.
To Liwa Oasis and the Empty Quarter's great vastness
A deep dive into the vastness of the Empty Quarter, one of the largest sand deserts in the world, is a journey for the truly intrepid.
From Dubai or Abu Dhabi, head southwest towards the Liwa Oasis. Round trips are approximately 700km from Dubai and 500km from Abu Dhabi.
En route highlights: The drive is hypnotic, with the landscape gradually transforming into towering, undulating dunes. The Liwa Oasis itself is a string of villages and date palm plantations, a testament to human resilience in a harsh environment.
Consider a stay at the luxurious Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, nestled amid the dunes, offering unparalleled views and desert activities. Make sure your vehicle is a capable 4x4 and bring plenty of supplies, as services are far less frequent than in the UAE’s built-up areas.
To Fujairah and Khor Fakkan's coastal charms
For those seeking a refreshing escape from the desert heat, the east coast of the UAE offers a dramatic change of scenery. Head east from Dubai or Sharjah, and the flat plains gradually give way to the rugged Hajar Mountains.
The destination? Fujairah, the only emirate with a coastline entirely on the Gulf of Oman. With an early start, this loop is manageable in a day, with round trips covering about 280km from Dubai and 550km from Abu Dhabi.
En route highlights: The drive itself is spectacular, winding through mountain passes. Stop at Al Bidya Mosque, the oldest in the UAE, a humble yet profound structure dating back to the 15th century.
Fujairah city itself boasts historical forts and a vibrant fish market, a testament to its maritime heritage.
Continue to Khor Fakkan, a picturesque enclave of Sharjah, where the corniche offers stunning views and the newly developed Khor Fakkan Beach provides a perfect spot for relaxation.
Don't miss the dramatic Wadi Shees, a lush valley offering hiking opportunities and a tranquil escape.
To Abu Dhabi and the garden city of Al Ain
This road trip goes from the modern marvels of the capital to the ancient heartland of the UAE. Those starting their engines in Dubai will head south to Abu Dhabi, an emirate that blends tradition with futuristic ambition.
Round trips for this cultural odyssey cover about 440km from Dubai and 340km from Abu Dhabi.
En route highlights: In Abu Dhabi, devote time to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, an architectural masterpiece that inspires awe. Explore the cultural treasures of Louvre Abu Dhabi, a stunning fusion of art and architecture, then continue inland to Al Ain, known as the garden city, and a Unesco World Heritage site.
The Al Ain Oasis offers a serene stroll through date palm groves, while the 19th-century Al Jahili Fort provides a glimpse into the region's past. For panoramic views, drive up Jebel Hafeet, a rocky mountain offering sweeping vistas of the city and the desert beyond.
To Ras Al Khaimah and the heights of Jebel Jais
If adrenaline is your preferred fuel, then Ras Al Khaimah beckons. The northern emirate is a playground for adventurers, dominated by the imposing Hajar Mountains.
This is another possible day adventure, with round trips covering about 250km from Dubai and 600km from Abu Dhabi.
En route highlights: The drive to Jebel Jais, the UAE's highest peak, is a thrill in itself, with winding roads offering incredible mountain scenery. At the summit is Jais Flight, the world's longest zipline, an exhilarating experience for the brave.
There are also hiking trails, viewing platforms and a dedicated picnic area, making it a perfect day trip for families and thrill-seekers alike. The emirate also offers historical sites such as the National Museum of Ras Al Khaimah and traditional souqs.
To the lush valleys of Salalah, Oman
A cross-border adventure into Oman offers a stark contrast, particularly during the Khareef (monsoon) season from June to September. The journey is long but rewarding, covering about 1,200km one-way from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This is a multiday trip that requires careful planning.
En route highlights: The drive takes you through diverse landscapes, from arid plains to the greener, more mountainous terrain of Oman. Ensure all your visa and vehicle paperwork is in order for the border crossing, particularly if you’re in a rental car.
Once in Salalah, you'll be greeted by a surprisingly lush, misty and cool environment. Explore Al Mughsail Beach with its dramatic blowholes, the ancient Marneef Cave, and the verdant springs of Ayn Sahalnoot.
The frankincense trees, a symbol of the region's historical trade, are ubiquitous. This trip offers a blend of coastal beauty, historical sites and a climate that feels a world away from the UAE's summer heat.
To the shimmering cityscape of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Venturing into Saudi Arabia is a significant undertaking, requiring meticulous planning for visas and vehicle entry.
The drive to Riyadh, the capital, is long but offers a glimpse into the rapidly evolving landscape of the kingdom. The distance is about 1,000km one-way from Dubai and 900km one-way from Abu Dhabi, making this a multi-day excursion.
En route highlights: The journey itself is vast, traversing expansive desert plains. In Riyadh, explore modern architectural marvels such as the Kingdom Centre tower with its Sky Bridge, offering panoramic city views.
History buffs can head to Diriyah, which is 30 minutes away from Riyadh, and is the Unesco-listed birthplace of the first Saudi state. For a truly unique experience, consider a day trip to the Edge of the World (Jabal Fihrayn), a dramatic geological formation offering breathtaking cliff-edge vistas.
This journey requires careful logistical planning, but the cultural insights and burgeoning attractions of Saudi Arabia make it a compelling road trip.
To the cultural hub of Doha, Qatar
A shorter, more manageable cross-border trip is to Doha, the vibrant capital of Qatar. The drive from the UAE is straightforward, predominantly on well-maintained motorways, and covering a distance of about 700km one-way from Dubai and 600km one-way from Abu Dhabi.
En route highlights: The border crossing into Qatar is efficient, but, again, ensure all documentation is in order. Once in Doha, immerse yourself in art and culture at the Museum of Islamic Art, a stunning building housing an exquisite collection.
Wander through the bustling alleys of Souq Waqif, a traditional market offering everything from spices to falcons. Experience modern luxury at the Pearl Island, an artificial land mass with high-end boutiques and waterfront dining.
The city's rapidly developing infrastructure and growing cultural scene make it an engaging destination for a long weekend road trip.
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Squad: Majed Naser, Abdulaziz Sanqour, Walid Abbas, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Mohammed Marzouq (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalid Essa, Muhanad Salem, Mohammed Ahmed, Ismail Ahmed, Ahmed Barman, Amer Abdulrahman, Omar Abdulrahman (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif, Fares Juma, Mohammed Fawzi, Khalfan Mubarak, Mohammed Jamal, Ahmed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Ahmed Rashid, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Wahda), Tariq Ahmed, Mahmoud Khamis, Khalifa Mubarak, Jassim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Yousef Saeed (Sharjah), Suhail Al Nubi (Baniyas)
Fight card
1. Featherweight 66kg: Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg: Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg:Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg: Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg: Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg: Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg: Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Ahmed Abdelraouf of Egypt (EGY)
9. Featherweight 66kg: Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain
Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 353Nm @ 2,500rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L / 100km
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
All about the Sevens
Cape Town Sevens on Saturday and Sunday: Pools A – South Africa, Kenya, France, Russia; B – New Zealand, Australia, Spain, United States; C – England, Scotland, Argentina, Uganda; D – Fiji, Samoa, Canada, Wales
HSBC World Sevens Series standing after first leg in Dubai 1 South Africa; 2 New Zealand; 3 England; 4 Fiji; 5 Australia; 6 Samoa; 7 Kenya; 8 Scotland; 9 France; 10 Spain; 11 Argentina; 12 Canada; 13 Wales; 14 Uganda; 15 United States; 16 Russia
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
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Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
Edited by Sarah Cleave, Comma Press
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
