Between the Bridges
Three bridges connect Abu Dhabi with the mainland, crossing the narrow sea inlet which separates the city from the mainland close to one another about 15km from the centre. Crossing Al Maqtaa Bridge, the middle of the three, you’ll probably notice an old watchtower sitting in the middle of the water, while just over the bridge you’ll pass the quaint little Al Maqtaa Fort (not open to the public), which once guarded approaches to the city.
The area south of here, on the mainland between Al Maqtaa and Mussafah bridges – now popularly (if unimaginatively) known as Between the Bridges (Bain al Jessrain) – has become a major tourist destination with the recent opening of a string of hotels, including the opulent Shangri-La.
Corniche Road
Driving through modern Abu Dhabi’s suburban sprawl, it’s easy not to notice that the city is built on an island rather than on the mainland itself; it wasn’t until the construction of the Maqtaa Bridge in 1966 that the two were connected. The city’s waterfront location is best appreciated from the sweeping, waterfront Corniche, which runs for the best part of 5km along Abu Dhabi’s western edge, lined with spacious gardens on either side and flanked by a long and impressively tall line of glass-clad high-rises (best viewed from the Heritage Village across the water).
Several of the city’s most striking recent developments can be found at the southwestern end of the Corniche Road. The huge Etihad Towers complex (wetihadtowers.com) is one of the city's major landmarks: a cluster of five futuristic skyscrapers, whose sinuous curved lines and highly polished metallic surfaces couldn’t be further removed from the über-traditional Emirates Palace opposite if they tried. They also offer one of the city’s finest views from the 74th-floor Observation Deck at 300 (in tower two; daily 10am–6pm; 75dh, including 50dh worth of food/drink in the attached café), at precisely 300m, as the name suggests.
Standing nearby in massive, solitary splendour above the Corniche is the ADNOC building, the appropriately huge HQ of the mega-rich Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Completed in 2014, this is the second-highest building in the city, standing 342m high and sporting a distinctive design with a black-glass skyscraper inside a kind of white frame. Slightly further along the Corniche, the Nations Towers development comprises two further similarly neck-cricking towers of slightly unequal height, joined at the top by a vertiginous sky-bridge, the world’s highest, housing the Abu Dhabi Suite of the St Regis hotel, complete with its own cinema, gym, spa and two-storey majlis – the UAE’s most expensive room, at a cool US$25,000 a night.
The Corniche Road is also a popular spot with local residents catching (or shooting) the breeze, particularly towards dusk, when it fills up with a diverse crowd of promenading Emiratis, jogging Europeans and picnicking Indians. There’s also an attractive blue-flag beach with safe swimming stretching from near the Hilton to Al Khaleej al Arabi Street (which is where you’ll find the main entrance). The best way to explore is by renting a bike from one of the four outlets of FunRideSports dotted along the Corniche (the main one is next to the Hiltonia Beach Club opposite the Hilton); prices start at 30dh/hr, or 20dh for kids.
Emirates Palace Hotel
Standing in solitary splendour at the western end of the city is the vast Emirates Palace Hotel. Opened in 2005, it was intended to rival Dubai’s Burj al Arab and provide Abu Dhabi with a similarly iconic “seven-star” landmark – although in fact the two buildings could hardly be more different. Driveways climb up through the grounds to the main entrance to the hotel, which sits in an elevated position above the sea and surrounding gardens. It’s impressively stage-managed, although the only really unusual thing about the building is its sheer size: 1km in length, 114 domes, 140 elevators, 2000 staff and so on. The quasi-Arabian design, meanwhile, is disappointingly pedestrian and much of the exterior looks strangely drab and even a little bit cheap – ironic, really, given that the hotel is believed to have been the most expensive ever built (at a rumoured cost of US$3 billion). All of which means the Emirates Palace is as cautiously conservative as the Burj al Arab is daringly futuristic and innovative – which says a lot about the contrasting outlooks of the two very different cities which they represent.
The interior is far more memorable, centred on a dazzling central dome-cum-atrium, with vast quantities of marble and huge chandeliers. Cavernous corridors stretch out for what seem like miles towards the rooms in the two huge flanking wings – you can work up a healthy appetite just walking between your room and the lobby, and even staff have been known to get lost. The six “ruler’s suites”, with gold-plated fittings throughout, are more conveniently situated, but are reserved for visiting heads of state. Visitors with cash to drop can shop to impress at the world’s first gold vending machine (in the lobby), which dispenses over three hundred pure-gold products, including miniature gold ingots. Non-guests can visit for a meal at one of the numerous restaurants, or drop in for a sumptuous afternoon tea – although it's a good idea to reserve in advance.
Directly behind the Emirates Palace is Abu Dhabi’s staggeringly vast Presidential Palace. Finished in 2015 at a reputed cost of almost half a billion US dollars, the palace's rambling Arabian-style skyline of endless marble-clad domes, cupolas and towers looks like almost a mirror image of the adjacent Emirates Palace, and equally huge, or perhaps slightly more so.
Heritage Village
Dramatically situated on the Corniche Road-facing side of the Breakwater – a small protuberance of reclaimed land jutting out from its southern end – the Heritage Village offers a slice of traditional Abu Dhabi done up for the visiting coach parties who flock here for whistle-stop visits, although it's the spectacular views over the water to the Corniche that are perhaps the main attraction (best appreciated over a coffee or juice at the slightly moth-eaten Al Asalah Restaurant right on the waterfront at the back of the complex). The “village” itself consists of a string of picturesque barasti huts including a number of workshops where local artisans – carpenters, potters, brass-makers and so on – can sometimes be seen at work. The so-called “traditional market”, however, is basically just a few ladies flogging cheap handicrafts out of a further huddle of huts.
Immediately beyond the Heritage Village you can’t fail to notice the enormous flagpole, visible for miles around. At 123m, this was formerly claimed to be the tallest in the world, until topped in 2003 by one in Jordan (made, ironically, in Dubai). The quaint little octagonal building right next to the flagpole is the Abu Dhabi Theatre, its secular function belying its decidedly mosque-like appearance, complete with hemispherical dome and colourful Islamic tiling.