16 of the best · Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Guggenheim to come; the Cultural Foundation and 421; the Abu Dhabi Festival, Frieze and the craft of the House of Artisans.
Our 16 favourites, listed A–Z · Updated November 2026
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Three Abu Dhabi moments we keep going back to: the Grand Mosque in the late afternoon, the light under the Louvre’s dome, and a kayak into the mangroves at high tide.
The “rain of light”
The universal museum under Jean Nouvel’s silvery dome on Saadiyat, opened in 2017.
The national museum
The UAE’s national museum, in the Saadiyat Cultural District.
The city’s cultural home
The city’s cultural centre beside Qasr Al Hosn: exhibitions, performances and École Ducasse.
Arts & Culture
Reading the white city’s great sights.
The back story
The Louvre’s rain of light, Zayed National Museum, 421, Frieze and the Abu Dhabi Festival.
Visual arts
Arts & Culture
The universal museum under the dome, the national museum and the Guggenheim to come.
Opens 11 December 2026
The Guggenheim’s museum on Saadiyat Island, opening on 11 December 2026.
The “rain of light”
The universal museum under Jean Nouvel’s silvery dome on Saadiyat, opened in 2017.
Natural history
The natural history museum of the Saadiyat Cultural District.
The national museum
The UAE’s national museum, in the Saadiyat Cultural District.
Arts & Culture
The Cultural Foundation, the warehouses of 421 and Manarat Al Saadiyat.
Warehouses for artists
A campus of transformed warehouses at Mina Zayed, for the UAE’s creative community.
The city’s cultural home
The city’s cultural centre beside Qasr Al Hosn: exhibitions, performances and École Ducasse.
Frieze’s home
The Saadiyat Cultural District’s arts centre, home to Frieze Abu Dhabi, 19–22 November 2026.
Arts & Culture
The white domes of the Grand Mosque, the palace halls and the old fort.
The oldest stone building
The watchtower and fort where Abu Dhabi began, now a museum at the heart of the Al Hosn site.
Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Street, Al Hosn, Abu DhabiExplore View on map
The palace you can enter
The working presidential palace, open to visitors: great halls and exhibitions of Arab heritage.
Book an access pass
The great white mosque by the creek, open to visitors who book an online access pass in advance.
Art you walk into
teamLab’s immersive environments of light and matter, in the Saadiyat Cultural District.
Performing arts
Arts & Culture
The Abu Dhabi Festival in the palace and the big stage of Etihad Arena.
10 October–19 December 2026
The city’s festival of classical music and the arts, held since 2004.
The big stage
The indoor arena on Yas Bay, the largest in the region, for concerts, comedy and sport.
Folk & cultural traditions
Arts & Culture
Weaving, palm craft and coffee at the House of Artisans.
Weaving and palm craft
Emirati crafts shown and taught on the Al Hosn site; admission is complimentary.
Arts & Culture
Frieze’s first fair in the region and public art across the city.
19–22 November 2026
The first Frieze fair in the region: 84 galleries from 64 cities at Manarat Al Saadiyat.
To 15 February 2027
Public art across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, on the theme of home; in Abu Dhabi from 15 November 2026.
