Abu Dhabi is an easy place to travel alone and an unusual one: extremely safe, almost entirely air-conditioned, and organised around a few very large attractions rather than a walkable centre. The main obstacle is distance rather than solitude. Travellers who search Abu Dhabi fares on Traveloka and plan around the bus network or a few taxi rides will find three days comfortable and cheap.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
The single unmissable sight and free to enter. It holds forty thousand people, has the largest hand-knotted carpet in the world, and is open to non-Muslims outside prayer times. Abayas are lent at the entrance for women. Go in the last hour before sunset, when the white marble turns through pink and the crowds thin.
Louvre Abu Dhabi
Jean Nouvel’s dome filters light into a sequence of low white galleries on Saadiyat island, and the collection is arranged chronologically across civilisations rather than by region, which makes it unusually easy to walk alone at your own pace. Two hours minimum. The space under the dome at the water’s edge is free to sit in.
Eating alone without awkwardness
The workers’ districts around Hamdan Street and Electra Street are where the good cheap food is: Keralan, Pakistani, Filipino and Lebanese, almost all counter service or small tables, and nobody looks twice at a single diner. Shawarma from a street window costs a few dirhams. The mall food courts are the fallback and are fine.
The Corniche and the public beach
Eight kilometres of promenade with a cycle lane and a long stretch of pay-entry public beach with showers and loungers. It is the one genuinely pleasant walk in the city between November and March. Bicycles can be hired along it. Solo swimmers should note that the beach is divided into mixed and family sections.
A day trip to Al Ain or Liwa
Public buses run to Al Ain in about two hours for a few dirhams, which is the cheapest real excursion available: oasis, fort, camel market and a mountain road. Liwa and the Empty Quarter need a tour or a car. Day tours from Abu Dhabi are easy to join alone and usually cost less than hiring anything.
Safety and social norms
Crime is close to nonexistent and walking alone at night is unremarkable. Public displays of affection and drinking outside licensed venues are not acceptable and are occasionally prosecuted. Dress modestly away from beaches and hotels. Ramadan changes opening hours substantially and eating in public during daylight is prohibited.
