Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
2
Al Ain Oasis
C4
3
Al-Jahili Fort
B4
Sleeping
5
Al Ain Rotana Hotel
B4
6
Hilton Al Ain
D4
Eating
7
Al Diwan Restaurant
B3
8
Cafeteria Al Mallah
C3
9
Hut Cafe
C3
Paco's
(see 6)
Trader Vic's
(see 5)
Sights
Al Ain is quite tough to navigate thanks to its many roundabouts. Brown signs directing
visitors to the major tourist attractions are helpful, but a few more wouldn't hurt.
Sheikh Zayed Palace Museum
MUSEUM
OFFLINE MAP
( 03-751 7755;
www.adach.ae
; cnr Al Ain & Sultan bin Zayed First Sts; 8.30am-7.30pm Sat-Thu, 3-7.30pm
Fri)
This nicely restored, rambling palace on the edge of Al Ain Oasis was Sheikh
Zayed's residence from 1937 until 1966. It is a beautiful cinnamon-coloured building set
around several courtyards amid beds of cacti, magnolia trees and lofty palms. You can
step inside the
majlis
where the ruler received visitors, see his wife's curtained, canopied
bed and snap a photo of the Land Rover he used to visit the desert Bedu.
Al Ain Zoo
ZOO
( 03-782 8188;
www.awpr.ae
;
off Zayed Al Awwal & Nahyan Al Awwal Sts; adult/child Dh15/5; 9am-8pm
Oct-May, 4-10pm Jun-Sep)
The region's largest and most acclaimed zoo, founded by Sheikh
Zayed in 1968, has spacious enclosures inhabited by both indigenous and exotic species.
Observe grazing Arabian oryx, big-horned Barbary sheep, lazy crocodiles, tigers and lions
and dozens of other species, some of them born at the zoo, which has a well-respected