Hi everyone! I’ve been wanting to do something creative and unique, so I thought of continuing the #GoodbyeUAE Series, but with a twist.

So, in this blog post, I’ll take you on a ‘virtual road trip’, from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, and also a glimpse of the buildings on the way.

Here’s how I got the idea for today’s post- We recently moved to Tripura, India, and after settling down a bit, we went on a short vacation during my Durga Pooja/Autumn break in October 2022. One of the places we visited was the Jumpui Hills, situated in North Tripura, and while I was trying to click a few photos of the morning view, I found out my storage was full and figured out the Photos App took up most of the phone’s storage. So, I quickly scrolled to the top in the Photos App to see how I could free up some space on the Phone. I found out many photos clicked while traveling within Abu Dhabi, or from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. That’s when the idea of having a separate post on the journey from Abu Dhabi to Dubai popped up.

This post is not going to be a photo dump, but just me trying to share my experiences along with the photos I clicked from the car during our trips to Dubai, from our house in Abu Dhabi.

Now, let us begin our journey!!!

The distance from Abu Dhabi to Dubai is approximately 150 kilometres and would take around 1 hour and 30 minutes by car, though you could use the bus facility too.

We used to live opposite the beach in Abu Dhabi, in the area popularly known as ‘Corniche’. From there, we used to go through the Sheikh Zayed Tunnel.

Alongside the Old Maqta bridge, you would cross the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

The circular building seen in both the photos above is the Aldar Headquarters Building.

On your way to Dubai, on your left, you would cross the Al Raha Beach Hotel, Al Raha Mall and the Aldar building, which are located in Abu Dhabi.

About to enter Dubai city!-

Unlike many others, we didn’t go to Dubai every weekend, or at least twice or thrice every month during our first two years in the UAE, from 2018-2020, even though we loved exploring. But it was thanks to the Expo2020, which opened in October 2021, after which even we started going to Dubai almost every weekend on our Honda CRV as I wanted to visit all the pavilions there.

At one point, my best friends decided that if I don’t pick up the landline, it means I’m on my way to Dubai. They were also 100% sure that we were going to the Expo. The Expo, which began in October 2021, gave everyone an opportunity to travel after the COVID-19 pandemic had subsided.

Huge thanks to my father who drove from Abu Dhabi to Dubai every Saturday morning, and back again to Abu Dhabi in the evening, and my mother who would always pack a healthy lunch from home.

During the past four years in UAE, I’ve developed this habit of listening to the FM radio channels in my mother tongue, Tamil, whenever I travel. The main reason we used to have the FM radio on was because both my mom and I are music lovers (my mom sings, and I play the violin), and I always am on the lookout for new songs to add to my never ending ‘bucket-list’ of songs I’d like to learn. I would be adamant to have the FM on even while we were just going to the nearby supermarket for groceries. Honestly, I sometimes find it quite quiet in the car nowadays, as there are no songs on 😜.

If we needed to refill our gasoline pump, we’d stop at the petrol bunk and my mom and I would go to get ourselves a drink from the ADNOC Offshore, which is a mini-shop having eatables. You can spot ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) or ENOC (Emirates National Oil Company) petrol bunks on the highway. I remember getting the coffee+croissant combo. Coffee for my parents, and croissant for me 😃!

This next segment is my favourite part of this write-up!! Here, we will visit most of the top tourist spots of Dubai-

1. Burj Khalifa

The world-tallest building is always a sight to watch out for, once you enter Dubai!

Once you enter Dubai, you’d get a glimpse of the world’s tallest building, which was the moment I used to look forward to the most, during our road trips to Dubai.

The next photo of Burj Khalifa is one of my favorite photos I took from the car-

These pictures of Burj Khalifa were taken on different trips to Dubai, from the car while crossing the building.

2. The Museum of the Future

The Museum of the future is a new tourist attraction that opened in July this year. It was one of the places I wanted to visit before leaving the UAE, but never got the chance to.
Have any of you visited this museum? If yes, how was it?! Let me know in the comments section.

Don’t you think the structure of the Museum looks cool from the outside?

3. Dubai Frame

My mother, father, paternal grandmother and I visited Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Frame in 2018 when my maternal grandparents had come to visit us for a short period.

A glimpse Burj Al Arab, Dubai’s most iconic hotel, from the highway-

Spot Burj Khalifa in the photo below-

Entrance towards the parking to the Mall of the Emirates-

Now, back to Abu Dhabi!!

Dubai is more than just these tall architectural buildings. But, one thing I observed during our journeys was that each building is unique in its own way, from Burj Khalifa to Dubai Frame, and the recently opened Museum of The Future, which is another reason why I wanted to share these photos with you all.

That’s it for this post guys!! Hope you enjoyed this ‘virtual road trip’ with me, as much I did while writing this blog post!

LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE SUCH POSTS!