UAE: Destination of the Week

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has much to offer travellers. It's an area that conjures up many images, a jumble of the ancient and the ultra new. Visitors can expect modern high-rises and mammoth malls, super car-packed highways, crumbling forts and old wooden dhows; and it's all surrounded by man-made beaches, luxury hotels, and rolling desert sands.

Made up of seven emirates, each with their own distinct flavour, it's actually easy to pack them all in, and even get across the border to see Oman too. In shiny Dubai and Abu Dhabi, nothing is impossible. And if something is not there already, you can guarantee it will be soon. In contrast, Sharjah and Ajman is where you'll experience a much more modest and traditional way of life, with souks and locals bartering and ultimately less glamour. The road to coastal Fujairah offers winding mountain highways with spectacular scenery over the sparkling Arabian Sea. And Al Ain, while not an emirate itself, is where you'll want to go for wadis, desert oases and historic forts.

Insight Guides offers a range of trips to the heart of the UAE: explore suggested itineraries online now