Overnight in Abu Dhabi | A Trip to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

I have always wanted to go to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. When I got here in Dubai, I worried I wouldn't be able to travel and satisfy my wanderlust. I had to find a way to travel cheaply because it's not easy here as it was in the Philippines. Maybe I'll expound on that another time.

For now, I want to focus on our Abu Dhabi overnight trip and the majestic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. A week before the long weekend, I looked for hotels in Abu Dhabi. I found Swiss Hotel Corniche and thought it offered reasonable rates. Checked the reviews and amenities and they're quite okay. So, I booked it via Agoda. I also searched for other tourist spots in Abu Dhabi so we could make the most of our trip.

Going to Abu Dhabi
We went to the bus station outside Ibn Battuta mall. How to get to Ibn Battuta? Just take the metro going to the UAE Exchange side, and get off at Ibn Battuta station. Once you exit the station, turn to your right and look for the bus stop for E1 buses. These are the buses that regularly go to and from Abu Dhabi. The fare is 25 dirhams. The same fare will be deducted from your Nol card on the way back. The travel time was 1.5 hours.

So, there we were, greeted by a long queue. As it was a long weekend, everybody seemed to be in a rush to be somewhere. If you are planning to go to Abu Dhabi, better get there early.

Anyway, when we got there, we first had lunch at a mall across the bus stop in Abu Dhabi. Then we got on a taxi to Swiss Hotel Corniche. I didn't know it would be that far from all the places we wanted to go to. It was not really accessible and later on we would find out it's actually located in the "old" part of Abu Dhabi. It's not the modern, more sophisticated area. But it was an eye-opening experience to see that part of the UAE. Guess I've become used to seeing Dubai's soaring skyscrapers that the laid-back and less urban ambiance of Abu Dhabi was a bit novel to me.

After checking in at the hotel, we just rested and refreshed ourselves and we were back on the road! Our first stop was the Heritage Village but it was closed to tourists! Since the government was also on a long holiday, they decided not to open this site. We were kind of bummed but we chose to take pictures of the location anyway.

After that we went to the Marina Mall and had some snacks and coffee. Then we rode a taxi again so we could finally go to the Grand Mosque. Good thing the Grand Mosque was open to tourists that day! There were a lot of people but it was worth the visit.

Pictures below. All taken from my mobile only.