What’s the difference between Dubai & Abu Dhabi?

Some destinations will always get pitted against one another. In this series, two passionate writers go head-to-head to explain why you should visit their chosen destination.

Just how different are Dubai and Abu Dhabi?

While only a little over an hour’s drive from each other on the country’s Persian Gulf coast, these two major metropolises are distinctly different. 

So which is the best? Let’s hear the arguments from two writers before you decide. 

Why Dubai is more fun

Lonely Planet Editor-at-Large Sebastian Modak’s idea of a good time is asking a Dubai cab driver where to get lunch. And then, after a delicious meal, asking the employees at that restaurant where he should go for dinner. 

I could take the easy route here by listing all the superlatives attached to Dubai. In a single afternoon, you can take an elevator to the top of the world’s tallest building, hit your 10,000 steps in the world’s largest shopping mall and even glide down the world’s largest indoor ski slope. You can ride the world’s largest Ferris wheel and then kick back in “the world’s only seven-star hotel.” You ask why, Dubai answers, “Because we can.”

But pointing to Dubai’s unmistakable appeal as a kind of living theme park for tourists is too obvious. Instead, I want to point you to its real beauty, as a crossroads of the world. Name a nationality and you’ll find it in Dubai. Sure, the same could be argued for nearby Abu Dhabi, but as a global financial center, Dubai just has more of it. And it’s a place where encountering the world – without the government bureaucrats and buttoned-up diplomats you’ll find in Abu Dhabi – is just more fun.

Dubai’s newest museum wants to take you to the year 2071

The real magic of the city is found where it began, along Dubai Creek and in the low-rise neighborhoods of Bur Dubai and Deira that extend on either side of it. It’s like stepping back in time – the 1960s are ancient history in a city as new as Dubai – and is a reminder of…