360 of 374 places fit
Four indoor glass courts in Ajman, so you don't have to drive to Dubai to play in summer.
A small open-shelf public library with periodicals and electronic databases, one of the few free reading rooms in Ajman.
A late 18th-century fort that served as the ruler's palace and later a police station, with its wind towers and watchtowers kept.
The museum fills the 18th-century fort that was once the ruler's residence, so you see the watchtowers and courtyard as well as the exhibits, for AED 5.
It is an indoor electric track with a double-track layout, so it runs quiet and cool even in August.
Falafel and shawarma on the ground floor of Corniche Tower, so you can carry dinner straight across to the beach.
A hall of restored cars from the early 1900s onward, small enough to see in under an hour and rarely crowded.
Founded in 1925, the oldest library institution in the UAE, with Arabic and English lending collections and quiet reading space.
Twelve high-end PCs and current consoles at Dhs5 an hour, about a tenth of mall prices, with free parking.
A Pakistani family has made Peshawari chapli kababs here since the 1990s, spicy, mild or mixed with egg, for about 5 or 6 dirhams each with roti.
A coffee, board game and tabletop role-playing spot that runs regular public game nights you can join solo.
Fifty-plus stations across 5,000 sq ft with 5v5 battle arenas, open until 4am most nights, aimed at Valorant and League squads.
Sharjah's premium screens with VIP seating at every session, and the chain says it runs the emirate's only IMAX.
British Horse Society-accredited lessons in the largest indoor arena in the Middle East, structured as a course that ends in a graduation exam.
A free permanent collection of modern Arab art and Orientalist paintings, a short walk from the Sharjah Art Foundation buildings.
A fully air-conditioned hall with courts from AED 60 an hour, plus showers and a cafeteria.
Air-conditioned cricket nets with a bowling machine, from AED 60 an hour.
Sharjah's fish, meat and produce market, where the day's catch is auctioned from about 6am.
Order buckets of chicken for sharing.
A free contemporary art space on the Al Qasba canal that also runs low-cost art workshops.
One of the few Ajman clubs that rents courts by the hour to non-members.
Courts from AED 37 an hour, with sports gear for rent if you turn up without a racket.
A large multi-sport centre where you can rent rackets and accessories on site.
A dedicated badminton hall in Qusais at AED 60-65 an hour.
Kunafa made with your choice of ricotta or akkawi cheese and syrup scented with rose or orange blossom.
Housed in the restored Al Ali fort, it shows finds from Ed-Dur, one of the largest pre-Islamic sites in the Gulf, for AED 4.
Courts from AED 35 an hour, open from 5am for a game before work.
Chef Mariam Almansoori cooks Emirati women's family recipes, such as grilled jeder (lamb shank with tamarind) and chicken maragooga; it was named the Gulf's best Emirati restaurant at the 2025 BBC Good Food ME awards.
Pakistani weekend breakfast: halwa puri, nihari, paya and aloo paratha from 6am, for about 20 to 25 dirhams a head.
Pool tables in a neon games hall with bowling, AR cricket and darts, central for Bur Dubai and Oud Metha.
Six neon lanes alongside AR cricket cages, digital darts and pool, for a bowling night with a cricket fix on the side.
An indoor artificial-grass ground big enough for 22 players, split into four nets or booked whole.
The only thing on the menu is kunafa, with cheese, cream, almond or pistachio.
A woodworking studio that takes adults and children from age five, with a one-hour taster session.
Three fully air-conditioned indoor hard courts, one of the few places in Dubai to play tennis indoors in August.
Kunafa reworked with mango or Nutella, if you want the dessert without the usual cheese.
Sixteen courts, twelve of them indoor, which is more pickleball in one place than anywhere else in the northern emirates.
A neighbourhood Sharjah centre teaching kickboxing, karate and jiu-jitsu.
Courts inside Safeer Mall, so parking and food are taken care of.
A big indoor multi-sport centre with a multipurpose area used for volleyball and basketball.
Order the fwala tray, Gerbou's take on an Emirati afternoon spread, or the chicken machboos; one of the Orfali brothers' picks for its habbat al hamra dessert.
A small neighbourhood arcade with Mario Kart, Batman and Justice League cabinets plus Pac-Man and Space Invaders, at an outdoor dining strip in the far east of Dubai.
Eight courts in a polished air-conditioned complex in the middle of the city, with online booking.
Air-conditioned indoor courts you can book by the half court, so a 3-on-3 costs half a full booking.
Two indoor pitches with safety nets and two 40m practice nets inside the DWTC halls every summer.
Every summer the exhibition halls at DWTC turn into air-conditioned pitches, so you can keep playing through August.
Nine air-conditioned indoor courts, and weekday daytime slots drop to AED 240 an hour.
Three indoor courts in the summer sports halls at AED 90 an hour on weekday off-peak.
A Dh25 flat white at the quieter Khawaneej branch, away from the Jumeirah crowd.
A quiet Dubai public library devoted to art, architecture and design, with desks, exhibition space and computer rooms.
Beans roasted on a Loring machine travel over your head in clear pipes to the bar, and the bread comes from an open bakery using 48-hour sourdough.
An all-ages warehouse where an arcade with classic and modern machines shares one reloadable card with bowling, a VR rollercoaster, a climbing wall and a trampoline park.
A central Al Quoz warehouse with a MoonBoard and campus board, and weekend ladies-only climbing before the main doors open.
The second Ground Control site, with mini golf, arcades and darts on the Creek side of the city.
Beginner wheel-throwing and hand-building workshops, plus parent-and-child sessions on the wheel.
The track floor is a projection game: you hit power-ups and fire at other karts mid-race without wearing a headset.
Splatter-painting sessions where you throw paint at a T-shirt or cap and take it home the same day.
An Iranian kebab house open since 1978 with a one-page menu of kebab-and-rice combos and walls covered in photos of decades of regulars.
Courts open from 6am to midnight every day in Al Quoz.
Indoor courts inside the Just Padel hangar at Mina Rashid, playable all year.
It is indoors in a mall, and the Gelly Ball option uses water-based pellets that kids from six can play.
A flat AED 50 an hour at any time, with no peak surcharge.
Two-lane nets you can book for just 30 minutes, plus four indoor match courts for a full game.
The ping pong table at Dubai's big indoor sports complex is free to use.
Pistol, rifle, clay, tactical and indoor archery with moving targets are all at one club, and you can add karting next door.
A museum built around a Bronze Age tomb, with guided routes out to ancient burial sites and Fossil Rock in the desert around it.
Indoor cricket pitches and batting nets on a Motor City rooftop, closer to home for southern suburbs than Al Quoz.
An open-plan glass library with study zones and shared workspaces that stays open until 11pm or midnight, free, with no membership needed to sit and work.
Sharjah's best-known game cafe, with a shelf of Made-in-the-UAE games such as Jackaroo and Legend of Laith alongside the usual strategy titles.
Indoor volleyball courts in air-conditioned exhibition halls during the hottest months.
Ten gaming PCs plus racing sims inside a mall, the easy option for families in Al Zahia and Muwaileh.
Pool tables alongside bowling and arcade games in old Dubai, open until 2-3am.
MMA, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing, kickboxing and wrestling on one timetable in JLT, plus a ladies' Muay Thai class.
Five thousand objects across Islamic science, faith and craft for AED 10, under a gold-mosaic zodiac dome.
Contemporary art spread through restored coral-stone houses and courtyards in the old town, free, plus the Rain Room and the Flying Saucer nearby.
The ruling family's old fort stands in the middle of the restored Heart of Sharjah, with a weapons gallery and displays on the town's history.
One of the oldest souks in the country, covered and air-conditioned, with copper coffee pots, pearl chests, oud and a halwa shop.
Over 600 shops on two floors, with carpets, kilims and handwoven textiles upstairs and Bedouin silver and gold along the lagoon side.
RAK's drive-thru cafeteria for karak topped with crushed biscuits, Oman chips chapati and zinger parotta, from about 15 dirhams.
Yemeni mandi, mazbi and haneeth ribs on sharing platters, about 50 to 100 dirhams a head.
A warehouse concert space running since 2009 where many UAE-based musicians played their first serious shows, from orchestras and choirs to bands.
A grassroots Sunday open mic where musicians, singers, poets and comedians take turns, more like a living room than a stage.
Air-conditioned tables in a big indoor multi-sport warehouse, with changing rooms and showers.
Close to 400 square metres of bouldering inside a mall unit, with overhangs, slabs and comp-style walls reset by a full-time setting team.
An indoor court set up for half-court 3-on-3 or full 5-on-5, in a warehouse that also has cricket and football.
An indoor 5-a-side pitch in the same warehouse as cricket lanes and basketball, handy for a mixed group.
iBattle uses sensor patches instead of paint, so you get the tactical game without welts or laundry.
They roast their own Ethiopian beans daily and serve them as straight espresso or milk drinks.
Board games, a few thousand books and a co-working corner under one roof, which makes it the main option on the Deira and Sharjah-border side of the city.
A Pakistani canteen that has fed Satwa for decades: mutton karahi, dal and a stack of hot naan for well under 30 dirhams a head.
A Pakistani canteen that has fed Satwa for decades: mutton karahi, dal and a stack of hot naan for well under 30 dirhams a head.
Machboos, khabees and harees by the sea on RAK's old corniche.
Thirty-six proper league lanes with a pro shop, at under Dhs20 a game, where the city's serious bowlers actually play.
The former Qawasim fort and ruler's home holds archaeology from Julfar and a room of pearling gear, for AED 5.
The Arabian Wildlife Centre has Arabian leopards, plus an aviary, natural history museum and children's farm in one ticket.
Syrian falafel and Lebanese-style shawarma on RAK's busiest food street, from about 15 dirhams.
Buy fish straight off the boats, about 70% from UAE waters, have it cleaned on the spot and grilled in the same building.
Vegetarian thalis, dosas, pani puri and paneer curries where most dishes are under 15 dirhams and a full meal is about 20.
A Lebanese sweets house in Dubai since the 1970s: buy a mixed box of baklava and the cream-filled pastries to share.
A big casual Lebanese dining room where the shawarma, grills and mezze come out fast enough to feed a crowd without a booking.
Indoor mini golf in a mall games venue with arcades, darts and axe throwing, open to families during the day.
A 40,000 sq ft hall with 30-plus attractions, from arcade machines to an indoor roller glider, eight bowling lanes and rock climbing, on the metro in old Dubai.
Sharjah's main escape-style game: 24-plus cells mixing puzzles with physical tasks, priced lower for kids.
Bookable tables inside a racket-sports complex with a café in the same building and coaching for all levels.
The brand's biggest UAE site with 16 rooms, open until 1am at weekends.
Persian cooking with window tables over the Creek and old Dubai; order the kash-e bademjan, an aubergine dip, before the kebabs.
Karak for about two dirhams with an egg, cheese and Chips Oman sandwich on samoon bread, the full cafeteria order in one stop.
Karak for about two dirhams with an egg, cheese and Chips Oman sandwich on samoon bread, the full cafeteria order in one stop.
Emirati machboos, seafood and lamb served family-style in a room done up like old Dubai, with a terrace over the Creek boats.
Shared seafood trays over spiced rice and jesheed (shredded shark with loomi and onion), on the creek.
A free contemporary art museum on the creek with a research library you can sit in and a sculpture park outside.
The emirate's largest library, a building shaped like a Quran lectern on the creek, with silent reading halls, study rooms and fast free Wi-Fi.
Karama's tea institution since 1998, where you order the 'biryani chai' or the gingery disco chai for a couple of dirhams.
Karama's tea institution since 1998, where you order the 'biryani chai' or the gingery disco chai for a couple of dirhams.
A Lebanese bakery of more than 35 years that bakes manaqeesh and wraps shawarma around the clock.
Gi and no-gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu taught to the Gracie Barra syllabus, with separate classes for kids, women and adults.
Sixteen courts in one spot, including eight air-conditioned indoor courts and four set aside for women only.
Shawarma on Al Diyafah since 1979, in pita, saj or the 'Mexican' version, with a fresh juice for well under 30 dirhams.
It stands on the spot where the union was signed in 1971, and the original Union House and the round guesthouse are part of the visit.
A cluster of blue-chip commercial galleries within a few minutes' walk of each other, free to enter, and easy to reach from the metro.
Running since 1987, this is where Satwa goes for charcoal chicken, burgers and fresh juice from the same counter.
Running since 1987, this is where Satwa goes for charcoal chicken, burgers and fresh juice from the same counter.
Carpeted private rooms with floor seating, and grills, kebabs and lamb chops on big shared platters eaten by hand.
A Palestinian menu designed for sharing, with 48-hour sourdough and the labneh crème brûlée with za'atar ice cream to end.
Weekend Palestinian breakfast with bread from its own 48-hour sourdough, labneh and za'atar, in a room hung with Palestinian art.
Open since 1990 on Jumeirah Beach Road, it is the drive-up classic for a shawarma and one of its layered fruit 'cocktails' served to your car window.
Open since 1990 on Jumeirah Beach Road, it is the drive-up classic for a shawarma and one of its layered fruit 'cocktails' served to your car window.
Four rooms at City Walk, from a Houdini mystery to House of Bella with a live actor, handy before dinner on the strip.
A flat fee buys unlimited time with a library of around a thousand games, and the tables look straight at the Burj Khalifa.
Fifteen tournament-spec PCs and PS5s that stay open around the clock at weekends, with a night pass for all-nighters.
A single-screen boutique cinema with leather armchairs, full meals and occasional retro screenings alongside new releases.
The city's main chess club runs monthly rapid tournaments, such as the November Rapid starting 22 November 2026.
Slow-cooked meats and home-style Emirati food in generous portions in the fishing town of Al Rams.
Gahwa with fresh luqaimat in a small heritage-style café by the old souq.
An indoor court in RAK, so you can play through the summer months.
The one Dubai gym with lead, top-rope and auto-belay walls as well as bouldering, so it's where you learn to tie in.
Dubai's first bean-to-bar chocolate factory, where you can order the aseeda fondant, a warm chocolate take on the Emirati wheat-and-butter dessert.
Six Hyperbowl lanes with interactive projected targets, inside a 70,000 sq ft indoor theme park for when kids find normal bowling boring.
Dubai's first dedicated indoor pickleball club: six enclosed, climate-controlled courts with open play most days.
You drink in the warehouse where the UAE's first specialty roastery still roasts, with the bags you can take home stacked behind the bar.
It is one of the largest indoor theme parks anywhere, with Marvel and Cartoon Network zones and big coasters fully air-conditioned.
A Dh22 flat white made with their own Candyman blend, plus a Basque cheesecake that people come back for.
Dozens of commercial galleries, project spaces and a cinema in converted warehouses, all free to walk into, in one block.
A dedicated boxing gym in an Al Quoz warehouse with technique classes split by level, ladies-only boxing and its own fight nights.
The GCC's first independent art-house cinema: about 130 seats, programming picked by hand, plus Arab, Hong Kong and classic film seasons you will not find at a mall multiplex.
The default family arcade in Dubai's City Centre malls: racing, basketball and ticket games on a tap card, with no booking and mall parking.
One of the bigger clubs, with 25 PCs, six PS5s and two racing sims, open till 1am every day.
Heated reclining seats with blankets and pillows, waiter service and a three-course menu, plus a pre-film lounge with billiards.
The rare proper espresso bar on the east coast, with rotating guest beans a few minutes from the Al Aqah beach hotels.
The electric track has a slippery surface built for drifting, with a laser tag arena next to it.
A library inside a philosophy research centre, opened in 2020, with Arabic philosophy, translations and classical works from Aristotle to Avicenna.
One of the city's biggest libraries, several hundred titles, with staff whose job is to teach you the rules so you can skip the rulebook.
The house Cream and Honey waffle and a lava cake, open until 1am in Fujairah city.
A food-and-games hall in Fountain Views with 15-plus arcade machines alongside duckpin bowling, AR darts and shuffleboard, open until 2am.
Bronze Age and Iron Age finds from the east coast, including weapons and pottery from Bithnah and Qidfa, for AED 5.
Classic Nabulsi kunafa cut from a big round tray and served hot, a short walk from Mall of the Emirates.
A mall-based cafe with more than a thousand games plus puzzles, handy for the JVC and Al Barsha South crowd who would otherwise drive into town.
Book the counter and watch the chefs build the ramen, with robata, sushi and a proper sake list, all at a Bib Gourmand price.
Twelve themed rooms in one place, from a family Chocolate Factory to horror, so a group can come back several times without repeating.
A cooking school with themed one-off adult classes, like a full Sunday roast, where you cook and then eat what you made.
The ICC's own academy: six indoor lanes split into spin, batting and pace pitches, plus outdoor nets and ovals.
Tam Khan's gym, one of the first MMA gyms in the UAE, with a cage, a ring, a pool, sauna and ice baths on one floor, and every class coached.
Six rooms at one flat price, including a laser-and-timing art heist that is more physical than most puzzle rooms.
A Karama café devoted entirely to eggs, with dozens of Indian street-style omelettes and egg bhurji with pav.
Home-style Levantine cooking at a budget price; order the Maryam fukhara, kibbeh baked in a clay pot with pomegranate molasses, for the table.
Seven rooms in one JLT building, including a Louvre heist and a live-actor horror room called Ring's.
The Dubai branch of the Nogueira brothers' academy, teaching BJJ, MMA, Muay Thai, boxing, judo and wrestling.
A Sharjah Art Foundation exhibition space in a restored former ice factory on the east coast, free, with a café.
Six billiard tables beside a 12-lane bowling alley, a family-friendly, alcohol-free place to shoot pool by the metro.
Twelve lanes plus six billiard tables and a karaoke stage, the main option for families on the Discovery Gardens and Gardens side of town.
The wind tunnel is 20.7 m tall and 5 m wide with 282 km/h winds, run by Skydive Dubai, so it is where actual skydivers come to train.
The UAE's longest-running bouldering gym, with a tension board and hang boards for when you start training rather than just playing.
Plaster walls and trough sinks, a brew-bar menu, and an iced hibiscus or cascara if you want something other than coffee.
It is the only laser tag arena we could confirm on the east coast, next to an indoor drift kart track.
Ras Al Khaimah's proper esports room: fourteen PCs in five-seat team rooms plus four PS5s and a racing sim.
See artifacts from prehistoric to Islamic eras, including weapons, pottery, and jewelry from local excavations.
Two indoor courts on the east coast, with a cafe and changing rooms.
It has a 200 m indoor rifle and shotgun range, the longest indoor range in Dubai, plus the country's only indoor trap range.
One of RAK's oldest dessert shops; order the fruit-and-nut plate with chocolate ice cream that is its best-known order.
The first traditional carved-stone Hindu temple in the region, and the evening Ganga Aarti at 7:30pm is worth timing your visit around.
A restored mud-brick tower house shows UAE artists upstairs and Bronze Age finds in its archaeological basement.
Al Ain's art school in a restored mud-brick tower house runs single art workshops as well as longer courses.
Open until 10pm on Sundays, with its own children's library and Arabic and English periodicals.
Al Ain's main public library, near Sulaimi Garden, with reading rooms, a theatre and free wifi.
The square fort where Sheikh Khalifa was born, with a glass exhibition hall inside the courtyard and a 21,000-palm oasis behind it.
Sheikh Khalifa's birthplace, with a glass exhibition hall in the courtyard telling the fort's story next to Al Ain's smallest oasis.
Kunafa in several versions, with cheese, cream or mixed, made from fresh ingredients and cut to order.
Pan-Asian sharing plates on the Yas Bay pier, with fixed-price lunches and brunches that make splitting the bill easy.
Pan-Asian plates and a lounge bar on the Yas Bay pier until 1am every night.
Pier-side tables over the water at Yas Bay, looking across Al Raha Creek.
A 90-minute session with skates included costs AED 40, a fraction of what the big-city rinks charge.
A large air-conditioned indoor arena, so lessons carry on through the summer when outdoor yards stop.
Four indoor courts in Al Ain open until 2am at weekends, which is when the town cools enough to play.
Al Ain's bookable pickleball court, at AED 40 an hour and open until 1am.
One of the few places in Al Ain to rent a table tennis table by the hour, at AED 35 and open until 1am.
The capital's big indoor concert hall, with Tarkan, Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey all booked between late November and mid-December 2026.
The Abu Dhabi Comedy Season brings arena names here: Anubhav Singh Bassi and Aries Spears on 21 November and Nemr on 22 November 2026, then Kevin Bridges on 9 January and Whitney Cummings on 31 January 2027.
A Muay Thai gym for women and kids only, so beginners can learn to kick without a room full of men watching.
An Emirati-led café that sells curated design and lifestyle pieces next to the coffee bar, so you can browse while you wait.
An arena that books the big Arabic headliners, with Angham on 29 November and Elissa on 19 December 2026.
Floor-to-ceiling windows and a terrace near the top of the UAE's highest mountain, where it's noticeably cooler than the coast.
Eight lanes plus billiards and darts on the mainland side, so Al Shahama, Al Rahba and Al Reef residents skip the drive into the city.
Cut-chai karak for one or two dirhams, open until 2am.
Twenty-one retro arcade machines, an interactive wall, four billiard tables and a karaoke room under one roof on Saadiyat.
Four billiard tables in a retro lounge with 21 arcade machines and a karaoke room, the only cue venue on Saadiyat.
An alcohol-free karaoke room inside a retro arcade lounge, so it works for families and teenagers.
Emirati breakfast and snack food, harees, khabeesa, chebab and luqaimat with date syrup, made to order in an Al Ain neighbourhood.
All Manner of Experiments, a survey of the Baghdad Modern Art Group, runs until 3 January 2027, with Saturday talks in the gallery reading room.
The only private art foundation in the Saadiyat Cultural District, free, quiet and a short walk from the Louvre.
Al Ain's long-running arcade, from a group that started in Abu Dhabi's Tourist Club area in 1987, with separate zones for small kids and teenagers.
Drop-in painting classes in oil, watercolour or anime illustration, so you can try one evening without signing up for a course.
Courts laid inside the cruise terminal's passenger hall can be booked around the clock, with late-night weekday slots at half price.
Run by two Emirati sisters, it pairs yoga and sound healing with a vegan cafe, so you can walk out of class into lunch on Reem.
Five indoor smart courts, two of them private with their own entrance, at AED 180 an hour before the evening rush.
The city's specialist game shop runs in-store events and tournaments, the easiest way to find regular players for card and strategy games.
It is an indoor zipline-style ride across the park, so you can do it in midsummer.
Two indoor and two outdoor courts by the Galleria, from AED 150 an hour, with Gaby Reca's academy on site.
Eighteen gaming PCs and racing sims on the same floor as Game Over and Zero Latency, handy for an office-crowd session after work.
Monday's 1.2kg tomahawk for sharing and Tuesday's unlimited sushi suit a hungry group.
Steaks, sushi and a DJ at Park Rotana until 1am.
Bib Gourmand seafood in sharing portions, steps from the Mina fish market.
Four indoor 5v5 pitches under an air dome, so you can play in August.
Three indoor courts under an air dome at AED 120 an hour, so summer is no problem.
Two indoor courts at AED 60 an hour, among the cheapest bookable badminton in the city.
An Emirati breakfast or machboos in Al Ain, where proper sit-down Emirati restaurants are few.
A free weekly sketching session where paper and materials are provided, so you can turn up with nothing and draw for three hours.
Open every day until 8pm, with a 10,000-book children's annex and a rare books hall of about 1,900 titles.
A themed dinner buffet each night (Monday is seafood) means nobody argues over the menu.
Thirty-two short themed rooms mixing rope courses, balance tests, maths and music puzzles, so it suits mixed-age groups better than a horror room.
Two shows run until 10 January 2027, Juma Alhaj's light installation Revelation and the group show Archipelago of Whispers, in converted port warehouses.
Weekend workshops change every week, from a free Tatreez Circle on 6 December to Al Sadu weaving with an Emirati weaver on 13 December.
An air-conditioned school sports hall near Zayed Sports City that rents a table tennis table by the hour after school closes.
Four THEATRE screens with reclining leather seats and a gourmet menu served during the film, in the mall that also has Abu Dhabi's largest IMAX.
Al Ain's main riding club, with an indoor arena, a show-jumping ring and six black-sand arenas for lessons at every level.
A park library of more than 35,000 books that leans towards children and teenagers.
A Palestinian sweet shop open since 1980, with kunafa cut hot from the tray alongside baklava and basbousa.
Karak in ginger, saffron and plain, poured into a bigger cup than the cafeteria standard.
Pay-as-you-go classes at AED 95 in MMA, Muay Thai, BJJ, boxing and wrestling, inside Zayed Sports City.
Indoor tables open until midnight every day at AED 45 an hour.
At AED 45 an hour it is among the cheapest bookable courts in the city, and it stays open past midnight.
Big plates of Emirati home cooking, salona, machboos and khameer with cheese and date syrup, plus a karak made to a grandmother's recipe.
A four-lane neon alley inside a New York-style diner and bar, open until 3am at weekends, so bowling can be the second half of dinner.
A gelato shop with weekly specials you won't find at the mall chains.
Nabulsi kunafa, cheese katayef and baklava in a shop open until 1am.
Nasi lemak, roti bakar with soft-boiled eggs, and roti jala from 8am, with breakfast served all day.
Chandy's roti jala, laksa and nasi lemak earned a Michelin listing and still come in under AED 50 a plate.
An indoor synthetic court in the middle of the city on Muroor Road, at AED 65 an hour.
Six soundproof booths you can book for just 30 minutes, with costume props and a photobooth, so it works for two people on a whim.
An old-school Arabic sweet shop where kunafa, baklava and mamoul come by weight at the lowest prices on this list.
A three-hour beginner hand-building workshop includes 1 kg of clay plus slip painting and glazing, so you leave with finished pieces rather than a lump.
A 5,250-square-metre library built to feel like walking into a life-size pop-up book.
Its renovated 900-seat theatre is the city's main room for recitals, with pianist Minsoo Sohn on 11 December.
Its visual arts halls show Emirati and regional artists for free, currently the Zuleya 2026 exhibition running to 15 January 2027.
35,000 square feet of racing and rollercoaster simulators, VR, PC gaming and video games around a 12-lane bowling alley.
Twelve lanes open until 1am most nights, with pool tables, VR rigs and racing simulators around them if half the group gets bored.
An indoor warehouse hall with table tennis, badminton and billiards at AED 35 a table, open from 5am for pre-work games.
A shared maker space with one-off classes across ceramics, woodwork, metalwork, fashion and digital fabrication under one roof.
Four lanes inside a country club, with a karaoke bar next door, makes it feel like a private alley rather than a mall attraction.
Classic kunafa given new flavours, worth the drive north if you live in Shahama, Rahba or Khalifa City.
Three indoor panoramic courts in Musaffah from AED 180 an hour, well away from the city traffic.
A private gallery in a villa behind Al Bateen Mall, showing modern and regional work in house-sized rooms you can see in half an hour.
A local roastery with a following among coffee people, where you choose a V60 by origin and flavour profile.
Outdoor courts cost a flat AED 150 an hour at any time of day, and there is a screened women-only indoor court.
An hour of indoor football for AED 25 a head, with or without a team.
Five tables, two of them in the sports dome, at AED 30 an hour.
A small roastery in the port where you buy a cup, drip bags or beans from the people who roasted them.
The only indoor full-size football pitch in the city, in a dome on Al Maryah Island.
Abu Dhabi's largest multiplex at 21 screens, with a THEATRE dine-in hall and the city's only full laser IMAX.
Dozens of hot and cold mezze to share, then shisha on the terrace.
Mezze and shisha on the terrace until 1am every night.
A dedicated badminton hall run by a federation-certified coaching academy, with court rental and a racket shop on site.
The government-run music school where you can learn oud, qanun or Arabic vocals properly, and even build an instrument.
BJJ, Muay Thai, wrestling, MMA and karate under one roof downtown, coached by a former UAE Warriors and Brave FC fighter.
A neon retro arcade bolted onto a New York diner and bar, open until 3am at weekends.
A laser tag arena next to a bowling alley and arcade in the middle of downtown, easy to add to an evening at the souk end of town.
A medieval-tavern-themed café where staff teach you the rules, which makes it the easiest start if nobody in your group knows the games.
Four pool tables next to a 12-lane bowling alley, so a mixed group can split between cues and pins.
Lebanese sweets since 1989; the osmaleya is a kunafa-style cake of crisp vermicelli around cream or cheese.
More than 400 games on the shelves, indoors in Sheikha Fatima Park, with specialty coffee and late hours.
The Dubai Turkish shisha restaurant's Abu Dhabi branch, with seasonal shisha blends alongside Anatolian breakfasts like shakshouka (AED 45).
A billiard hub inside Al Ain Mall's bowling centre, the easiest place in Al Ain to rack up after dinner.
Al Ain's bowling alley: twelve ten-pin lanes plus billiards, table tennis and PlayStation, and among the cheapest games in the country on weekdays.
Al Ain's esports club and the only True Gamers branch with VR, on KatVR walking bases, plus PCs, PS5s and racing sims.
Built for Sheikh Zayed the First in the 1890s, it now holds a permanent exhibition of Wilfred Thesiger's Empty Quarter photographs.
An 1890s mud-brick fort with a room of Wilfred Thesiger's Empty Quarter photographs, set in a park you can picnic in.
The country's oldest museum reopened in October 2025 with pre-Islamic graves found during the rebuild now on show, and Sultan Fort is part of the visit.
The country's oldest museum reopened in October 2025 around the 1910 Sultan Fort, with Bronze Age gold from the Qattara tomb inside.
A 2017 fort built in the old style next to the historic Hosn Al Sirra, with an exhibition on Al Dhafra's customs and history.
Eighteen PCs, five PS5s and two racing sims, with a 5-hour PC block bringing the rate down to AED 32 an hour.
It is a 290m electric track inside an air-conditioned theme park, so you can fit a race between rollercoasters.
Six indoor courts under a sports dome, next to a pool you can use after for AED 50.
Indoor cricket for the hot months, an oval with an artificial turf pitch and two batting nets, all bookable by the hour in one complex.
Both indoor and outdoor courts, so you can switch to air conditioning when the weather turns.
Pickleball on multipurpose courts at a venue with 20 other sports, so a mixed group can split up.
Indoor volleyball courts, a rare option for playing in summer.
Bib Gourmand Mediterranean on the Yas Marina terrace, with 2-for-1 drinks from 4pm to 7pm Sunday to Friday.
Mediterranean plates on the Yas Marina terrace until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.
A terrace on Yas Marina looking straight over the moored yachts.
Emirati breakfast breads (regag with egg, chebab with date syrup and honey) from 8:30am, made by two sisters.
A Michelin-listed Emirati kitchen with a long menu of home-style dishes and a strong dessert list.
Two Emirati sisters turned a food truck into this kitchen, and a regag with egg is AED 26.
Three galleries host the city's biggest temporary shows, and from 19 to 22 November 2026 it holds the first Frieze Abu Dhabi.
An 18-metre reconstructed Bronze Age Magan boat fills the atrium, and the Abu Dhabi Pearl is in the galleries beyond it.
Nine courts, seven of them indoors, and off-peak hours start under AED 150, so it is the safest bet for a summer booking.
A double-glazed glass box in the palm grove of Sheikh Khalifa's birthplace fort, serving date ice cream and pastries made with Al Ain farm eggs and milk.
Full dinosaur skeletons and the Evolving World galleries take you through Earth's history, and under-18s go free, which makes it an easy family afternoon.
The electric track climbs over three storeys indoors, so it is the one karting option that works in August.
A standard climbing wall, game-style Valo Climb walls, a via ferrata and a rappelling wall share one roof, so a first-timer can try four kinds of climbing on a single pass.
An Arthouse Theatre for festival and independent films, full recliners with waiter service in VIP, and the city's largest screen in the XXL hall.
A four-floor, 4,500-square-metre gaming complex whose top floor is given over to retro cabinets like Pac-Man and Street Fighter.
The city's biggest gaming venue: four floors of PCs, consoles, VR scenarios and an esports bar, with an esports academy on site.
A modern souk on the canal facing the Grand Mosque, with waterside terraces for dinner after browsing.
Twelve lanes on the Galleria's top level, so you can pair a game with the trampoline park, climbing walls or a film at the VOX downstairs.
Nine rooms in one place, from Pirates to Alice in Wonderland to horror, so a group can come back several times without repeating.
A 225-square-metre free-roam arena where up to eight of you walk through the game together with no cables or backpacks.
Arcade games, a trampoline park and climbing walls on the Galleria's top floor, a short walk from the VOX and True Gamers.
You float above the Bu Tinah tank with sharks and rays underneath, in air-conditioned comfort in August.
The only YogaOne branch with infrared hot yoga, heated to 37-40C, plus aerial silks classes, including ladies-only aerial.
A Bib Gourmand Thai café, given the award for generous plates of green curry, har gow and mango sticky rice at modest prices.
Twenty-four-plus prison cells, each a short puzzle or physical task, so you score points against other teams rather than solve one long story.
Forty lanes means you almost never wait, even on a Friday night, and the same hall has billiards tables for between games.
The city's biggest billiards hall sits inside the 40-lane bowling centre, with pool and snooker tables and a social league if you want regular games.
The UAE's largest rink, Olympic-sized, with daily public sessions and figure-skating lessons when you want more than laps.
Manakeesh come straight out of the oven from 8am, with foul, fatteh and shakshuka on the breakfast mezze list.
Fresh manakeesh and grills until 12:30am on weeknights and 1:30am at weekends.
Manakeesh come straight out of the oven, and the long menu runs from breakfast foul to grills after midnight.
Shawarma wrapped in thin saj bread starts around AED 20, and the bread basket refills for free.
A big Pakistani dining hall where diners report seating parties of 20, with karahi served in sharing pots.
Foster + Partners' modern take on a souk sits on the site of the old Central Market, with carved timber lanes and oud and spice stalls.
The saffron Zafran chai is the house order, and the small is bigger than the label suggests.
The watchtower inside is the oldest building in the city, and the fort's rooms trace Abu Dhabi from a pearling village to a capital.
The watchtower inside goes back to the late 18th century, making it the oldest stone building in the city.
You can book a single one-hour wheel or hand-building session with 500 g of clay, then build up to a 20-session certificate package if it sticks.
They roast their own beans, and the V60 pour-over is the order that made them one of the city's first specialty names.
Abu Dhabi's first board game café, with 200-plus games from Sequence to Catan and an all-day pass under AED 40.
iBattle is laser tag with weighted rifles, mines, breach doors and per-player scores, so you get a tactical team game without paint bruises.
Six screens with electric full recliners and call-button food service in VIP, plus two-person couches and a Starlight Theatre that also hosts live shows.
You drink coffee roasted in-house next to cars you can't buy from any showroom, including a Mercedes 300SL signed by Brad Pitt.
Grilled fish and mezze on a beachfront terrace, a short walk from the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Lebanese breakfast mezze and egg dishes on a beach terrace at Saadiyat, from 9am.
A beachfront terrace on Saadiyat with the water a few steps away.
Sourdough-crust pizza on a terrace that looks straight out at the Gulf.
Lebanese-Armenian dishes in generous sharing portions, with round booths sized for a table of friends.
More than 100 board games in a mall café attached to nine escape rooms, handy for a warm-down after a game.
A full Lebanese-Armenian kitchen open until 1am, inside The Galleria on Al Maryah Island.
104 fresh-fish stalls under one roof, with cleaning stations and restaurants that will cook what you just bought.
An Octagon, bag room and full gym floor, with unlimited MMA, boxing, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and kickboxing classes on one membership that also covers Maqta Mall.
A long-running Pakistani dining hall where mutton karahi, mixed grill and fresh roti feed a table cheaply.
Private cabins and floor-cushion majlis rooms suit a family or a crowd eating Emirati sharing dishes.
An Emirati and Kuwaiti kitchen that opens at 7am, with mutabbaq and harees on the menu.
Bib Gourmand Emirati and Kuwaiti cooking (majboos, harees, mutabbaq) in Michelin's cheapest price band.
A Michelin Bib Gourmand serving Emirati and Kuwaiti classics such as madhrouba, thareed and machboos, with majlis seating and private cabins.
Emirati recipes reworked with modern technique, such as margooga ravioli and bzar-marinated short rib, next to the city's oldest building.
A Michelin-starred weekend breakfast at Qasr Al Hosn: khubz rigag with egg and cheese, and Emirati French toast with sidr honey.
FiLLi's tea and quick snacks are a standard UAE stop after everything else has shut.
Classic Tuscan cooking on the Corniche, with a kitchen whose chef won Michelin's Young Chef award.
Modern Lebanese cooking with harbour views from Etihad Towers, plus fixed-price menus so nobody has to choose.
Harbour views from the Etihad Towers, with Lebanese food to match.
Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan's collection of around 200 vehicles sits in a desert pyramid, from rainbow-painted Mercedes to absurdly oversized trucks.
Three reading halls with more than 20,000 books, including an oil and gas collection, plus storytelling and puppet shows for children.