13 places
The UAE's highest hilltop fort, rebuilt after 1819, looks over palm groves and the sea from the top of a steep stair.
Built in 1768 as the seat of government, it now holds finds from the Ed-Dur archaeological site.
A late 18th-century fort that served as the ruler's palace and later a police station, with its wind towers and watchtowers kept.
One of the oldest and largest forts in the country, dating to the 16th century, on a rocky hill against the mountains.
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.
Thirty rebuilt mud, stone and barasti buildings, watchtowers from the 1880s and a falaj-fed palm farm, free to wander in the Hajar.
A public garden built around the Hili Grand Tomb, a 4,000-year-old ring of carved stone 12 metres across.
Quieter than the big oasis, with a 1930s souq, a mud-brick tower turned arts centre and a 4,000-year-old tomb on its edge.
The square fort where Sheikh Khalifa was born, with a glass exhibition hall inside the courtyard and a 21,000-palm oasis behind it.
The country's oldest museum reopened in October 2025 around the 1910 Sultan Fort, with Bronze Age gold from the Qattara tomb inside.
Shaded lanes run through 1,200 hectares of date palms watered by falaj channels that still work after 3,000 years.
An 1890s mud-brick fort with a room of Wilfred Thesiger's Empty Quarter photographs, set in a park you can picnic in.
The watchtower inside goes back to the late 18th century, making it the oldest stone building in the city.