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Umm Al Quwain/Drives and day trips

Oases and forts in Umm Al Quwain

All 57DesertDesert drives 12Oases and forts 17Mountains and coastMountain drives 9Coast drives 9Islands 10

17 places

  • Oases and forts · Umm Al Quwain

    Umm Al Quwain National Museum

    Built in 1768 as the seat of government, it now holds finds from the Ed-Dur archaeological site.

    • 3 km · 3 min drive
    • From 5 AED per adult
    • About 1 h
  • Oases and forts · Ajman city centre

    Ajman Museum (Ajman Fort)

    A late 18th-century fort that served as the ruler's palace and later a police station, with its wind towers and watchtowers kept.

    • 20 km · 22 min drive
    • From 5 AED per adult
    • About 1 h
  • Oases and forts · Ras Al Khaimah

    Dhayah Fort

    The UAE's highest hilltop fort, rebuilt after 1819, looks over palm groves and the sea from the top of a steep stair.

    • 62 km · 69 min drive
    • Free
    • About 1 h
  • Oases and forts · Heart of Sharjah

    Sharjah Fort (Al Hisn)

    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.

    • 29 km · 32 min drive
    • From 10 AED per adult
    • About 1.5 h
  • Oases and forts · Fujairah

    Fujairah Fort

    One of the oldest and largest forts in the country, dating to the 16th century, on a rocky hill against the mountains.

    • 92 km · 102 min drive
    • Free
    • About 1 h
  • Oases and forts · Fujairah (located near Wadi Ham)

    Bithnah Fort

    An 18th-century fort guarding Wadi Ham, once the main route from the coast to the interior, restored between 2008 and 2012.

    • 80 km · 89 min drive
    • Price not listed
    • 45 min
  • Oases and forts · Wadi Shees, Khor Fakkan

    Najd Al Maqsar

    A mountain heritage village with a fort ruin about three centuries old and rock carvings of horses and camels, minutes from Al Rafisah Dam.

    • 80 km · 89 min drive
    • Price not listed
    • About 1.5 h
  • Oases and forts · Khor Fakkan

    Khor Fakkan Fort

    Sharjah's old east coast stronghold, restored in 2019 as a museum on Khor Fakkan's history, a short walk from the bay.

    • 83 km · 93 min drive
    • Price not listed
    • About 1.5 h
  • Oases and forts · Hatta

    Hatta Heritage Village

    Thirty rebuilt mud, stone and barasti buildings, watchtowers from the 1880s and a falaj-fed palm farm, free to wander in the Hajar.

    • 103 km · 114 min drive
    • Free
    • About 1.5 h
  • Oases and forts · Hili, Al Ain

    Hili Archaeological Park

    A public garden built around the Hili Grand Tomb, a 4,000-year-old ring of carved stone 12 metres across.

    • 143 km · 160 min drive
    • Free
    • About 1 h
  • Oases and forts · Al Qattara, Al Ain

    Al Qattara Oasis

    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.

    • 147 km · 163 min drive
    • Free
    • About 1.5 h
  • Oases and forts · Al Ain

    Qasr Al Muwaiji

    The square fort where Sheikh Khalifa was born, with a glass exhibition hall inside the courtyard and a 21,000-palm oasis behind it.

    • 150 km · 167 min drive
    • Free
    • About 1 h
  • Oases and forts · Al Ain

    Al Jahili Fort

    An 1890s mud-brick fort with a room of Wilfred Thesiger's Empty Quarter photographs, set in a park you can picnic in.

    • 151 km · 169 min drive
    • Free
    • About 1 h
  • Oases and forts · Al Mutawaa, Al Ain

    Al Ain Oasis

    Shaded lanes run through 1,200 hectares of date palms watered by falaj channels that still work after 3,000 years.

    • 151 km · 169 min drive
    • Free
    • About 1.5 h
  • Oases and forts · Next to Al Ain Oasis, Al Ain

    Al Ain Museum and Sultan Fort

    The country's oldest museum reopened in October 2025 around the 1910 Sultan Fort, with Bronze Age gold from the Qattara tomb inside.

    • 152 km · 169 min drive
    • From 47.25 AED per adult (18+); under-18s free
    • About 2 h
  • Oases and forts · Al Dhafra

    Al Dhafra Fort

    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.

    • 178 km · 198 min drive
    • Price not listed
    • 45 min
  • Oases and forts · Al Hosn, downtown Abu Dhabi

    Qasr Al Hosn

    The watchtower inside goes back to the late 18th century, making it the oldest stone building in the city.

    • 171 km · 190 min drive
    • From 31.5 AED per adult; under-18s free
    • About 1.5 h