Tips On Avoiding Abu Dhabi Tourist Traps

Abu Dhabi Tourist Traps

It’s important to understand the culture you are walking into when you travel, so you wont have large expectations dashed. Here are some tips on avoiding Abu Dhabi tourist traps and disrupted plans.

Ramadan

During the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, non-Muslims will be expected to respect the local culture in many Islamic countries, and should be aware of certain rules and regulations. The holy month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Each day of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food and drink during daylight hours.  Visitors and residents should note that eating, drinking, smoking and chewing gum in public are not permitted during daylight hours.

Tips: Be aware that restaurants are closed during daylight you can only have home delivery from few restaurants during daylight (mainly fast food like MacDonalds.) Off course you still can cook and eat at your home or order room food if you stay at a hotel during daylight. Working hours are changed during Ramadan, so some shops and malls are open up to 1 or 2 o’clock morning.

Unique Suggestions: If you are non-Muslim try to avoid visiting Abu Dhabi during Ramadan unless you don’t care about eating your daily meals at strange times, or you like to stay awake till morning. Many non-Muslims enjoy going for iftar meal (Iftar “breakfast ” starts at 6pm or 7pm depends on sunset) as well as Suhor meal (at 2am or 3am time vary depends on sunrise time) at restaurants and hotels as they serve variety of international foods at reasonable prices.

Shopping

The official working week in the UAE starts on Sunday and ends on Thursday. Government departments and banks are open from 8am until 4pm or 5pm. Friday is a holy day, which generally means that shops remain closed or don’t open.

Unique Suggestions: Shops open until late in the afternoon. Street shops will often open in the morning, and then close at about 1 pm for approximately three hours, then re-open again until 10pm. However, many shopping malls stay open until later than 10pm on weekends. If you are in short visit and you would like to do shopping try to avoid Friday.

Editor’s note: The information contained on this page was compiled using real traveler reviews about Tips On Avoiding Abu Dhabi Tourist Traps.