The fourth largest city in the UAE (and the country’s only major inland settlement), Al Ain makes for a pleasant day-trip from Dubai, offering the chance to escape the full-on pace of life on the coast and experience a more laid-back and traditional version of local life. Al Ain grew up around the large string of oases which dot the...

Al Ain’s National Museum is a rather old-fashioned affair, but well worth a visit for its intriguing insights into the history and culture of the city. The museum is divided two parts. The first section features a range of displays covering various aspects of local life, with a predictable selection of old Korans, antique weapons and traditional jewellery alongside more...

At the dead centre of Sharjah on Al Burj Avenue stands the modest little Al Hisn Fort, the former residence of the ruling Al Qassimi family and centrepiece of the old town. (Currently overshadowed by a long line of spectacularly ugly apartment blocks, although these are now slated for long overdue demolition as part of the ambitious Heart of Sharjah...

Easily the best museum in town, the Dubai Museum offers an ideal first stop on any tour of the city, and the perfect place to get up to speed with the history and traditional culture of this formerly isolated desert settlement. The museum is housed in the crusty old Al Fahidi Fort, dating back to around 1800, which makes it...

Now incongruously marooned amidst the endless suburban sprawl of Jumeirah, the Majlis Ghorfat um al Sheef was built in 1955 as a summer retreat and majlis (meeting room) by the city’s then-ruler, Sheikh Rashid, the canny and ambitious leader who did so much to set Dubai on the road to modernity. The pretty little two-storey building is a good example...

Just 10km down the coast from Dubai, the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah provides an interesting day-trip from the city – and a very different taste of life on the Gulf. Although Sharjah and Dubai have now virtually fused at the edges into a long and unbroken expanse of concrete, culturally they remain quite separate. Where Dubai follows a relatively liberal...

Close to the superb Museum of Islamic Civilization lies the surprisingly grand Sharjah Art Museum, another of the city’s leading cultural attractions (although sadly, the museum’s superb collection of orientalist painting by nineteenth-century Scottish artist David Roberts have now been removed). The ground floor is devoted to temporary exhibitions. The upstairs gallery hosts a permanent collection of Modern Arabian Art covering the...

In the heart of the city, the Sharjah Heritage Area comprises an area of neatly restored traditional Arabian houses, many of them now converted to modest museums – although a couple are currently closed and the whole area is currently being turned upside down as part of the Heart of Sharjah project. Centrepiece of the area is the enjoyable Sharjah Heritage Museum...

The best single reason for trawling out to Sharjah is to visit the city’s outstanding Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, occupying the impeccably restored Souk al Majara, sat next to the waterfront and topped with a distinctive golden dome. It’s beautifully presented and well explained, even if the rather self-congratulatory signage attached to some of the exhibits can occasionally grate....

Dubai’s answer to Buckingham Palace – albeit a bit more modest in scale – this fine old traditional house on the edge of the Creek was formerly home to several of the city’s ruling sheikhs. The house was first built in 1896 (making it one of the oldest buildings in Dubai) by Sheikh Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum, and subsequently...

Occupying one of the most attractive of Shindagha‘s restored heritage houses, the Traditional Architecture Museum (despite its rather dry name) provides an absorbing look at the traditional building styles of the Gulf. Illuminating displays cover the basic construction techniques and tools involved – often making ingenious use of simple local materials like coral stone, palm-fibre rope and mangrove poles –...