Abu Dhabi Travel

Being geographically close to Dubai and being the capital city of the country where Dubai is must create a strange mindset, whatever anyone might say. The location and the status of Abu Dhabi are pretty unique, as the country may be governed from there but the eyes of the world are trained on its big, brash neighbor. Meanwhile Abu Dhabi goes about its business with very little attention from the rest of the world. The likelihood of anyone in Abu Dhabi being particularly put out about this fact is, however, minimal. Abu Dhabi is, after all, a perfectly confident city all by itself, and is steadily picking up tourist dollars and travel critic's plaudits for playing the game on its own terms - not an easy achievement when Dubai is such a distracting place itself.

Abu Dhabi has carved out this niche for itself by being in many ways a counterpoint to what Dubai is. Where Dubai is brash and loud, Abu Dhabi is cultured and relatively quiet. Where Dubai builds high buildings designed to grab attention, Abu Dhabi builds beautiful buildings which take your attention in a wholly different way. It has a real artistic ethos which is hard to ignore, as it is home to a classical music society that is one of the most prominent in all of the Middle East and a range of museums and libraries that will impress even the most hardened cynic. In addition, 2010 will see the opening of the Abu Dhabi Guggenheim museum - a conclusive demonstration of the city's entry into the pantheon of worldwide cultural centers.

There is no doubt that Abu Dhabi is certainly seen as the more civilized of two brother cities. That, however, is not to say that it is a city where entertainment and excitement are seen as bad words. There is a thriving nightlife in Abu Dhabi, some of the best of which can be found attached to the city's hotels. In many ways the close proximity of Abu Dhabi to Dubai helps both cities, as they provide an opportunity to see the other side of things in its most palatable form. Travel between the two cities is not difficult - they are less than a hundred kilometers apart, after all. More than anything, though, they are both tourism centers in their own right.

Abu Dhabi is a city which has every bit as much ambition as its neighbor, but channeled in another direction. For many people, it is the more pleasant of the two cities to visit. Developments already underway will bring the city's population up by as much as 2,600,000 people. From that point on, it would be a brave individual who would bet against Abu Dhabi getting a lot closer to its neighbor in terms of pulling power and in terms of business. In a further nod to the importance of education for Abu Dhabi as a city, it will also be host to a campus for New York University, as well as Masdar City - the world's first zero-emission city.