the uae with kids: our favourite places to take them
a running guide to the adventures worth the drive, worth the entry fee, or worth the 45-degree dash from the car to the door.
the uae is, against all odds, one of the best places in the world to have small children — provided you know where to go and, crucially, when. half the trick is timing. the other half is having a list you can actually pull up when the weekend arrives and the kids are already climbing the furniture.
this is ours. the places we keep coming back to, sorted loosely by mood rather than merit. some are a proper expedition. some are a fifteen-minute drive and a packet of biscuits. all of them have earned their spot. bookmark it for the next "what do we even do with them today," and pass it on to whoever needs it.
the mountains
when to go: october to april, full stop. the rest of the year the mountains are still there — they're just trying to kill you.
jebel jais in ras al khaimah is the big one. there's the via ferrata and the longest zipline in the world for anyone whose children are old enough, and whose parents are brave enough, to want it. but the quieter end of the mountain is just as good for little ones: viewpoints, play areas, and the deeply satisfying business of throwing rocks off a great height. hatta wadi hub, over in the eastern hajar mountains, is the all-rounder — kayaking on water so green it looks photoshopped, a drop-in slide, ziplines, the lot, all in one place so you're not herding everyone between car parks.
and don't write off the drive. winding, dramatic, properly ear-popping — for once the journey genuinely is half the day out. pack snacks for the car and lower your expectations about how much anyone will nap.
the desert
al ain is the underrated one, and the road up jebel hafeet — a ribbon someone appears to have dropped down the side of a mountain — is worth the trip on its own. afterwards, cool off in the shade of the date-palm oases: free, ancient, and somehow about twenty degrees gentler on the nervous system.
for the full experience, a dune drive at al marmoom near dubai, or liwa if you're committing to the long haul, where the dunes stop being scenery and start being cathedrals. go in the late afternoon, stay for the sunset and the stars, and bring marshmallows. then pack more water than you think you need and double it — because you are, without exception, wrong about how much water you need in the desert.
the water
mangrove kayaking in abu dhabi is the gentlest possible way to get kids onto water: flat, slow, and calm, with herons watching you flail in dignified silence. snoopy island on the east coast near fujairah is the snorkelling one — turtles, reef fish, the full david attenborough starter pack, no boat required, just a snorkel and a little nerve. jubail mangrove park is the easy win for buggy days: a boardwalk running straight through the mangroves, wide enough for wheels and flat enough to do on autopilot during the post-nap window.
and for the days when you want water but not effort — no paddling, no sand in places sand has no business being — a day pass at the hilton on yas island gets you a pool, loungers, and somebody else doing the tidying up. some days, the bare minimum is the entire point.
when it's 45 degrees and you need saving
there is a season here when the only sensible temperature is the one indoors, and these are the places that earn their entry fee in july.
green planet in dubai is a whole rainforest under one roof, sloths included. the natural history museum on saadiyat island is the new arrival worth the trip — dinosaurs, meteorites, and the very particular awe on a four-year-old's face as they meet a t-rex, while you stand in blissful, cathedral-grade air conditioning. yas island handles the rest: seaworld for the "wait, that's a real fish?" gasps, and snow abu dhabi for the genuinely strange pleasure of building a snowman in the gulf. and never underestimate the louvre, which is beautiful, freezing, and will teach your child to whisper for a full forty-five minutes. book ahead for the big ones in peak season — everyone else has had the same idea.
the free (or nearly) ones nobody talks about
not every adventure needs a credit card. khalifa park has fountains, greenery, and enough open space to run everyone into an early bedtime. umm al emarat park is a whole afternoon for a near-nothing entry fee — the wisdom garden, the animal barn, the evening fountain show, all of it. al qudra lakes is the one for bikes and swan-spotting, where for a moment you can convince yourself you live somewhere with seasons. and mleiha, out in sharjah, is where the desert turns archaeological and the children learn something entirely by accident.
the best afternoons we've had out here cost roughly the price of petrol and a packet of biscuits, and the kids never once noticed.
the one we'd put at the top
if we had to choose — and people always make us choose — it's the mangroves. the abu dhabi ones. quiet, green, and the specific kind of slow that resets the whole family. it's the place that reliably turns "we should really get out of the house" into the best version of a sunday.
but a list like this is never finished, and it was never only ours. so tell us: where do your weekends turn into "remember when"? leave it in the comments, or tag @eklektikmama with the one you'd put at the very top. we're always collecting.
we add to this list constantly. if you want the next round-up the moment it lands, subscribe here — and do the next overwhelmed parent a favour and send this their way. they need the adventures more than they need the advice.
Ready to prioritise yourself? Join our mum community and find your people.
This is Eklektik Mama. Where we raise hell and humans, together.
Instagram | Weekly Newsletter | Abu Dhabi Events | Membership | Merch
