Abu Dhabi · Things to do

Open to visitors Saturday to Thursday 09:00 to 20:30, and Friday 09:00 to 11:30 and 14:30 to 20:30, with an online access pass to obtain before you arrive. Dress is enforced: arms and legs covered, hair covered for women. Check the centre's own mosque manners page before you go.

The working presidential palace on the Ras Al Akhdar peninsula, opened to visitors with audio guides in five languages and a separately ticketed evening light-and-sound projection onto the facade called Palace in Motion. Call ahead or check the site for hours, which shift seasonally.

The city's oldest stone building, an 18th-century watchtower that grew into a fort and is now a museum of how Abu Dhabi went from pearling settlement to oil capital. Open Saturday to Thursday 09:00 to 20:00 and Friday 14:00 to 20:00, in the middle of downtown so you can walk to it.

The indoor Ferrari-branded theme park, home to Formula Rossa, which the park bills as the world's fastest rollercoaster. Being indoors is the practical point: it is the one big attraction that works in July. Buy timed tickets on the park's own site rather than at the gate.

Raised boardwalks running out through mangrove channels on Jubail Island, between Saadiyat and Yas, with a visitor centre and guided kayak trips through the creeks. Go early morning or late afternoon; there is no shade worth the name in the middle of the day.