The short answer
Al Ain, the inland Garden City on the border with Oman, makes a full day trip from Dubai or Abu Dhabi, and its oases and ancient sites are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Book a chauffeur by the hour for the day, or two one-way rides, and keep the middle of a hot day indoors.
A day in the Garden City
Al Ain lies inland in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, on the border with Oman, and Visit Abu Dhabi calls it one of the world’s oldest permanently inhabited settlements. Its name means the spring, and its oases, ancient tombs and early villages are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, inscribed in 2011 as the Cultural Sites of Al Ain. The city is quieter and slower than the coast, greener than many visitors expect, and close enough to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for a day trip. With a chauffeur, the long desert roads are someone else’s job: you set off early, stop where you like and are driven home in the evening. This guide covers the roads from each city, the places worth your time, when to go, and how to book the day.
The drive from Dubai
From Dubai, the road is the E66, the Dubai to Al Ain Road, which leaves the city heading south east, passes Al Faqa and Al Hayer, and crosses the desert into Al Ain. From central Dubai to central Al Ain it is about 140 kilometres, usually an hour and a half to two hours, depending on where you start and on the traffic leaving the city. Getting out of Dubai is the slow part at the morning and evening peaks; once past the city, the road is usually open and traffic flows well. Our page on the Dubai to Al Ain route has the details of a one-way ride.
The drive from Abu Dhabi
From Abu Dhabi, the road is the E22, the Al Ain Road, which runs about 125 kilometres across the desert from the Al Mafraq junction on the mainland to the edge of Al Ain. Starting on Abu Dhabi island adds the drive to the mainland, and Visit Abu Dhabi puts the whole trip at about 90 minutes from downtown; allow up to two hours when traffic leaving the island is heavy. Al Ain is in the same emirate as the capital, so the whole day stays inside one emirate. Our page on chauffeur service in Abu Dhabi covers getting around the capital itself.
Tolls on the way
Al Ain itself has no toll gates. From Dubai, Salik gates may be on the first part of the route, depending on where in the city you start. From Abu Dhabi island, the car crosses one of the four bridges to the mainland, and each of them has a gate of Darb, Abu Dhabi’s toll system; your route through the capital may pass another Darb gate too. Tolls are not part of the fixed fare: with drivoo, Salik and Darb pass through at cost, with no markup, and each crossing is itemised on your receipt. Our guide to Salik tolls explains how the gates work.
The oasis and the forts
Start with Al Ain Oasis, in the heart of the city. Visit Abu Dhabi describes shaded paths across 1,200 hectares and more than 147,000 date palms, watered by the falaj, the ancient channels that still carry water between the trees, and an Eco-Centre with an exhibition on Emirati farming. Al Jahili Fort, built in the 1890s on the orders of Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa, known as Zayed the First, is one of the largest forts in the country. Qasr Al Muwaiji, a fort restored as a museum, tells the story of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family. With a chauffeur by the hour, you are dropped at each entrance and the car waits nearby while you walk, then takes you on to the next stop.
Jebel Hafit and the older past
Above the city, Jebel Hafit rises to 1,249 metres, the highest peak in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and the second highest in the UAE, and a paved road climbs to the summit. Visit Abu Dhabi recommends it for sunrise and sunset photographs and for its views over Al Ain. At its foot, Jebel Hafit Desert Park has trails for hiking and mountain biking, and the Jebel Hafit tombs, around 5,000 years old. In the city, the archaeological sites at Hili belong to the same UNESCO listing, which notes there one of the oldest examples of the aflaj irrigation system. Your chauffeur can drive you up the mountain road; if you want them to wait at the top and drive you on, book by the hour.
More stops for the day
Visit Abu Dhabi also lists Al Ain Zoo, and the camel market inside Al Ain Central Market, which it advises seeing with a guide. Many visitors keep the plan simple and add a long lunch between the oasis and the mountain. Opening times change with the season, and museums sometimes close for restoration, so check each place’s own page before you fix the day. One limit to plan around: drivoo serves trips within the UAE only, so Al Buraimi, across the border in Oman beside Al Ain, can’t be a pickup, a stop or a destination.
Timing for the heat and the light
Al Ain is inland, away from the sea, and in summer it is among the hottest places in the country: on 31 July 2026 the UAE’s weather service recorded 49.6°C at Sweihan in Al Ain, the highest reading in the country that day. The cooler months, from about October to April, are the season for a day trip, and Visit Abu Dhabi suggests a spring visit to stroll the oasis walkways in the shade of the palms. For summer, its advice is to keep outdoor plans to the early morning, before 9, and the evening, after 6. A good pattern for the day: leave early, walk the oasis in the cool of the morning, spend the middle of the day indoors at Qasr Al Muwaiji or over lunch, and drive up Jebel Hafit late in the afternoon for the sunset.
A chauffeur by the hour or two one-way rides
There are two ways to book the day. A chauffeur by the hour from Dubai or Abu Dhabi collects you at your door, stays with you in Al Ain, waits at every stop and drives you home, with as many stops as you like. Each booked hour comes with a distance allowance, and distance beyond the allowance for your hours is charged per kilometre; a day trip covers a lot of road, so book enough hours. You are billed on the hours booked or the hours used, whichever is more. The other way is two one-way rides: out in the morning on the ride from Dubai to Al Ain, and back in the evening on the Al Ain to Dubai route, booked as its own ride for the time you expect to leave; each ride is priced and paid on its own. From Abu Dhabi, book the two rides the same way, from your address to Al Ain and back. Two rides suit a day spent mostly in one place, such as a family visit or a long lunch; hourly suits a day with several stops.
Booking the day
Enter your pickup, the date and time, and your passengers and bags. The booking shows the classes with a car that fits, each with one fixed fare shown before you confirm; a family or group can choose drivoo Van when one fits, and you can add a child seat. Bottled water and device chargers are in every car. On the website you pay by card: the fare is held when you book and charged when the ride is completed or the hire ends. A message tells you when your chauffeur is assigned, with a link to follow the car. Every ride is run by a licensed limousine company and its licensed chauffeur.
