Planning a trip to Al Ain

Getting There & Getting Around

By Bus -- From Dubai, minibuses travel hourly to Al Ain from Bur Dubai's Al Ghubaiba bus station. The journey takes between 1 and 2 hours, depending on traffic.

By Car -- Al Ain is about an hour's drive from Dubai and 2 hours from Abu Dhabi. From Dubai, take Sheikh Zayed Road to Interchange 1, and follow the signs to Al Ain. From Abu Dhabi, the road to Al Ain is also clearly marked. From the town center of Al Ain, there's a green sign leading the way to the public hot springs of Mubazzarah and a brown sign for Jebel Hafeet (the mountaintop), which is located up a winding road 13km (8 miles) past Mubazzarah.

City Layout

Al Ain is a city of natural springs (oases), parks, and gardens. The main road (Al Ain St.) leading through town is interrupted by a series of roundabouts. The key tourist sites are designated by clearly marked brown or green signs, but can still be tricky to find due to the maze of streets, innumerable roundabouts, and absence of street signs.