Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Abu Dhabi's white-marble mosque with 82 domes, the world's largest hand-knotted carpet and room for 40,000 worshippers — free to visit, 80 minutes from Dubai, and the usual reason for an Abu Dhabi day trip.
Completed in 2007 as the resting place of the UAE's founder, Sheikh Zayed, the mosque covers 12 hectares: 82 domes, four 106-metre minarets, 1,000-plus columns inlaid with semi-precious stone, seven chandeliers of Swarovski crystal and a 5,700-square-metre carpet knotted by 1,200 artisans in Iran. It is a working mosque and one of the few in the Gulf fully open to non-Muslims.
Visiting
- Entry is free; register online in advance for a timed slot, especially on weekends and holidays.
- Open Saturday–Thursday 09:00–22:00 and Friday from mid-afternoon; last entry 30 minutes before closing. Tourist access closes briefly around each prayer.
- Dress code is strict: long loose sleeves and trousers or skirts to the ankle for everyone, hair covered for women. Abayas and shaylas are loaned free at the visitor centre; shoes come off at the prayer-hall entrance.
- Free guided tours in English and Arabic run several times a day and are worth joining.
From Dubai
The mosque sits beside the E10 motorway on the Dubai side of Abu Dhabi, about 130 km and 80 minutes by car from Downtown. Most day trips pair it with Louvre Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Watan palace or Yas Island. Arrive an hour before sunset for the marble turning gold, then see the courtyard lit under the blue-lighting cycle after dark.
Frequently asked questions
Yes — it is fully open to visitors of every faith outside prayer times, with free guided tours.
