Al Ain

It would be a shame to visit the United Arab Emirates, to experience the effervescent Dubai, to succumb to the cultural frenzy of Abu Dhabi, without getting dizzy on the sweetness of Al Ain. To visit the country’s fourth city is to be engrossed in the history of the United Arab Emirates and the late Sheikh Zayed. So much the better, the two are linked! The founder of the UAE spent his youth in Al Ain at Fort Qasr Al Muwaiji. This is the historic place where the late Sheikh Khalifa was born. It was at the Palace here that the offices of the governors of Al Ain from the Al Nayhan family, took up residence.

Located two-hours’ drive from Dubai, nestled to the east of the Abu Dhabi emirate, at the border of the Sultanate of Oman, Al Ain offers an incredibly restful beach at the heart of a unique and beautiful oasis, Emirati's first UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011. The United Nations celebrated the Al Ain oasis as a significant reservoir of genetic resources and biodiversity. The paths of the oasis winding under a dense canopy of date palms, fruit trees and medicinal plants, implore some unforgettable walks.

The oasis of Al Ain is at the centre of a city that dates back more than 4000 years and preserves a culture and a way of life thousands of years old. Situated in a wonderful area of 136 hectares where farmers cultivate more than 147,000 date palms, - more than 100 varieties can be found! -, as well as fodder crops and fruit trees such as mango, orange, banana, and fig. Besides the palm trees, the oasis is home to large native trees, such as the jujube tree (locally known as Sidr) and Ghaf.  

Through numerous immersive interactive exhibitions, the Eco-centre highlights the measures taken to preserve the oasis’s delicate ecosystem and celebrates farmers’ invaluable contribution to agriculture through traditional methods. The oasis is fed by a traditional irrigation system called falaj. One should specify nevertheless that the water suppling the oasis, also comes from wells. Water travels from the Hajar mountains to the farms through a complex system of underground and surface channels. Two main aflaj (falaj in the plural) feed the oases: Al Aini and Al Dawoodi. Suddenly it becomes better understood why Al Ain means "the source" in Arabic…