The_Citizen

I did the commute from Dubai to Abu Dhabi 5 days a week for about 18 months. When I moved out here I didn't have a choice of Dubai or Abu Dhabi as the companies head office was in Dubai and I was meant to be working there 2-3 days a week and on site 2-3 days a week. In the end I was on site in Abu Dhabi for 5 days a week.

For the first few months the drive didn't bother me to much (worked on Saadiyat Island so not as far as most places in AD admittedly) but after about 12 months it really started to run me down as I was doing much longer hours on site.

After 18 months I moved into the Dubai office full time and now I dread having to drive to Abu Dhabi! It is horrible finishing work on a Thursday night at 6pm knowing you still have a good 2 hour drive home on SZR.

busybee2

people donot realise that driving from auh to dxb is actually an excellent road but its not like a commute in england of the same time factor on twisty little country roads... its like driving on an f1 race track!

scrubbedexpat141

My commute in the UK was 30mins from Southampton to Lymington on A Roads. Twisty, turny, normally quiet (apart from ****ing caravans in the summer).

Booting it in my nippy little Audi made the commute nothing but enjoyable...just picture:

Late summer evening
Window down
Cruising through sleepy Brockenhurst
Cig in hand
Some sort of 90's gangster rap loud but not offensive
Shades on.

I was a ****ing sight to behold. At least, I thought I was.

driftingaway

I guess "nothing to do" comes down to what you actually want to do! Abu Dhabi certainly doesn't have the level of Western nightlife/art galleries/brunch fun that Dubai does, and if that's your thing, sure - AD might be a bit quiet.

There are plenty of things to do in AD other than eat, get drunk or look at paintings, though, and for me it's come down to embracing my surroundings. In the 6 months since I got here I've got active in the 4x4 community (there are weekly desert drives, drinks nights, shisha and bbqs in the desert etc - and lots of good company), I cycle laps round Reem Island and do Yas F1 circuit every Tuesday evening, and alternate weekends between chilling by the pool, heading to the desert or driving somewhere new to explore it - hiking wadis in Oman was a recent highlight, and flights to Muscat with rotanajet cost about the same as a brunch...

Also, you can find a fairly decent hotel in Dubai for around 300 dirhams a night - stay in Dubai one weekend a month and it'll likely work out cheaper than driving from there to Abu Dhabi 5 days a week (and far less tiring/stressful).

On the other hand, I have a number of colleagues who drive SZR every day and swear that it's worth it to live in Dubai. I think they're mad, personally. I do the trip to Dubai once every two weeks for meetings and while it's getting better, it's never a relaxing cruise!

flood2

I would say that Dubai suits ages 20-30's, Abu Dhabi is more 30-40's. Depends on where you fit..I am in the latter.

I have lived in AD for 12 months on Reem Island and love it here ( after 18 months in Dubai) and I prefer it most of the time to Dubai. Less traffic, smaller and less pretentious and not so in your face. Lots of nice places in AD but you have to look for them, or talk to people to find out what is going on!

AD traffic is a breeze at weekends unlike Dubai which is aways queued up off SZR at every junction.

I could not personally do that drive every day from Dubai to AD just to live in Dubai for two days at weekend. You will be too knackered to do anything during week after driving to AD and back.

I very rarely head up to Dubai now, maybe once a month at a push. So much opened up in AD in last couple of years such as new malls etc. No need

driftingaway

Heh - I turned 30 last week, so maybe I was 6 months premature

Fellow Reem resident, too. If only we had a pub/bar...!

scrubbedexpat141

"No, Dubai's a bit shit and AD is really good now, there's loads to do and the road system isn't a complete ****ing joke and there's barely any traffic"


"Oh god. Just imagine if we had a pub. It might make these lies sound convincing."

Bahtatboy

I really don't think anyone was asking about the quality of the tarmac...

And no, its not like driving on an F1 track--they have corners and responsible drivers on them.

The road between AD and Dubai could have gold-flake-infused tarmac, titanium Armco, diamond-encrusted lights and Hasselblad speed cameras--it still wouldn't make it a good road because its filled with stupid, arrogant, rude, untrained, irresponsible fctards most of the time.

Fossildog

Trader Vics, walkable in this weather from Marina Sq anyway.

Just a shame they never completed the hotel at Paragon Mall, would have been an ideal local.

driftingaway

Good tip! I've walked to Bentleys at the Galleria before, that's not bad.

Fossildog

Never been to Bentleys, always mean to try it at is always seems to be buzzing. I have been to the Hidden Bar next door at the Rosewood though. Eye-wateringly expensive and (probably not surprisingly) not very busy. Two drinks came to 137 AED, although I got 6 olives 'free' in a little dish so not too bad I suppose! :/

Millhouse

Come to Dubai. I've paid 120AED for a single vodka redbull. Outrageous.

Bahtatboy

The drink or the price?

scrubbedexpat141

That's punchy and unnecessary. My Dad just arrived to surprise me, he's staying at the JW Marriott down the road and said he has to pay 60AED a day for internet or 100AED a day for good internet.

Hotels can be right thieving ***** eh.

driftingaway

The two tiered Internet thing really gets me. Like, there *has* to be a premium option, for everything. Even if it means limiting the non-premium option (it doesn't cost the hotel anything to run a faster connection).