I visited the al ain oasis on the 20th of january 2023. I took the bus from Abu Dhabi's central bus station to Al Ain where I arrived around 2 hours later. I just walked from the bus station to the al ain national museum which was -unfortunetely-closed due to renovation works. I then walked to the nearby entrance of the oasis where a group of argentine soccer fans from Puerto Rico asked me to take a picture of them. Truly a funny situation.There are hardly any tourists in Al Ain,and I met a bunch of argentine soccer fans. Since I speak spanish I joined them and we walked together through the oasis. I learnt a little bit about life in puerto rico and their beloved club racing buenos aires.Two days later I learnt that their team racing had won 2-1 vs Boca Juniours in al ain.

Together we walked through the entire oasis till we arrived at the exit/entrance where the restaurants are located. The argentines had to leave due to lack of time. I for my part rented a bike for an hour and raced through the oasis once again taking every turn and discovering every inch of the oasis,so to speak.

I even managed to ride to the al ain palace,convincing the soldiers there to leave my bike just in front of their guard house(forbidden,but hey I am a foreign visitor.....besides I didnt have a lock for my rented bike). I rushed through that palace ,returned to the restaurants and handed in my rented bike. I then walked to the al ain palace again and discovered every room of that palace( free entrance)  without time pressure.

I then walked to the al jahilli fort which turned out to be an excellently renovated old fort. I also visited the very interesting photo exhibition there about a british aventurer and his two emirate servants and their adventures in arabia in the 40 and 50 ies. A kind of second Lawrence of arabia.

 

Very pleasant day and unesco site. I didnt see all objects of the al ain unesco site due to lack of time but I did have a very enjoyable day in al ain visiting some of the unesco sites.

Well,I was far more impressed by the oasis in Tozeur,Tunisia,than by the one in al ain,but the palace and the castles there made up for the less than overwhelming oasis.

All in all a very recomendable trip from Abu Dhabi or Dubai........just one warning............be at the bus station in al ain at least 30 minutes before departure time. Why ??? I was there on a friday, the muslims' saturday. 'You cant reserve your bus ticket,and the demand on a friday is bigger than on a normal working day. I arrived 15 min. before departure time and had to wait another hour for the next bus( every hour there is a bus to Abu Dhabi)