While researching for our trip to Abu Dhabi we found out about the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and knew it was a must see on our trip. We headed over in the afternoon, aiming to join the 5pm tour. However when we arrived and realised I needed to queue for an abaya this ate into our time and we missed the tour. The detail in the design and the building itself are simply stunning so we’ll let the pictures do the talking:

Some things we found out about the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque:

• It’s the largest mosque in UAE
• During Eid, when we were there, more than 40,000 people may visit
• It covers an area of 30 acres
• It cost AED 2 Billion to build
• There are more than 80 domes
• It has possibly the biggest carpet in the world at over 60,000 sq ft

Tips:

• Visit around sunset so you can see the mosque in daylight and at night-time
• Ladies, if you think you’ll need an abaya give yourself plenty of time to collect it – look at the queue below, it took about 15-20 minutes (you’ll need to give ID and a phone number)
• Guys wear trousers & long sleeves and you shouldn’t need any extra cover-ups
• Join a tour – we didn’t make it in time for a tour but wish we had