This post provides a breakdown of the most popular Abu Dhabi bus tours, including pricing, discounts, reviews, and services.
Big Bus Tours is the largest operator of open-top bus sightseeing tours in the world, providing sightseeing tours in 22 cities across four continents.
You can hop on the bus to discover all the must-see monuments, landmarks, and architectures from the open-top Big Buses. You would have generally seen the buses in their maroon color. You can then hop off to explore the rich tradition at the Grand Mosque or the Heritage Village, explore and marvel at the Louvre and the Yas Island. You can easily spend the full day to travel and explore the city. Abu Dhabi has various pick-up and drops off points near all major attractions.
We will cover important details such as prices, what to expect, what you will see on your journey and additional activities that may be included.
- Classic Bus Ticket
You can discover Abu Dhabi with this classic bus ticket in air-conditioned Hop on Hop Off Buses. There is pre-recorded commentary in 8 languages. There are 2 routes in Abu Dhabi with a total of 24 different stops.
Each route can be finished in under or around 2 hours, so it shouldn’t take more than 4 hours to see everything in the city. This should leave you plenty of time to hop off and enjoy some of the additional activities.
The first route is the red route, with the first stop at 9 AM with the first bus and at 5 PM with the last bus of the day.
The Abu Dhabi bus tour give you the chance to see the sights of Abu Dhabi from a unique, top-deck perspective. The City Tour (Red Route) has 14 different stops where you can hop on and hop off to visit top Abu Dhabi landmarks and attractions.
The Island Tour (Green Route) lets you hop on hop off and show you the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Louvre Museum and Yas Island, home to Abu Dhabi's best adventure parks. This is the second route for the classic bus ticket with the first stop at 9 AM with the first bus and at 5 PM with the last bus of the day.
Tickets can be bought online or on street and are priced as under:
Adult price (Online): USD 40.80 (AED 150)
Adult price (on-street) USD 54.50 (AED 200)
Child price (Online): USD 40.80 (AED 150)
Child price (on-street): USD 54.50 (AED200)
- Dubai & Abu Dhabi Tour Package
In case you are interested in visiting Abu Dhabi from Dubai, Big Bus Tours also have a combo ticket option which includes a free shuttle transfer to and from Dubai.
This combo pack also includes all of the additional activities that you would receive from each 1-day ticket.
- 1-Day Hop-on-Hop-off Dubai Bus Tour
- 1-Day Hop-on-Hop-off Abu Dhabi Bus Tour
- Free Shuttle Service to and from Abu Dhabi
- Entry to 10 Dubai Museums
- Entry to Sky Tower
- Dhow Cruise
- Night Bus Tour
- 4 Free Walking Tours
Tickets: USD 125.21/ AED 459 (Adults) and USD 81.39/ AED 297 (Children)
You’ll have a total of two days to enjoy both tours, so there won’t be any rush to take advantage of everything included with this package.
Both tickets can be used on any two consecutive days within 6 months of the original purchase date. This means you can buy the ticket package months ahead of time and possibly even save some money by getting it during a sale.
We will now provide details about bus tours that don’t allow you to hop on and off. In addition to covering what you can expect, we will also include information about prices, tour duration and what you will see on your trip.
Gray Line Bus Tours offer an interesting deal if you want to take a day trip to Abu Dhabi and enjoy a tour of the city.
During this full-day tour, you’ll see sites such as the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Yas Island and Heritage Village. Entrance to the mosque is included, as are lunch and some free time at the Yas Mall.
Tickets: USD 97 (AED 356) for adults and USD 68 (AED 250) for children
Availability: Saturday - Thursday at 9 AM
Duration: 9 hours.
This is a great option for anyone who wants to see Abu Dhabi without needing a combo ticket from their competitors.
Pick-up and drop-off service are available from your hotel in Dubai.
Customers who decide not to take this bus tour can cancel their tickets up to 24 hours before the tour takes place.
- City Sightseeing Bus Tour
As with their competitors, this company also provides a combo ticket that combines a hop-on-hop-off tour of Dubai with a tour in Abu Dhabi.
However, the main difference between these two offers is that City Sightseeing only offers a guided city tour of Abu Dhabi instead of a full hop-on-hop-off experience.
To make up for it, they include a full 7-day ticket in Dubai and all of the additional activities that come with it.
- Twin City Pass
- 7-Day Dubai Bus Tour Ticket
- Abu Dhabi City Tour w/ Pick-up & Drop-off
- Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo Ticket
- Palm Jumeirah Cruise
- Dhow Creek Cruise:
- Dubai Creek Walking Tour
- Global Village Entry
Tickets: USD 180 for adults and USD 152 for children
Although they don’t offer a hop-on-hop-off tour of Abu Dhabi, their guided tour of the city does include stops at locations such as Yas Island, Marina Mall and the vegetable & dates market.
When you purchase this combo ticket, you will be asked to pick a preferred date for the Abu Dhabi city tour. You must take the tour within 1 week of redeeming your 7-day hop-on-hop-off bus tour in Dubai.
For more information on the 7-day ticket, check our hop-on-hop-off bus tours section.
Wonder Bus is a unique water bus that can go to both land & water. Wonder Bus Dubai gives you an unforgettable trip with your family to go to creek water by bus and they also have a city tour in Abu Dhabi throughout the week. You will have stopovers at Ferrari World and Dates Market, drive through Corniche, visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
You can opt for the tour with or without lunch at the Courtyard by Marriott.
This is a much more affordable option than the hop-on-hop-off bus tours, but you won’t be allowed to jump off and explore at your leisure.
This is an excellent alternative for anyone who wants to see the city and take a cruise without spending a lot of time going all over the place.
Tickets:
AED 125 without Lunch
AED 175 with Lunch
Both Big Bus Tours and City Sightseeing work with the major attraction passes offered in Abu Dhabi to provide their services for a lower price. Whether you just want to pay one flat price for everything or get a discount on specific activities, this is a great way to save money while on vacation in Dubai.
