Hop On Hop Off Bus in Abu Dhabi

One easy way to get around in a city is to go by a hop on hop off bus, something I love to do, especially when I visit a new city. I think it is a really good way to get around, but also to get an overview of the city as well as to see the most important or overall tourist attractions you want to see and do! 🙂

I have tried Hop on Hop off bus in many cities around the world, including Abu Dhabi. There are various bus companies competing with each other but in Abu Dhabi I went with the bus company Big Bus which I can highly recommend.

BIG BUS Abu Dhabi

When I boarded the Big Bus in Abu Dhabi, I first boarded a shuttle bus from the cruise terminal (due to I went on a cruise with Costa) that took us free of charge from the harbour to Abu Dhabi city and their connecting station where you can choose which bus route you want to go with. It is from here that you start your route. There we got off to change bus to either the red line or the green line that Big Bus offers in Abu Dhabi.

The green line

Since we wanted to see some things that were a priority for us, including the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, we chose to go with the green line first and then the red line. The green line is called “Island Tour” and is the longest trip of these two lines and takes about 2 hours. You start at the connecting station which is the same station as for Abu Dhabi Mall, ie the starting point. Then the bus stops at:

Louvre museum
Yas Mall
Sheikh Zayed Mosque
Wahat al karama memorial
Eastern Mangrooves
and then back to Abu Dhabi Mall, which is also the connecting station.

What I like about such buses is that you can get off if you want or just sit and continue the tour. If you want to go the whole lap without stepping off, thats fine, you decide for yourself how you want to do.

The purple line

There is a third line, the purple line but it only goes on Yas Island and is called “Island shuttle” bus. To go with that one, stop with the green line bus at the Yas Mall station and get off there to change the bus to the purple line that will take you to:

Yas Plaza
Yas Hotel
Yas Waterworld
Warner Bros
Ferrari World Yas Mall

The Red line

No matter which bus line you start with, the red line takes you through Abu Dhabi city, which I really recommend if you haven’t been to Abu Dhabi before. If you are only in Abu Dhabi during the day, I would personally take a taxi to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque and then do the Hop on Hop off bus red line that runs through the entire Abu Dhabi city and is called “City Tour”. Then you get the maximum out of your time here, in my opinion. You start at the connecting station which is the same station as the Abu Dhabi Mall. Then the bus stops at: