Overnight Abu Dhabi Stopover of 20 to 23 Hours

With an hour to exit and a return three hours before departure, a 20 to 23 hour layover leaves 16 to 19 hours outside the airport. Take off seven or eight hours for sleep, and you still have eight to eleven hours of sightseeing across two half-days.

Most 20 hour layovers land in the evening and leave the next afternoon. This is how a typical one runs, landing at 5pm and departing at 1pm the next day:

1. 5:00pm: land, clear immigration.
2. 6:20pm: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, lit up after dark, until closing at 8:30pm.
3. 8:45pm: dinner on the Corniche, then check in at the hotel.
4. 8:00am: breakfast, then the Corniche waterfront and Emirates Palace from the outside, the opening stops of our half-day city route.
5. 10:00am: back at the airport, three hours before departure.

If you land after about 6:30pm, drop the mosque that evening and see it first thing the next morning, from 9am.

Two or three more hours open up the desert. The dunes look their best at dawn, and a sunrise desert tour can have you back at the hotel for breakfast and a shower. If an early start does not appeal, a morning desert safari leaves later and still returns before midday.

For something quieter, mangrove kayaking in the Eastern Mangroves suits a calm morning before an afternoon flight.

We book the hotel as part of your package, choosing it by where your morning plan starts.

• Book the mosque for the right day. Visits are booked on szgmc.gov.ae, up to a month ahead, with an AED 10 fee for tourists. If you land late, book it for the next morning.
• Keep a night bag in your carry-on. Checked bags usually stay with the airline overnight, so pack clothes and toiletries for one night.
• Check the day before you plan the morning. Louvre Abu Dhabi closes on Mondays, and the mosque closes on Friday from 11:30am to 2:30pm.
• Sort your visa before you fly. If your passport needs one, a transit visa arranged through your airline covers an overnight stop comfortably.