DCT Abu Dhabi has launched five self-guided audio tours around Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and Al Dhafra. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi
DCT Abu Dhabi has launched five self-guided audio tours around Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and Al Dhafra. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi
DCT Abu Dhabi has launched five self-guided audio tours around Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and Al Dhafra. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi
DCT Abu Dhabi has launched five self-guided audio tours around Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and Al Dhafra. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

Self-guided audio tours launched for Abu Dhabi's hidden gems


Evelyn Lau
  • English
  • Arabic

Visitors and residents in the UAE can now explore the capital’s hidden gems through a series of new self-guided audio tours launched by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.

Using the VoiceMap Audio Tours app, the tours not only cover Abu Dhabi city but also Al Ain and Al Dhafra, taking listeners on a journey through history and modern culture.

The five audio guides currently available to download are: Abu Dhabi Skyline Tour; Modern Heritage Tour of Downtown Abu Dhabi; The Historical Heart of Abu Dhabi; Al Ain Nature & History Tour; and the Discover Liwa Driving Tour.

The first 25,000 downloads of the five audio tours are free to download. Photo: DCT Abu Dhabi
The first 25,000 downloads of the five audio tours are free to download. Photo: DCT Abu Dhabi

The guides take users from ancient times into the present, with the freedom to explore, learn and share. The informative tours provide in-depth looks at a variety of topics and reveal fascinating insider information that is not available anywhere else.

Users do not need to create an account to be able to download and listen to an audio tour. The first 25,000 downloads of the five tours are available free of charge.

DCT Abu Dhabi said it expects the initiative to be popular as it will showcase the diversity and beauty of the emirate in a new way, while also presenting Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra to wider audiences.

Getting started with the self-guided audio is simple. Once the app is downloaded, there is no need for a Wi-Fi or data connection. Since it is a digital experience, users can pause and pick up the tours at their own convenience.

More self-guided audio tours are in plans for other attractions in the emirate in the future.

Coming soon

Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura

When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Akira Back Dubai

Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as,  “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems. 

Updated: December 20, 2021, 11:30 AM