The UAE is a short-distance country where the emirates differ more than the skyline suggests. Dubai is built around scale and shopping, Abu Dhabi holds the larger cultural institutions, and Sharjah keeps a more conservative, museum-heavy character. Driving between them takes about an hour or two.
The guides here cover Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the UAE overall. Season matters more than in almost any destination on this site: from June to September daytime heat makes outdoor sightseeing impractical, and the comfortable window runs roughly November to March. Dress codes apply in malls and religious sites, alcohol rules differ by emirate, and Sharjah is notably stricter than Dubai on both counts.