To experience the cultural heart of Abu Dhabi, visit Saadiyat Island, where art, history and human stories come together in one extraordinary place. Saadiyat Cultural District is home to globally renowned cultural institutions, including Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, and Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, making it one of the most significant cultural districts in the world.

In celebration of International Museum Day on 18 May, below is a list of eight must visit museums in Abu Dhabi. To mark the occasion, visitors can also enjoy free entry to Zayed National Museum, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi and Louvre Abu Dhabi from 16 to 18 May. All three museums are co-located at the Saadiyat Cultural District, so there’s no better time to discover the sights:

Zayed National Museum

In less than six months since opening, Zayed National Museum has earned two major international recognitions: listed as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 World’s Greatest Places 2026 list and recognition by Prix Versailles as one the world’s seven most beautiful museums. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Lord Norman Foster of Foster + Partners, the museum’s falcon wing in flight inspired towers house six permanent galleries, a temporary exhibition and Al Masar Garden, an outdoor gallery. The museum traces more than 300,000 years of human history on this land, and honours the legacy of the United Arab Emirates’ Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Highlights include the impressive Magan Boat, a research project and collaboration between Zayed University and New York University Abu Dhabi reconstructing an 18-metre a Bronze Age boat , and the Abu Dhabi Pearl, one of the world’s oldest natural pearls.

Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi

Taking visitors on a 13.8-billion-year journey from the creation of the universe through the history of life on Earth, this is natural history on an extraordinary scale. Excitingly, this is the first time this story is told through an Arabian lens, rooting a global narrative in the region’s own remarkable scientific heritage. The permanent galleries take visitors from the Big Bang through the age of dinosaurs and mammals to the living world we know today, with hero specimens including Stan the T. rex – one of the largest and most complete dinosaur skeletons - ever discovered – and the Murchison Meteorite. Two international temporary exhibitions are currently on show: March of the Triceratops, featuring the only known Triceratops herd ever discovered, and the 61st Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.

Louvre Abu Dhabi

The first universal museum in the Arab world, Louvre Abu Dhabi, showcases global human creativity across more than 10,000 years of civilisation. Its architecture and setting are just as profound, with its famed dome seemingly floating above the museum and filtering the sun to create a ‘rain of light’ effect below. Don’t miss Picasso, the Figure, a landmark exhibition that opened on 21 January, tracing the artist’s seven-decade obsession with the human form, on view until the end of May. It features over 130 works and places Picasso in direct conversation with Arab modernist artists, a pairing not found anywhere else in the world.

teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi

Discover a new kind of creativity at teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, a groundbreaking digital art destination in Saadiyat Cultural District. At over 17,000 square metres, it’s the largest purpose-built digital art space in the world. Here, light, water and movement come together in immersive installations that shift in real time, responding to the people moving through them. No two visits are the same. Two new artworks, Massless Suns and Dark Suns and Megaliths in the Roots Garden, have recently been added, making it a good time to visit or go back for another look.

Al Ain Museum

Established by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 1969, Al Ain Museum is the UAE’s first museum and a key starting point for Abu Dhabi’s cultural story. Located within Al Ain’s UNESCO World Heritage Oasis, the museum traces the region’s history from around 300,000 years ago to the present day. Through archaeological discoveries, artefacts, and historical collections, it presents the long human journey of Al Ain, from early evidence of human presence and oasis life to trade, craftsmanship, and cultural traditions that shaped the land over millennia. A visit to the museum connects naturally with Al Ain’s wider heritage landscape, including Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain Oasis, and the surrounding historic sites.

Qasr Al Hosn

This historic fort incorporates the oldest stone structure in Abu Dhabi; a watchtower built in the 1760s to protect a freshwater source. This now-imposing building was added to over the years, with the Inner Fort constructed in 1795 and the Outer Palace built between 1939 and 1945. Once home to the ruling family, it was transformed into a museum in 2018 after a decade of intensive conservation and restoration work. Walking through is like stepping into a time capsule, with artefacts and archival materials dating as far back as 6000 BC.

Al Maqta’a Museum

Al Maqta’a Museum is housed in Al Maqta’a Fort, which reopened after major restoration a year ago. Exhibits include vintage police vehicles, period uniforms and archival materials, while the 18th-century Al Maqta’a Tower, one of Abu Dhabi’s earliest defensive structures, still stands in the waterway just outside.

Delma Museum

Located 42km off the coast of Abu Dhabi in Al Dhafra Region, Delma Island was first inhabited nearly 7,000 years ago and remains a treasure trove of important archaeological finds and historic buildings. The museum itself is housed in a building dating to the turn of the 20th century, once the home and commercial base of a pearl merchant. Getting here is part of the experience: a ferry crossing that makes this one of Abu Dhabi’s most rewarding off-the-beaten-track cultural days out.