Hatta is quite a special place in the United Arab Emirates. The best road to take is the one taking you through Oman, which means you have to check out of the UAE, in and out of Oman and back in to the UAE. All this is very straightforward, you don’t even have to leave your car like in other border crossings. That’s probably because most people take that road to go straight back into the UAE.

There is another road that doesn’t take you through Oman, but you need a 4×4 to traverse it because it takes you through the mountains. Hatta is located high in the Hajar Mountains. Even though it’s around 100km away from Dubai, it still belongs to the Emirate of Dubai.

It’s an easy day trip from either Abu Dhabi or Dubai.

Hatta Heritage Village

Hatta is famous for a few things. One of them is the Heritage Village which shows the traditional life of the area. The UAE has a lot of heritage villages. There’s also one in Dubai which I didn’t really visit, I just walk through it whenever I park the car there to go to the Creek. There’s also one in Al Ain and there’s one in Abu Dhabi, which I haven’t visited yet.

All these Heritage Villages are quite similar. They have some rooms that have been recreated with old artifacts. They also have courtyards where you can see the layout of the town. It’s nice if you’re on a day trip but not necessarily anything special.

This defence tower offers some nice views. Nowadays they put up wooden scaffolding to enter the building, back in the day soldiers used to climb into the entrance by using ropes.

Hatta Dam

I thought it was really special to find a dam in the UAE, especially one that is so gorgeous. The water and the surrounding mountains make the place really serene. When I visited it, there were no other people there so it was really peaceful.

Conclusion

Hatta makes for a nice day trip destination from Abu Dhabi or Dubai. The cultural sight is not worth making the long drive for, but the natural sights definitely make up for that. On the road from Dubai to Hatta you can also find beautiful red sand. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to visit the Hatta Rock Pools, but I’ve heard mixed reviews about it. Apparently, it has a lot of litter and nobody is looking after the place. Maybe it’s good I only visited the Heritage Village and the Dam because now I left with the best possible impression of this mountain village.

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