Dubai Is A City And Emirate In The United Arab Emirates Known For Luxury Shopping, Ultramodern Architecture And A Lively Nightlife Scene. Burj Khalifa, An 830m-Tall Tower, Dominates The Skyscraper-Filled Skyline. At Its Foot Lies Dubai Fountain, With Jets And Lights Choreographed To Music. On Artificial Islands Just Offshore Is Atlantis, The Palm, A Resort With Water And Marine-Animal Parks.

Khasab is a port city on northern Oman’s Musandam Peninsula. Khasab Fort has crenellated stone turrets, model wooden boats and a museum with handicrafts and archaeological finds. From Khasab Harbor, wooden boats cruise the Strait of Hormuz, offering rugged coastal views and dolphin sightings. South, past mountain villages and green valleys, Jabal Hareem peak is known for its marine fossils.

Muscat, Oman’s port capital, sits on the Gulf of Oman surrounded by mountains and desert. With history dating back to antiquity, it mixes high-rises and upscale shopping malls with clifftop landmarks such as the 16th-century Portuguese forts, Al Jalali and Mirani, looming over Muscat Harbor. Its modern, marble-clad Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, with 50m dome and prodigious Persian carpet, can accommodate 20,000 people.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, sits off the mainland on an island in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf. Its focus on oil exports and commerce is reflected by the skyline’s modern towers and shopping megacenters such as Abu Dhabi and Marina malls. Beneath white-marble domes, the vast Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque features an immense Persian carpet, crystal chandeliers and capacity for 41,000 worshipers.

Sir Bani Yas Island is part of the Al Gharbia region of the United Arab Emirates. It's dominated by the Arabian Wildlife Park, with its roaming giraffes, cheetahs and gazelles. Multiple archaeological sites across the island include the ruins of an ancient Christian monastery. Salt dome hills define the island’s desert interior. The coast features beaches, sea kayak routes and a shipwreck.