Louvre Abu Dhabi Visitor Guide
The Story behind the Floating Museum: Louvre Abu Dhabi
You’ve probably already heard about the legendary Louvre museum in Paris, France. It is one of the most famous museums in the world. France and the ever evolving United Arab Emirates worked together to bring the Louvre to the UAE. In 2007, French and UAE leaders created an intergovernmental agreement to allow the UAE to utilize the Louvre name and brand for 30 years thus creating Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel and was officially inaugurated on November 8, 2017. The museum is located on Saadiyat Island, which is a cultural district in Abu Dhabi. Saadiyat Island is a cultural hub with lots of art studios, museums, and festivals.
Know Before You Go
Ticket Information
Every person and child needs a ticket to enter, even the free children tickets. Anyone 18+ pays 63.00 AED or $17. Everyone under 18 is free. And any UAE nationals or residents are also free.
Buy your tickets here.
What to Wear and Bring
Abu Dhabi is a little bit more conservative than Dubai. Wearing modest clothes will make your experience better. For tips on what to wear please check out this post on modest wear. The sun is usually very hot so I recommend keeping a bottle of water, scarf, or hat in your bag. Try not to pack too heavy. There are a few restaurants/cafes at Louvre Abu Dhabi. I would skip their nasi goreng but I loved their mocktails! Umm Ali (bottom picture) is a typical UAE desert similar to a very milky bread pudding.
Hours
Architecture at the Louvre Abu Dhabi
The Louvre Abu Dhabi was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel and was officially inaugurated on November 8, 2017. The museum is located on Saadiyat Island, the cultural hub of Abu Dhabi. There are many other museums, festivals, and art studios in the area.
The first thing you’ll notice about Louvre Abu Dhabi is its large dome, composed of nearly 8,000 intricate metal stars. When the sun is shining, it causes the shadow to display a very beautiful display on the ground and surrounding water, as displayed below.
Exhibits
It’s easy to spend hours exploring the beautiful Louvre Abu Dhabi architecture but don’t skip out on the exhibits. The Louvre Abu Dhabi features a diverse collection of art and artifacts spanning different cultures and time periods. One exhibit showed the parallels and similarities of ancient art, sculpture, and religion. In the above photo, the black sculpture depicts the Egyptian goddess, Auset feeding her son, Heru. The brown photo is a west African depiction of a mother feeding her child; the third sculpture is from Greece. It was a great reminder that we have more in common than we think.
