Ra's al Khaymah - emirate of United Arab Emirates

Ra's al Khaymah (also Ras al-Khaimah), colloquially known as RAK, is the most northern of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, and borders the Omani exclave Musandam.

Ras Al Khaimah is commonly referred to as the adventure hub of the United Arab Emirates and the Arabian peninsula, with various activities such as the longest zip-line in the world, kayaking, water skiing, Go Karting, golfing, mountain climbing and multiple mountain hiking trails available in the emirate making the emirate a common destination for adventurists. Ras Al Khaimah offers a different experience than the other emirates due to its mountains and different landscape, as well as having a large number of ancient archaeological sites, forts, and buildings.

Cities and towns

• Ras Al Khaimah City – the capital of the Ras Al Khaimah Emirate
• Rams - a small town with a rich tradition and culture. In the past Rams was a town of pearl divers and fishermen. A small harbour, beaches and bird-watching spots are the main attractions of Rams.
• Al Jazirah Al Hamra – known for having the best preserved traditional fisherman village in the UAE, nowadays it also has a new residential area with numerous real estate projects, Ice Land Water Park and industrial zone.
• Masafi – a town that famous for its bottled drinking water and agriculture.
• Sham - the border town with Musandam. It is worth to visit for its interesting old wadi settlements, rock engravings and harbour.

Other destinations

Understand

Ras Al Khaimah is nestled between the Hajjar Mountains on the East and the Persian Gulf on the West and shares mountainous borders with the Musandam Peninsula of Oman. With the completion of the new Emirates Highway, RAK is only about one hour from the emirate of Dubai.

H.H. Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi has been the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah since 1948. His son, H.H. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi was appointed Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler in June 2003.

The Emirate Ras Al Khaimah combines a fascinating and a relaxing tourist hub with its calm blue seas with clean white beaches, dramatic desert dunes and the majestic Hajjar Mountains. It has numerous fascinating tourist landmarks, beautiful wildlife conservations and sanctuaries. Golf has become one of the leading tourist attractions within the emirate.

Get in

See United Arab Emirates#Get in for visa details.

By plane

• Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (IATA: RKT RAK Airport), 25.613611°, 55.938889°. The national carrier is RAK Airways, that serves Dhaka and Chittagong Patenga in Bangladesh, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Kozhikode in India and to Cairo in Egypt. Only Oman Air and charter airlines serve the airport.

Other airports are Sharjah (IATA: SHJ) 80 km , Dubai (IATA: DXB) 90 km and Abu Dhabi (IATA: AUH) 240 km from Ras Al Khaimah.

By rail

There is no railway system in Ras Al Khaimah yet, however a national railway system called Etihad Rail is under development and will connect all the emirates of the UAE.

By car

Ras Al Khaimah has a border with Oman (Musandam). It is rather easy to enter and exit the country by car. RAK has road connections with all the other emirates. The Emirates Road (E311) allows reaching Umm Al Quwain (UAQ) in half an hour, Sharjah in less than an hour, Dubai in 1–1½ hour (depending on the traffic) and Abu Dhabi in around 2½–3 hours. The old Coastal Road (E11) is slower but takes you directly to Sharjah via UAQ and Ajman. Fujairah can be reached via the mountain passage or via Masafi (E18) in about 1-1½ hour.

By bus

There is daily modern bus service to Umm Al Quwain, Ajman, Sharjah and Dubai. The buses usually leave every hour from the RAK Public Taxi and Bust Stand (Al Faisal Rd, opp. The Cove Rotana) from around 07:00 until 20:00. One way tickets cost: 10 dirham UAQ, 15 dirham Ajman, 25 dirham Sharjah and 25 dirham Dubai.

By boat

There are no passenger boat carriers operating directly to Ras Al Khaimah.

Get around

By tour operator

A few tour operators (mainly in the international hotels) organize Ras Al Khaimah city tours. Most of the big hotels provide buses for their guests to the RAK Old City and shopping malls.

By taxi

Taxis or rental car are your only option to move around Ras Al Khaimah. Taxis use meters, are reasonably priced, easily available and honest. You can book a taxi 800 1 700 or just flag one on the street; it should not take more than a few minutes to find a taxi.

By car

Car rental is easily available option. Most of the roads in Ras Al Khaimah are in good condition and it is easy to find the way around (at least in the city). However, driving can be a challenging experience for those who are not used to slightly chaotic roads.

International car rentals are available in most of the hotels. There are also numerous smaller local companies around the town. You should expect to pay from 150 dirham for a small car per day.

On foot

Walking around Ras Al Khaimah is not easy due to the traffic, lack of sidewalks and zebra crossings and it is something not done and not recommended. For a pleasure walk, Corniche Road and beaches are the best and safest option.

By bus

Although the RAK Transport Authority has made plans to run buses within Ras Al Khaimah, so far no public buses are available.

See

• Ras Al Khaimah Old City - the oldest residential area in the city of Ras Al Khaimah with an old souq, old mosque, fishing harbour and Al Hisn Fort, which now host RAK National Museum.
• Ras Al Khaimah National Museum - the RAK National Museum is situated in Al Hisn Fort. It presents the history and culture of Ras Al Khaimah.
• Dhow Building Station – continuation of a long Ras Al Khaimah’s tradition of dhow building.
• Camel Race Track – taste of the Arabic heritage with excitement of the race.
• Prehistoric Shimal – one of the oldest settlements not only in Ras Al Khaimah but also in the region, it has remains of numerous ancient constructions such as Umm an-Nar tombs (2600-2000BC), Wadi Suq tombs (2000-1600BC), a second millennium BC settlement, findings from the Sassanian period (300-632AD) and the Abbasid era (750-1250AD).
• Sheeba’s Palace – the remains of the 16th century palace.
• Wadi Haqil – a large wadi, which up to the 1970s was a centre of pottery production started in the 15th century.
• Dhayah – a village that has remains of old tombs and settlements. It is mostly known for its hill top fort that was a last point of defence against the British who attacked Ras Al Khaimah in the 19th century.
• Ghalilah Village and Wadi – their main attractions include famous Stairway to Heaven track, ancient tomb, heritage village and fishermen houses.
• Sha’am – a town near the border with Musandam. It is worth to visit for its interesting old wadi settlements, rock engravings and small harbour.
• Wadi Bih – it is one of the picturesque wadis in the UAE. It has remains of old settlements, graveyards and breath taking scenery. In one of the tributary wadis, the Jebel Al Jais Mountain Resort is constructed.
• Falayah Fort – an old summer residence of the sheiks of Ras Al Khaimah. The General Treaty of Peace between the British and the local sheiks was signed there.
• Khatt – an oasis with thermal waters and numerous archaeological sites.
• Al Jazirah Al Hamra - the best-preserved fishermen village in the UAE.
• Southern Wadis - Wadi Asimah, Daftah, Munay’i, Shawka, Qawr, Safarfir – full of prehistoric sites, scenic and yet undeveloped.

Do

• Beach
• Fishing
• Ice land Waterpark - it offers more than 50 rides and numerous water games.
• Saqr Park - the Saqr Park is the Emirate’s biggest public park. It has some slides, electrical cars, computer games and other attractions for the young ones.
• Camel race track – camel race is an attraction not to be missed. The races take place on Fridays, early in the morning from October till March.
• Camping and picnicking – done everywhere, although mountains are particularly popular for camping and beach, Saqr Park, Corniche Road and Emirates Road are often chosen for picnicking.
• Golf – there are two golf clubs in Ras Al Khaimah. Tower Links Golf Club (18 hole) and Al Hamra Golf Club (9 hole).
• Shisha cafés – a rather relaxing and very local experience. Many restaurants offer shisha, and Corniche Road seems to be particularly popular.
• Shooting Club
• Powered parachuting
• Micro-Light flying
• Diving
• Mountain climbing
• Wadi bashing – Ras Al Khaimah has a wonderful mountains which are often visited by residents and tourists. A 4WD is a must.
• Bird watching
• Quad biking – popular activity amongst the local community, bikes can be rented at the Awafi desert area.
• Desert safaris – organized by most of the hotels.
• Cinemas - there are two cinemas in Ras Al Khaimah: Grand Manar (07 2278888) with mainly English-language movies and Gulf Cinema (07 2223313) with a range of Indian and Arabic movies.
• Corniche Road – it is one of the most popular places in Ras Al Khaimah, a centre of all action. It is a long street by the RAK Creek with a green promenade, attended mostly on the weekends. Picnics, jogging, roller-skating, biking are only few activities and sports that take place there.

Buy

• Old Souq – old souq is not that old, but it is the most traditional shopping experience you can get in Ras Al Khaimah.
• Al Nakheel – it is a district with numerous small shops. Because, numerous of these shops sell Indian products and there is a large Indian community living in this area, Al Nakheel is called by some a small India.
• Fish Market – interesting cultural experience and a chance to see a local sea life.
• Vegetable Market – situated under the bridge, is a colourful place, although most of the products are not locally produced
• Shopping malls – apart from smaller shops and shopping centres, there are three shopping malls in Ras Al Khaimah with Manar Mall (dead link: January 2023) being the most popular. Other are: Al Hamra Mall (dead link: January 2023) and Safeer Mall .

Eat

A typical Emirati food is not widely available but it can be found in so called ‘popular kitchen’ types of restaurants. Lebanese cuisine mixed with some Arabic and Indian influences is often considered a local food. What you can expect in the restaurant is traditional Lebanese mezze (hummos, mutabal, salads, falafel), kebabs, biryani, fish or lamb. Ras Al Khaimah's different cultures brought different tastes for food, restaurants of many types and origins are opened in the city. Considering a large number of Indians in Ras Al Khaimah, there are plenty of great Indian restaurants. All major international fast food restaurants chains are also present in Ras Al Khaimah and there are numerous local fast food outlets.

Vegetarians will be please to know that in most of the restaurants have at least one vegetarian option, there are also a few purely vegetarian restaurants in town and the concept is widely understood.

Drink

Arabic coffee and tea are available almost everywhere. So are the juices made from freshly squeezed fruits. Alcohol you can get only in the hotels, although you can buy it for your private use.

Sleep

• Creek Plaza Hotel, +971 7 2274443. Check-in: 15:00, check-out: undefined. 49 air-conditioned rooms, with cable television, mini-bar, telephone, and Internet. The hotel has a bar, currency exchange, and room service and can offer dry cleaning, laundry services, safe deposit boxes, and wake-up calls. 2022-06-27

Go next

• Musandam Peninsula: Omani exclave that borders RAK and seems to be a world away