Museums
4 places across the emirates
Places
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Qasr Al Hosn
Qasr Al Hosn is the oldest standing building in Abu Dhabi city — a watchtower built around 1761 to guard the island's first freshwater well, expanded into the seat of the Al Nahyan ruling family, and reopened in 2018 as a museum after an 11-year restoration. The complex covers the inner fort, the white outer palace, the Cultural Foundation, and the working House of Artisans.
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Ajman Museum
Ajman Museum occupies Al Hisn Ajman, a coral-stone fort built around 1775 that served as the ruling Al Nuaimi family's residence and later as the Ajman police headquarters. Converted to a museum in 1981 and reopened to the public in 1991, it is the smallest of the Northern Emirates fort-museums but among the most atmospheric, with strong weapons, manuscripts, and pearling collections.
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Fujairah Fort
Fujairah Fort is the oldest fort in the UAE, built around 1670 from local stone and mud-brick on a rocky outcrop above the old town. Partially destroyed by the Royal Navy in 1925, restored 1997-2000, and paired with an open-air Heritage Village recreating traditional Emirati life.
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National Museum of Ras Al Khaimah
The National Museum of Ras Al Khaimah occupies the 18th-century Al Qawasim Fort in RAK's old town — a former ruling-family residence converted into a museum in 1987. Its galleries cover 7,000 years of regional history, with strengths in Bronze Age archaeology, the pearling economy, and Qawasim maritime power.