17 hours transit time to kill in Abu Dhabi. Any idea what could I do?

Flying from New York to Dhaka, Bangladesh. I will have to stay in Abu Dhabi for 17 hours for the next flight. obviously the airline is providing a hotel in the city but I have no clue what I could do to spend this spare of time in a budget price. I know UAE is very expensive

head upto any mall look for confectionery, or electronics, eye wear. even have a look at smokes, booze etc.

dining is not dear , so why not find a good joint and sit down and chill out. or better get a massage and try to sleep for few hrs

Buy a 24 hour visa at Abu Dhabi, go out of the airport, take a cab to dubai. Visit places in Dubai like Dubai Media City, Dubai Corniche, Snow World and then come back to Abu Dhabi. You'll meet many girls there, so you wont have to worry about getting lonely and bored.

Depending what Hotel you'll stay. Visit the pool and relax. Go and visit the malls like Abu Dhabi Mall, Al Wahda Mall and Marina Mall. Go and visit the Emirates Palace. Visit the Heritage village. Take a walk at the Corniche. Take a walk through the city. Visit the Gold Souq. All that is for free. You also can visit Madinat Shopping Center and have a complete meal for Dhs 18 or Ponderosa Steakhouse (same area) and all you can eat for Dhs 40. There are many small cafeterias (Indian, Pakistani, Philippino) where you can eat good for very cheap. Also cabs are cheap in Abu Dhabi. But take the "old" ones which are white/green/gold.

17 hours are not much deducting the time getting out of the airport and getting to the city and then checking in again and also maybe taking some rest.

Let me know what hotel you'll stay in and I will tell you what places are close to it.

Take care and welcome for a short stay.

Go to the Mall, there are sales going on right now. The best mall Is the Marina Mall. Or, go to Medinat Zayed Center, you will find lots of things there, all reasonally price. You can bargain a little at some of the stalls there.

Go to the beach. I just went there recently. There's a nice beach not far from the airport its called: Rass il akhdar. It's free and its not to cold in abu dhabu. Take a taxi there. They're really cheap. It's about a dollar.

If you want to visit the malls, go to either Marina Mall or Abu Dhabi mall. Shopping in Abu Dhabi is great & there's no tax!

You can also take a walk along the Corniche, it's really beautiful & there are always people jogging and walking along it :P

Oh, and you should definitely visit Emirates Palace. Seriously, this place is amazing. There are lots of little lunch places, an all you can eat buffet (not exactly for if you're on a budget, but amazing food anyways) & a couple of places to pick up some sweets & light snacks.. and there is also a sort of museum inside about the different projects going on in Abu Dhabi (Le Louvre, the Guggenheim, all that) & about the history of Abu Dhabi which is really interesting
The grounds are really beautiful, and so is the inside! To see some pictures, look on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Pa...

Other than that, you should try & visit the gold souks, the price of gold can be bargained down so low it's great, and I just love souks it's a great place to soak up atmosphere, even if you aren't planning on buying

And the hotel will also offer things to do, like the pool, but you should have lunch at a really good restaurant, if you don't want to opt out on the more pricier lunch at Emirates palace (careful, the buffet doubles it's price on Fridays) than I suggest going to Mawaweel, the Lebanese Flower, or if you don't like arabic food, there are many other restaurants you can find in America (Chili's, TGI Friday's) but since you're here you might as well experience things you can't find in your own country!

:)

leave the airport .. go to a traveling agency .. arrange for another visit to the UAE because 17 hours are not enough @ all ..

good luck and have a safe trip =)