Best way to get from Dubai to Abu Dhabi (and back) in a day?
 

I'm headed to Dubai in early March, and am planning on taking a day trip to Abu Dhabi between conference obligations (leave on a weekday morning, return the same evening). Traveling by car seems most comfortable.

Any recommendations for reliable car service with predictable availability in both cities?

Best could mean fastest or cheapest - or something in-between :)

Limo or taxi would the fastest (if we discount the idea of helicopter ...). Pricey though. Car rental is an option if you are confident: parking can be a faff, and be careful about speeding - you risk fines surfacing later for both.

The bus from Ghubaiba bus station (on the Dubai metro) to the very central Abu Dhabi bus station is every 15 minutes or so and excellent value at around £5 each way.

The trip will take about 2 hours, car or bus. OK, a car might shave a bit off that - but speed is controlled.

Not sure what you'll want to see in Abu Dhabi, but you'll need shortish taxi rides to get to the Grand Mosque or the Louvre. Both are worth the trip: the former is free, the museum around £12 admission.

My experience, I've always used Ethad to fly into Abu Dhabi and rented a car to drive to my hotel in Dubai. From Abu Dhabi International Airport to Armani Hotel/Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall area is about 1 hour 15 minutes, You'll be probably driving on Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rasid Road, which is a four lane highway. The roads are safe. If you have a rental, it will warn you about your speed, about 120km. When you drive to refill you car, a gas station attendant will pump your gas for you.

If you rent a car at Abu Dhabi Airport, renting from Sixt, a representative will use a whatsup app and contact you and meet you outside the baggage claim area. On the day you return the car, you will contact them and they will meet you at the terminal to return the car. From the other main rental companies, they have a small rental car area, remember where this is at, they do NOT have signs around the airport. It was frustrating looking for the car rental return area, if you are in a rush and trying to catch a flight, you'll probably be late. Leave some time. Good luck

That'll be (just under) two hours each way on the bus: but of course you have transit time to/from the Dubai bus station.

Car should be faster, but it all depends where you are in Dubai. Traffic can be nasty.

The attractive feature of the bus is comfort, low-stress, and of course the price - under USD15 round-trip. It drops you in the central transport hub of Abu Dhabi, from where you can start spending the saved cash on taxis...

Self drive is easy on the motorway, but can get a little confusing in city traffic. Driving standards are generally good, though there are very definitely nutters around - and other drivers aren't always helpful/forgiving if you get yourself badly positioned. Speed cameras are a problem for newby drivers, it's easy to drift above the limit. Locals know when and where to slow down. In the city parking can be a faff. Rental, tolls, gas and parking do mount up.

A car + driver for the day would be the "best" solution, freeing you up for being a tourist in Abu Dhabi. But it's likely to be expensive. You could ask around once you are in Dubai. Your concierge should be good for giving you an idea of the absolute ceiling to prices :)

Well, You have two options here, first of them which I do recommend actually is to have an Abu Dhabi tour from Dubai. Such a tour is available as bus tour of as private tour. bus tour could be at 200 AED.
Second option just in case you would love to do it on your own is to take a RTA bus from Dubai. There are two buses from two bus station in Alghubaiba and Ibn Batuta mall station. tickets is something like 30 AED per way. But in Abu Dhabi you need to hire private taxis to tour between attractions. Road between two cities could be like 1.2 Hrs if with a private transportation and for sure it takes more time if with bus tour.

Thanks! I ended up going the tour route. Super convenient and not too expensive.

Generally you have three option to go to to Abu Dhabi either by plane this is the fastest and most expensive option, second option rent car or limo this intermediate in cost and in time , third and most practical and reasonable option is to use bus from Ghubaiba bus station near metro to the very central Abu Dhabi bus station but this will need you to wait the bus for a while .
Regard to my recommendation about things to do in A bu Dhabi first visit ferari, aqua park, and Louver museum.

if you want to move through the car then the only and best option is renting a car. that would be so cost saving and comfortable for you as you don't want to travel through public bus.

Which tour company did you go with? How much time did they allow you to spend at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque? My biggest concern is being corralled from spot to spot, so I was thinking about going to taxi route. Tour would definitely be cheaper though.

I went with ABC tours, which picked me up from the hotel. The bus was air conditioned and not too crowded. We were allowed to spend 1.5 hours at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which was sufficient time for me to see what I wanted to at a relaxed pace. Additional stops included Ferrari world (I wasn't super interested in this one, but we were only there for half an hour), a rug merchant (interesting, but the sales aspect was somewhat aggressive), lunch, Heritage Village, and a date market (excellent; picked up lots of dates).

For reference, one of my Uber drivers had offered to give me a day tour of Abu Dhabi that consisted of similar stops, but the price he quoted was higher.

The regular bus really is worth consideration, especially if travelling alone or as a duo. The bus is comfortable, and of course air conditioned. They run every twenty minutes or so and the journey takes only a little longer than a car would. A ticket is something over $5 in each direction.

Easy enough to get a taxi or uber at Abu Dhabi bus station, or anywhere else in city: taxis are heavily regulated and won't break the bank. You won't be corralled: you can visit the things you want to see and avoid the "carpet shop" stops.

Ghubaiba bus station in Dubai won't win any prizes for comfort but it is central and on the metro: Abu Dhabi's central bus station is a joy in comparison.