18wheeler_vanrekt

Hi all, I'm hoping to do the following:
- Leave my hotel in the Corniche area in the afternoon, with luggage in tow
- Visit the Shiekh Zayed Grand Mosque taking a taxi/Careem from the Corniche hotel
- Take a taxi/Careem/Bus from the mosque to Dubai (I know, I know... hotel transfer. How much should I expect that ride to cost anyway?)

In these COVID times with some luggage storage centers closing "for safety", does the Shiekh Zayed mosque have any place to store bags during a visit these days? If not, has anyone had luck requesting a driver between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, who is willing to stop off at the mosque for however long a visit usually takes?

Thanks in advance! Would rather not do a Careem there and back, and THEN all the way to Dubai as the mosque is en route...

IAN-UK

I have no answer to the baggage storage facilities, but i guess the mosque administrators don't want people wandering round with backpacks, so there's likely to be some facility for storage, though it might be limited.

From the comfort of your hotel you should be able to get definite answers about storage at the mosque, and at al Wahda bus station.

Unless time is limited I'd suggest the simplest and cheapest option is do a morning trip to the mosque by careem, then back to the hotel, pick up your bags and careem it to al Wahda for the bus to Dubai. The ride to the mosque should be 20 minutes or so, cost around AED40-50 each way unless careem has peak multipliers applied, reckon another 20 to the bus station.

The bus is cheap (still AED25 I think), frequent, comfortable and not much slower than a taxi (though of course you'll still have to metro/taxi to you final destination in Dubai).

If you want to throw money at it to save time, reduce hassle, you could always negotiate a stop at the mosque on a drive between hotel and Dubai. Careem drivers can make things work, but you'll probably have to up the fare by AED100 or so (just top of my head estimate !). So total cost upwards of AED450, depending on your negotiating skills, type of car and the time of day, and where you are heading in Dubai.