Culture, Qatar

With its long, elegant corniche bristling with futuristic skyscrapers, Doha – the capital of Qatar – has enjoyed a transformational decade. The most exciting new development is the spectacular Museum of Islamic Art, designed by Chinese-American architect IM Pei. Rising in a series of limestone cubes from a purpose-built island, it houses the biggest collection of its kind in the world.
• ITC Classics (01244 355 527, itcclassics .co.uk) offers five nights at the Ritz Carlton Doha from £1,180pp, inc flights

Scenery and art, Abu Dhabi

High culture is also a high priority in Abu Dhabi, the largest and richest of the United Arab Emirates, although the most prestigious projects – new branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums – are yet to open. Outside the capital, the peaceful city of Al-Ain has atmospheric old forts, a beautiful date-palm oasis and a lively old camel market. In the desert far to the south lies the Liwa oasis, a vast arc of villages and farms in an awe-inspiring landscape of sand dunes.
• Destinology (0800 634 2844, destinology.co.uk) has a seven-night tour of Abu Dhabi, including the Anantara Qasr Al-Sarab Hotel in the Liwa oasis, from £1,659pp inc flights

Museums, Sharjah

Sharjah, the third largest emirate, is socially conservative, with a strict ban on alcohol, but it's worth a visit for its lively souk and many small galleries and museums – including the impressive Museum of Islamic Heritage and the Bait al-Naboodah, the home of a 19th-century pearl-fishing family.
• Cox and Kings (020 7873 5000 coxandkings.co.uk) offers an eight-day tour of the emirates, including Sharjah, from £2,295, inc flights

Coast, Fujairah

Mountainous little Fujairah has the loveliest coastline in the UAE (though it's on the Gulf of Oman, not the Arabian Gulf), with clear waters and white sand beaches. The drive from Fujairah town to the sleepy fishing village of Dibba is spectacular – and from there, you can take a dhow to unspoiled dive sites on Oman's spectacular Musandam peninsular.
• Emirates Tours (0844 800 1400, emiratestours.co.uk) offers three nights in Fujairah from £610pp, inc flights

Remote, Oman

Oman's remote Musandam peninsula offers amazing scenery: rocky fjords rise sheer from the sea, dolphins leap alongside traditional wooden dhows and a handful of slumbering villages guard access to the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway. Musandam's dusty capital, Khasab – newly linked to Muscat by regular fast ferry – gazes out to the Gulf from behind its modest fort, built by the Portuguese in the 17th century and honoured this year with the international Museums and Heritage award for its renovation, excellent displays on Omani history and ongoing community engagement.
• Oman Tourism (omantourism.gov.om). National Ferries Company (nfcoman.com). Oman Air (0844 482 2309, omanair.com) flies direct from Heathrow to Muscat