Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque: Rules, Fee and Hours for Visitors

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque charges visitors to enter. Its own FAQ gives AED 10 for visitors from outside the UAE, AED 8 for visitors who come through a tour operator and AED 5 for Emirates ID holders; worshippers enter free and need no ticket (checked November 2026). Visiting hours are 9:00 AM to 8:30 PM, last entry 8:00 PM, except on Fridays, when visitors are let in only from 9:00 to 11:30 AM and from 2:30 to 8:30 PM. On a day trip from Dubai the ticket is in the price: OceanAir Travels’ From Dubai: Abu Dhabi Premium Full-Day Sightseeing Tour, from US$55 on promotion, usually US$65 a person (checked November 2026), includes the entry ticket and a guided visit inside on every option.

The from-price is the small-group option with mosque entry: the mosque, then the Corniche, Emirates Palace and the Louvre Abu Dhabi as photo stops. Free cancellation until 24 hours before.

The fee

The mosque’s FAQ, checked November 2026. Official delegations pay a fee set by the entity concerned.

The fee is new. The National reported it on 17 September 2026, and many listings, blogs and older pages still describe the mosque as free to enter. The mosque also asks visitors to pre-book their visit and get an online access pass, from the booking page on its site.

The FAQ adds that the mosque runs free guided walk-in tours every day, in English and Arabic only, starting on the east side of the mosque; one answer gives them 30 to 45 minutes, another 45 to 60. You can also go round without a guide.

Visiting hours

The mosque’s visiting-hours page and FAQ, checked November 2026.

So, is the mosque open on Friday? Yes, but not over midday prayers: visitors cannot enter from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM. If a Friday is your only free day, ask the operator how the stops are ordered around that break.

In Ramadan the hours change. For the first 20 days the mosque is open to visitors 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM and 9:30 PM to 1:00 AM, on Fridays 2:30 to 6:00 PM and 9:30 PM to 1:00 AM; for the last 10 days 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, on Fridays 2:30 to 6:00 PM. The dates of Ramadan 2027 are on the mosque’s Hijri calendar page.

Holidays have their own hours too. For Eid Al-Adha the mosque’s home page listed 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM, Fridays 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 3:00 to 10:00 PM. Some tours print those holiday hours as the mosque’s usual ones; the table above is the standing schedule.

What to wear

The mosque’s code of conduct asks women to wear loose clothes that reach the ankles, with sleeves to the wrists and the hair fully covered, and nothing transparent or tight. Men may wear what they like, preferably covering the whole leg, but no transparent, tight or sleeveless tops. It also asks visitors to avoid heavy make-up, lots of jewellery, very bright colours and clothes with slogans. The FAQ puts it more strictly: “long, loose-fitting, ankle-length clothes for women and men”, and a headscarf for women.

Tour operators have to provide suitable clothes for their guests and tell them the rules in advance, according to the same code. On OceanAir’s tours women are lent an abaya, a long black dress with a headscarf, to hand back after the visit; nothing is provided for men, and shoulders, knees and tattoos have to be covered. One 2026 reviewer of an OceanAir day was turned away at the entrance and had to buy a headscarf, so dress for the rule rather than for the weather.

Getting in

The mosque stands between the three bridges that join Abu Dhabi island to the mainland, the Maqta, Mussafah and Sheikh Zayed bridges, and visitors enter by Gate 6, called Al Salam. The mosque provides no transport: you come by taxi, bus, your own car or a tour. Parking is in the southern car parks.

Inside the grounds:

• no food or drink; the FAQ includes water in that;
• no smoking anywhere on the grounds;
• photos for personal use, at the designated photo stops only;
• no drones, and no professional filming without the mosque’s permit.

There is a security check at the entrance, with separate lines for women and men. Wheelchairs can be borrowed from the security staff, and buggies run between the car parks and the start of the tours.

What a day trip from Dubai includes

The OceanAir days on this site include the ticket. The main tour includes the “Entry ticket to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque” and a guided visit inside with a licensed guide, on its cheapest option as on the premium ones. If the mosque is the only thing you want, OceanAir's half-day mosque tour includes the entry fee and a 1.5-hour guided visit, from US$49 on promotion, usually US$72 (checked November 2026), five hours with the drive.

On OceanAir's driver-only day, with Qasr Al Watan and Heritage Village, the mosque entry is included but a guide is not; the mosque’s free walk-in tour fills that gap. Its page also gives the Eid hours as the mosque’s hours.

See the mosque day's dates

For the rest of the day, what the from-price buys and Qasr Al Watan and the other add-ons cover what costs extra.