Which glitzy destination is more fun - Dubai or Abu Dhabi?

Both of these glamorous metropolises know how to spruik, but which are you hearing loudest? Our duelling experts help you decide.

By Amy Cooper

I'm guessing you're not visiting the UAE for its unspoilt wilderness or stripped-back simplicity, so why settle for anything less than the biggest, tallest, fastest, shiniest pinnacle of excess?

Dubai is the emirate with everything. The UAE's megapolis of maximalism out-dazzles all its neighbours - including the capital Abu Dhabi - on a scale so grand that normal units of measurement become meaningless. It's easier to use football pitches: palm-tree-shaped man-made archipelago, Palm Jumeirah, spreads across a swathe of azure Arabian Gulf the size of 600 of them. Dubai Mall, the world's largest shopping centre, occupies a 200-football-pitch slice of real estate. The gleaming glass exterior of Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, equates to 18 football pitches. IMG Worlds of Adventure, the world's biggest indoor theme park, spans 28 football pitches. Burj Lake, where Dubai Fountain shoots 83,000 litres of water 140 metres in the air nightly, is a mere two football pitches, as is the world's biggest frame, Dubai Frame.

This is a city with more world records than you can sheikh a stick at. Dubai also boasts the world's three tallest standalone hotels, topped by the soon-to-open 82-floor, 365-metre Hotel Ciel. Dubai Fountain is the world's tallest performing fountain, Burj Khalifa has the world's highest restaurant (Atmosphere), and underwater amusement park Deep Dive Dubai houses the world's deepest swimming pool.

In Dubai, all that glitters is almost certainly gold. The seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel has 24-carat gold-plated interiors and 24-carat gold iPads for complimentary guest use. On any day, up to 10 tonnes of solid gold is on sale in Dubai Gold Souk, one of the world's biggest gold markets and the original inspiration for Dubai's nickname, "City of Gold". Gold and pearls kicked off Dubai's remarkable rise from tiny trading post to spectacular citadel (before oil finished the job) and you can revisit those pre-skyscraper origins in the old souks and winding alleyways of the historic neighbourhoods on the banks of Dubai Creek.

Museums featuring coins, coffee, calligraphy and more now inhabit the 19th-century buildings in Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, on the creek's western banks, close to the city's oldest building, the 1781 Al Fahidi Fort. Made from coral and shells, the former garrison stands in stark contrast to its steel and glass cousins, but just as proudly. It was the Burj Khalifa of its time.

A traditional abra ride across the creek and you're back to modern Dubai, marvelling at Swarovski crystal ceilings, underwater restaurants and indoor alps, wondering what the heck they'll build next. A hotel made of champagne? A staircase to Mars? Trees that grow diamonds? In sky-high Dubai, anything's possible.

By Mal Chenu

Springing to life from barren desert sands like two Roses of Jericho just fifty-odd years ago, today's Abu Dhabi and Dubai are twin testaments to forward-thinking, visionary ambition and - naturally, of course - the power of oil and gas money.

There's always so much building going on, the national bird should be the crane.

Just an hour apart, the twins are the big kids in the family of seven we know as the United Arab Emirates.

While they share many traits, these twins are fraternal rather than identical.

Draw back the dishdashas and you'll find Abu Dhabi is the prettier, classier, more urbane Emirate. Abu Dhabi ("The Dhab" to its mates) doesn't have to bang on about having the fastest this or the biggest that or the most expensive whatever. Abu Dhabi is not just the capital city of the UAE; it is the spiritual and cultural capital, too.

You could visit the Dubai Mall shopping centre, which is as big and dry as a desert, or you can step into Louvre Abu Dhabi (which, to use Amy's measuring meme, covers four football pitches) and see masters borrowed from the OG Louvre as well as fine Middle Eastern and Emirati art.

You could kink your neck staring up at Dubai's Burj Khalifa, a building with more levels than a Super Mario Bros video game, or you can explore the transcendent Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, a spiritual masterpiece as majestic within as it is from a distance. A white marble marvel, the mosque holds as many people as the Sydney Cricket Ground. And unlike the SCG, everyone is welcome, even English cricketers.

Louvre Abu Dhabi is the current star of the Saadiyat Island Cultural District but the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Zayed National Museum will add further cultural riches when they open next year.

You can see the new at Etihad Modern Art Gallery in Al Bateen and the old at Miraj Islamic Art Centre Museum in the heart of the city.

Or discover the origins and history of Emirati culture at the city's oldest building, Qasr Al Hosn in Khalidiya, a watchtower and fort built in the 18th century to protect a freshwater well.

Abu Dhabi Heritage Village in the marina area is a reconstructed walled village providing an insight into pre-oil-era life here. Bedouin culture is revealed in the form of goat-hair tents, camel tending and artisans at work in swordsmith, glass-blowing, tannery and pottery workshops. The Women's Handicraft Centre in Al Mushrif focuses on traditional crafts such as local dress, silver thread works and weaving.

Wherever you look in Abu Dhabi, you'll find distinctive - and specialised - cultural spectacles. If you're looking for a taste of Emirati artistry and refinement, a little Dhab'll do ya.