Aden

Worth seeing in and around Aden

7 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   Cisterns of Tawila

   The Cisterns of Tawila, or the Tawila Tanks, is a historic site in Aden, Yemen designed to collect and store the rain that flows down from the Shamsan massif through Wadi Tawila, and to protect the city from periodic flooding. The site consists of a series of tanks of varying shape and capacity.

   2.9 km · historic site in Aden, Yemen · Wikipedia
2. 02
   University of Aden

   The University of Aden is the first Yemeni university, founded alongside Sana'a University in 1970. The university is a non-profit public higher education institution located in the metropolis of Aden.

   1.4 km · university in Aden, Yemen · Wikipedia
3. 03
   St. Francis of Assisi Church, Aden

   The St. Francis of Assisi Church or the Proto-Cathedral of St.

   6 km · church in Aden, Yemen · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Aidrus Mosque

   The Mosque of Abu Bakr al-'Aydarus or Aidrus Mosque is a Sufi mosque in Aidrus Street in Crater, Yemen. One of the principal mosques in Aden, it is named after Abu Bakr al-Aydarus, the wali of Aden.

   3.1 km · mosque in Crater, Aden, Yemen · Wikipedia
5. 05
   Big Ben Aden

   Big Ben Aden is a clock tower built by British engineers, along with locals, beside Aden Harbour in Yemen during the period that Aden Province was a territory within the British Empire. It is superficially similar to the Elizabeth Tower, the famous clock tower attached to the Palace of Westminster in London.

   5.7 km · clock tower in Aden, Yemen · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Sira Fortress

   Sira Fortress/Castle is a military site in Aden, Yemen. The original fortress dates to the 11th century, and is still in use today by the Yemeni military.

   2.8 km · historical fort · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Al-Maashiq Palace

   Al-Ma’ashiq Palace is a palace in Aden, in Yemen, that has served as the seat and residence of the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, who is internationally recognized as head of state of the Republic of Yemen. The Palace is located on the waterfront in Aden, in the Crater District.

   4.6 km · building in Yemen · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

Sunsets, lagoons (for bird-watching), the Aden museum, Crater (including a shopping district), people, beach and reservoirs. Sights by neighborhood:

1. 01
   Big Ben Aden
2. 02
   St. Francis of Assisi Church
3. 03
   Queen Victoria Park
4. 04
   Aden Military Museum
5. 05
   National Museum
6. 06
   Central

From Wikivoyage: Aden, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

Among activities carried out by the locals that you can easily sample: snooker ("billiard") hanging out at fresh juice bars or small restaurants with kubz (giant pita bread) chewing betel (2 versions: tobacco, sweet). This causes cancer in the long-run, and also stains teeth and gums red. Tobacco version is very strong and spitting regularly is highly recommended.

From Wikivoyage: Aden, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

Aden is especially known for its fresh fish. Breakfast dishes Foul beans and baguette bread or khobez (round pita bread) Khmir (sweet square doughnuts) and tea with milk Dinner or lunch Moufa or mukbza restaurants have mufa fish, khobez rushwsh, mulwah, rateb (round bread). Zurbian, a mixture of lamb and colored rice. Saiydia, fish steak (tuna or king fish) and rice.

From Wikivoyage: Aden, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Aden

Airports

Aden (ADE), 3 km · Djibouti-Ambouli (JIB), 247 km

Stations

Aden International Airport, 3.3 km · port of Aden, 4.5 km · RAF Khormaksar, 3.3 km

• Sanaa → Aden

  300 km · quickest by air, 4h 10m · $150–220
  GuideToday
• Mukalla(Riyan) → Aden

  508 km · quickest by air, 3h 56m · $140–210
  GuideToday
• Seiyun → Aden

  535 km · quickest by air, 3h 58m · $140–210
  GuideToday
• From anywhere

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Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Aden

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Aden. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Aden – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.