National Museum of Ras Al Khaimah

The National Museum sits in the old fort just south of the creek and occupies the rambling courtyard residence that until the 1960s belonged to the ruling family. The collection is modest but the building itself is the main attraction: thick coral-and-shell walls, a wind tower, traditional barasti palm-frond ceilings, and the family quarters opening onto the central courtyard.

The exhibits cover the prehistory of the emirate (with finds from the Hajar Mountains going back 7,000 years), the medieval port of Julfar, traditional Bedouin life, and the maritime heritage that gave RAK its long-running rivalry with Oman and the British. A small gallery is dedicated to Ahmed ibn Majid, the 15th-century navigator from RAK whose star charts and pilot books are credited with guiding Vasco da Gama from Africa to India. Allow an hour. Closed Mondays.

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A story
The fort that houses the museum was built in the mid-18th century as the Qawasim rulers' residence and stayed in use until 1964, when Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad moved out. The original wooden door, the wind tower, and the carved gypsum panels in the upper rooms are still in place — you are walking through a working royal household, not a reconstruction.