If you are in Dubai for any reason and want to spend a few hours in a somewhat exotic atmosphere, I would recommend a walk to Dubai Souks (markets). Depending on what you are interested in, you will find different type of markets, like: Dubai Gold Souk; Spice souk; the ancient Covered Souk; and fish, meat, vegetable, perfume and electronics souks. The Gold Souk, ancient Covered Souk and the spice souk are a must. The Opening hours are typically 9AM – 10PM.
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| Dubai Gold Souk |
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| Dubai Municipality museum |
How to get to Dubai Souks
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| Dubai transport customer services |
Check the map to find out Deira area and the markets location. You can reach the Souks by:
- metro - get off at the Al Ras Metro Station; bus - get off at the Deira, Old Souk or Gold Souk bus stations;
- water bus , as markets are located next to the Dubai Creek. Tickets are available in the water bus and its frequency is every 15 minutes. Water bus schedule of Dubai Marina is as follows:
- Sunday-Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.;
- Thursday-Saturday: 10 a.m. – midnight;
- Friday – 24 hours;
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| Dubai Al Sabkha Marine information board |
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| Dubai Al Sabkha Marine - water buses |
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| Information board of Dubai Marina water bus service |
- car – it will be very hard to find a parking space. To park on the street will cost you 2 AED / (USD 0,54) per hour, there is paid parking, also (10 AED / USD 2,72 per hour), and I personally found a multi-level parking for 5 AED (USD 1 , 36) per hour (located between Baniyas Rd. , 22nd Rd and Old Baladiya St.).
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| Streets of Dubai Deira area |
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| Streets of Dubai Deira area |
Toilets can be found on the second floor of Dubai gold center - see the map.
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| Map of Al Daghaya in Dubai Deira area |
The markets offer everything - spices, nuts ( 5 AED / USD 1,36 to 15 AED / USD 4,08 per 100 g , you just have to haggle) , dried shrimp , imitations of famous perfumes brands , branded clothing, cell phones , watches , electronic gadgets and whatever comes to your mind. I personally went into a watches shop, because one of the street vendors was very was very persistent in trying to invite me into his shop. I decided to go there of curiosity and to see what they will offer me. There were a lot of watches and gadgets displayed in the front (official) side of the shop. They showed me the „most quality ones" , according to their words, copy watches of Rolex, Breitling, Rado, Omega and others. The vendor took me to the dark back side of the store and pulled watches out from a safe. I was offered a price around 745 AED / USD 203, but I'm sure if I was going to buy, they would bring down the price.
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| Dubai Deira - Covered Souk |
An interesting fact is that whenever you ask for items price (since no prices announced anywhere), the vendors are showing you the price on a calculator display or are whispering quietly so as not to hear someone in the neighborhood. Somewhere, they use the calculator, because they just do not know English, but I noticed that usually they pretend to calculate something and finally show you the result for the price.
Very impressive is the gold souk (market), where I saw a sign – “Dubai city of gold ”. There are hundreds of shops that sell gold, silver, precious stones and jewelry - from rings and bracelets to where your imagination leads. I even saw a gold tie.
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| Dubai City of gold |
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| Dubai gold souk - gold jewelry window display |
Many things, despite the abundance, are more expensive than in the store. For example, I needed a SD memory card for my camera and I was offered a price of 60 AED / USD 16 up to 8 Gb. In the nearby mall, it costs 18 AED / USD 5. So be very careful and do not be fooled into buying something just because it seemed it is cheap. In one of the shops, asking for imitation of an expensive Smartphone, the vendors invite me to go up on a little ramp to elevate me upstairs to show it. So get ready to see any quirks.
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| Dubai Deira apartments building |
If you're wondering what else to see in that amazing City, read my post Dubai, UAE - hot tourists destination for the cold winter holidays .
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| Dubai creek |
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